Obituaries — Sir Toby Curtis

I seek leave to move a motion without notice to recognise the passing of Sir Toby Curtis.

💬 SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that course of action being taken? There appears to be none.

TĀMATI COFFEY: I move, That this House note with sadness the passing of Sir Toby Curtis of the Arawa people, a good man who loved his people and who will be beautifully remembered in the hearts of many.

At his tangi, it was noted the work that he’d done in recognising the impact of colonisation on Māori. At his tangi, they also spoke of his beginnings in broadcasting and his work on getting the 1989 Broadcasting Act passed, as well as many other influences he had in politics and improving education for Māori. Also noted at his tangi was his determination for co-governance, for Māori education, and his work for the health of our water. Tā Toby called out cowards who did not understand the need for equity via co-governance.

E Tā, menemene mai i te pō, haere, haere, haere atu rā.

[To you, Sir, smiling on us from the place of departed spirits, may you rest in peace.]

E te rangatira Tā Toby, kei te tangi te ngākau i tō wehenga atu i te pō. Moe mai ki roto i tō moenga roa. Takoto okioki ki roto i te aro i te Ariki, haere, haere, haere rā.

[To the chief, to Sir Toby, my heart grieves at your passing to the place of departed spirits. Sleep the long sleep. Lay in rest before the Lord, may you rest in peace.]

The National Party sends their thoughts and aroha to the family of Tā Toby Curtis, who have lost a father, a husband, and a mentor, from we who remain, who have lost a guide, a leader, and a friend. We acknowledge and thank him for his contribution to education, being highly educated himself, with a doctorate, and the fervent belief he had in the importance of education and being educated. The National Party recognises and thanks him for his contributions to the party’s function in times that have passed. Toby’s leadership to Māori media was pervasive and, for Te Māngai Pāho, his chairmanship and leadership was critical in the early days of its inception, and that leadership endures today. He shared a love for the Māori language and simply had a love for people. He will be missed.

Nō reira, e te rangatira, moe mai, moe mai, moe mai rā.

[Therefore, my chief, rest in peace.]

It’s an honour and a privilege to farewell kaumātua Tā Noble Thomson “Toby” Curtis of Te Arawa, Ngāti Pikiao, and Ngāti Rongomai. Ko tana mate he mate nui mō Te Ao Māori, he mate nui mō te ao katoa.

[His passing is not only a significant one for the Māori world, but the whole world.]

A leader, orator, academic, and activist, he was humble, ki ōna whakaaro waiho mā te tangata e mihi [he believed in humility], never straying ever from wanting a better Aotearoa where Māori and Pākehā aspirations could be achieved through cultural understanding, and he fought for those values right through to the very end.

It was an honour to attend his tangi in Rotorua on Friday with Labour MPs and Ministers, and part of that was because he held us to account as the Crown. He challenged us to uphold our obligations under Te Tiriti, and he fought for education by Māori and for Māori that was steeped in Te Ao Māori.

Nō reira, e te rangatira, whāia ko te mātauranga hei whītiki mō te iwi me ngā uri kia toa ai.

[Therefore, oh chief, seek from the fountain of knowledge, as a girdle for the people and descendants so they may be victorious.]

Kia ora.

On behalf of ACT, I would like to join with other speakers in farewelling a mighty rangatira. A man who had the most extraordinary economy of words, he was able to say so much using so few words, and I think he was able to do it because everybody knew that he had such a deep and good heart down within him. I was lucky to spend the most wonderful evening with him just over two months ago, and it seemed it was impossible that he would ever be gone. He was such a man of timeless heart and goodness.

I had the enormous privilege of working with him extensively on the previous Government’s policy of partnership schools kura hourua, and I think that showed the heart of the man—that he had values that were far deeper than any particular partisan cause or any particular political stripe. He knew where he stood, where he came from, and where this country could best go.

To one of the truly great rangatira, one of the great men, and the greatest hearts of this country, farewell Sir Toby.

Tēnā tātou, e hika mā, tēnā koe e te Pīka, otirā tēnā tātou i te Whare. I tēnei ra te tangi atu ki tā tātou pāpā ki Tā Toby, ko ia tērā kua riro tītapu ki te pō. Tēnei rā te tautoko i ngā mihi ki tērā a tāua pāpā, tērā a tātou pāpā, kua riro nei.

Nō reira e te pāpā, e Toby, ka roa koe e whawhai nei mō tō iwi Māori. E kore koe e mataku ki te kōrero i ngā kōrero, e makere mai ō kupu mai i ō ngutu ki ngā hāmenetanga a te Kāwanatanga ki ngā hāmenetanga a Pākehā ki a Ngāi Tātou i roto i ngā tau maha kua hipa atu. Ko koe tērā e tū rangatira nei mō tō tātou reo mō te oranga o te iwi Māori, ehara ko te iwi o roto o Te Arawa noa iho, engari ko tō iwi Māori te hao o tō ngākau. Nō reira, kei te tangi tonu te ngākau ki a koe.

Taku waimarie, i whakaeke i te taha o te Kīngi Māori whai muri ake i tōna koroneihana ki roto o Waikato, arā ki te tangi atu ki a koe. Nō reira, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Rongomai, nei rā te mihi atu ki a koutou, i whakakanohi nei i tō iwi i te tangihanga, i te ūhunga tō tātou pāpā, a Toby.

Nō reira, nei rā te tangi e te rangitira. Whoatu rā koe i runga i te ara kōrero kua parangia e te tini e te mano, haere, haere, whakangaro atu rā.

Hoki atu ki a mātou ngā mahuetanga iho o ngā tua iho, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora koutou katoa.

[Greetings everyone, greetings to the Speaker, and greetings to all of us in the House. Today we mourn the loss of Sir Toby Curtis who has recently passed away. I support the acknowledgments made to our uncle who has been taken.

Therefore, Sir Toby, you have long fought for the Māori people. For many years, you have never been afraid to speak up, responding effusively about the transgressions of Government and of Pākehā towards us. You have nobly stood up for our language and for the health of the Māori people, not just for Te Arawa but also for Māori as a whole, that was your heart’s desire. And my heart still mourns for you.

I was fortunate to attend with the Māori King, following his coronation celebrations in Waikato, to grieve at your funeral. Therefore, to Ngāti Pikiao and Ngāti Rongomai, I acknowledge how you represented your tribe at the funeral and the laying to rest of our uncle Toby.

And so, our chief, we mourn you. Go forth upon the storied pathway forged by the myriads, may you rest in peace.

To return to us, to those of us who have been left behind, greetings, greetings, be well one and all.]

Motion agreed to.