Hiwi Tauroa - Patron
In 1974 he became Founding Principal for Tuakau College, resigning six years later to become Race Relations Conciliator for New Zealand/Aotearoa where he served also as a Human Rights Commissioner until 1986.While in this role he participated in several United Nations Race Relations and Human Rights Forums including as a member of the Trust Board for Indigenous Peoples. He also authored books on the Treaty of Waitangi and Māori culture.
It is as Race Relations Conciliator that Hiwi first became involved with The Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries following a visit to China as a member of a New Zeland China Friendship Society delegation in 1981. He instigated and conducted China-Māori reciprocal exchanges from 1984 and these have continued to the present day. In 2000 he was honored with the title of Friendship Ambassador by the CPAFFC. In 1990 he and wife Pat moved to Kaeo where he continued his position as Chairman of Te Runanga o Whaingaroa.
He retired from this position in 2000. Over the years Hiwi has held numerous and varied positions including being on the NZ Council for Educational Research, a member of the Massey University Council, Chairman of Te Mangai Paho Board, NZ Māori Broadcasting in 1994 and Member Northland Polytechnic Council. He also served for a term as an elected member to the Auckland Regional Council.
Hiwi enjoyed a number of sports and was appointed to the New Zealand Sports Foundation at its formation. However, his main interest was rugby. He represented a number of provinces and was selected for the New Zealand Māori rugby team as fullback in 1951,1952 and 1954. He later became coach of the Counties provincial team, leading the team to win the National Provincial Rugby title in 1979.
It was during his visit to China in 1981 that Hiwi experienced an awareness of the cultural similarities between the Chinese people and his own Māori people. This led him to discuss with Rewi Alley the feasibility of developing specific friendship exchanges of Māori people. As a result of their deliberations, Hiwi began conducting reciprocal exchanges from 1984 and these have continued to the present day. In 2000 he was honored with the title of Friendship Ambassador by the CPAFFC. In 1990 he and wife Pat moved to Kaeo where he continued his position as Chairman of Te Runanga o Whaingaroa. He retired from this position in 2000.
Over the years Hiwi has held numerous and varied positions including being on the NZ Council for Educational Research, a member of the Massey University Council, Chairman of Te Mangai Paho Board, NZ Māori Broadcasting in 1994 and Member Northland Polytechnic Council. He also served for a term as an elected member to the Auckland Regional Council. Hiwi enjoyed a number of sports and was appointed to the New Zealand Sports Foundation at its formation. However, his main interest was rugby. He represented a number of provinces and was selected for the New Zealand Māori rugby team as fullback in 1951,1952 and 1954. He later became coach of the Counties provincial team, leading the team to win the National Provincial Rugby title in 1979. In 1993 he was awarded the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for his services to New Zealand.
The delegations are reciprocal in nature and currently operate bi-annually (one year we host a delegation from China and the next the Chinese host a New Zealand Māori delegation) and we make every effort to organise exchanges to suit the interests of the participants.
Rewi Alley, a New Zealander, came to China in 1927. Sharing wealth and woe with the Chinese people, he devoted 60 years of his life to Chinese people’s cause of liberation and construction. In the 1930s, he joined an international Marxist-Leninist group in Shanghai and wrote many articles publicizing the Chinese people’s resistance against Japanese aggressors. During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, he took an active part in and was one of the sponsors of the Chinese Industrial Cooperative Movement that became a unique economic force that emerged by organizing the unemployed workers and refugees into production and survival and in support of the Resistance War. After the founding of New China, he dedicated his efforts to safeguard world peace and the cause of friendship among the peoples of the world, making important contributions to developing friendship between the Chinese people and the people of New Zealand and other countries.