// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Areta Koopu? A koopu star, are they?
Dame Areta Koopu | |
|---|---|
 Koopu in 2019 | |
| 14th President of the Māori Women's Welfare League | |
| In office 1993–1996 | |
| Preceded by | Aroha Reriti-Crofts |
| Succeeded by | Druis Barrett |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Areta King 8 March 1941 Gisborne, New Zealand |
| Spouse |
Hoera Koopu (m. 1961) |
| Children | 5 |
Dame Areta Koopu DNZM CBE (née King; born 8 March 1941) is a New Zealand social worker and Māori activist.
Biography
[edit]Koopu was born in Gisborne on 8 March 1941, the daughter of Wiremu and Ngaro Alice King.[1][2][3] She was educated at Gisborne Girls' High School, and married Hoera Koopu in 1961.[1] The couple went on to have five children.[1][2]
Koopu worked as an independent mediator for the Housing Corporation and as a national trainer of the Family Court.[4] She was a member of the New Zealand Māori Council from 1987 to 1992, National President of the Māori Women's Welfare League from 1993 to 1996, and succeeded Erihapeti Murchie[4] as Human Rights Commissioner from 1996 to 2001.[5][6][7] In these roles she visited indigenous communities and attended conferences across the globe on behalf of New Zealand, such as attending a conference of the Sami people in Northern Europe and meeting Native Hawai'ians.[8]
In the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours, Koopu was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the community.[9] In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Māori and the community.[10][11] Koopu is also a recipient of the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993.[5]
In 2023 Koopu was made a life member of Te Ao Marama, the New Zealand Māori Dental Association.[12] She has also served with the Māori Education Trust and Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust.[8]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 220. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
- 1 2 "Koopu, Areta, 1941-". National Library Wellington. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
- ↑ "Dame Areta Koopu: Peacemaker". RNZ. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
- 1 2 Graham, Doug (22 June 1996). "New Human Rights Commissioner appointed". www.beehive.govt.nz. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
- 1 2 "Citations for Dames Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit – KOOPU, Mrs Areta, CBE". Queen's Birthday Honours 2019. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
- ↑ Carter, Charlotte (3 June 2019). "Queen's Birthday Honours: Fighting to have te reo recognised central to Dame Areta Koopu's work". Stuff. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
- ↑ Tebbutt, Leah (2 June 2019). "Queen's Birthday Honours: Rotorua's Areta Koopu acknowledged for service to Māori and community". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
- 1 2 "New Zealand is far ahead on reparations for indigenous - Dame Areta Koopu". Te Ao Māori News. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
- ↑ "No. 53697". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 11 June 1994. p. 34.
- ↑ "Queen's Birthday Honours 2019". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 3 June 2019. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
- ↑ Te Karere TVNZ (3 June 2019). Areta Koopu named Dame Companion of the NZOM. Retrieved 26 December 2025 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "Dame Areta Koopu". Te Ao Mārama. 14 September 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
- 1941 births
- Living people
- People from Gisborne, New Zealand
- People educated at Gisborne Girls' High School
- Dames Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- New Zealand Māori activists
- New Zealand social workers
- New Zealand Māori women
- Recipients of the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993
- People of the Māori Women's Welfare League