Te Raukura O'Connell Rapira | |
---|---|
Born | Laura O'Connell Rapira 1988 (age 35–36) New Zealand |
Occupation | Activist |
Te Raukura O'Connell Rapira (born Laura O'Connell Rapira; 1988) is a grassroots leader, speaker and community activist from Aotearoa. [1] [2] [3] They advocate for Indigenous land rights, Mana Motuhake, police and prison abolition, fully funded mental and sexual health services, LGBTQIA+ equality, the political power of young people and environmental justice. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
O'Connell Rapira was born in Taranaki [14] and later moved to West Auckland where they attended Green Bay High School. They are Māori of the iwi Te Ātiawa, Ngāruahine, Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa and Ngāti Whakaue. [15]
As a young person they were part of an accelerator programme for social enterprise initiatives. From this O'Connell Rapira co-founded RockEnrol in 2014 to encourage young people to enrol and vote in New Zealand's general elections. [16] [17] [18] They were a founding team member of ActionStation and a co-founder of Tauiwi Tautoko and the Youth Movement Fund Aotearoa. [19] [20] [21] [22]
In 2020 O'Connell Rapira petitioned the New Zealand government to make Matariki a public holiday. [23] In 2022 the New Zealand government passed the Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Act and the first Matariki public holiday was held on Friday 24 June 2022. [24] O'Connell Rapira has also been involved in petitioning the New Zealand government for Māori wards, a complete overhaul of Oranga Tamariki, increased government funding for sexual and mental health, gun law reform, violence prevention, increased income support and an end to online hate and abuse. [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33]
From 2021 to 2023 O'Connell Rapira was the Executive Director, Movement Building at the Foundation for Young Australians where their focus was on building the political power of youth movements. [34]
In November 2023 O'Connell Rapira launched the Narratives for Change Fellowship with The Workshop in collaboration with their former ActionStaton co-director Marianne Elliott. [35]
O'Connell Rapira is a contributing writer to New Zealand news website The Spinoff and a TEDxChristchurch speaker. [36] [37]
In 2017 O'Connell Rapira was nominated for the Te Whetū Maiangi Award for Young Achievers and the Kiwibank Young New Zealander of the Year. [38] [39]
O'Connell Rapira identifies as queer and takatāpui and is frank about this being a driver for them to seek social justice and equality in society. [40] [41] Their identity and stand about a range of areas has made them a target for online abuse. [42] O'Connell Rapira is also vegan. [43]
In Māori culture, Matariki is the Pleiades star cluster and a celebration of its first rising in late June or early July. The rising marks the beginning of the new year in the Māori lunar calendar.
Public holidays in New Zealand consist of a variety of cultural, national, and religious holidays that are legislated in New Zealand. Workers can get a maximum of 12 public holidays and a minimum of 20 annual leave days a year.
Te Pāti Māori, also known as the Māori Party, is a political party in New Zealand advocating Māori rights. With the exception of a handful of general electorates, Te Pāti Māori contests the reserved Māori electorates, in which its main rival is the Labour Party.
The Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 or Children's and Young People's Well-being Act 1989 is an Act of the New Zealand Parliament that was passed in 1989. The Act's main purpose is to "promote the well-being of children, young persons, and their families and family groups." In June 2017, the New Zealand Parliament passed amendment legislation renaming the bill the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989.
Kelvin Glen Davis is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the House of Representatives, and was a senior minister in the Sixth Labour Government and the deputy leader of the New Zealand Labour Party from 2017 to 2023.
Sir Harawira Tiri Gardiner was a New Zealand soldier, public servant, and writer. He was Māori, of Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Pikiao, Whakatōhea, and Te Whānau-ā-Apanui descent.
Hobson's Pledge is a right-wing lobby group in New Zealand that was formed in late September 2016 to oppose affirmative action for Māori people. It is led by conservative politician Don Brash. The group aims to nullify the partnership between the Crown and Māori, remove the Māori electorates, abolish the Waitangi Tribunal, restrict tribal powers and “remove all references in law and in Government policy to Treaty ‘partnership’ and ‘principles’”.
Oranga Tamariki, also known as the Ministry for Children and previously the Ministry for Vulnerable Children, is a government department in New Zealand responsible for the well-being of children, specifically children at risk of harm, youth offenders and children of the State. It is the successor agency of the former department, Child, Youth and Family (CYF).
Toby Morris is a New Zealand cartoonist, comics artist, illustrator and writer, best known for non-fiction online comics that often highlight social issues.
Elizabeth Anne Kerekere is a New Zealand politician and LGBTQ activist and scholar. She was elected a member of parliament for the Green Party in 2020, but resigned from the Greens on 5 May 2023, following allegations of bullying within the party. Kerekere remained in parliament as an independent until the 2023 election.
Matariki Whatarau is a New Zealand actor and musician. Whatarau is also a founding member of Māori showband the Modern Māori Quartet. He co-wrote and performed songs, with the other band members, for the Modern Māori Quartet's debut album That's Us! (2017).
Debbie Anne Ngarewa-Packer is a New Zealand politician, iwi leader and activist. She is a Member of Parliament and co-leader of Te Pāti Māori alongside Rawiri Waititi, and is the chief executive of the Ngāti Ruanui iwi.
Te Ūpokorehe is a Māori tribal group located in the eastern Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. There is currently a dispute over whether it is a hapū (sub-tribe) of Whakatōhea or an iwi (tribe) in its own right.
Ōmāio is a coastal township in the Ōpōtiki District and Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island.
Pauline Lisa Harris is a New Zealand academic. As of 2021 she is a senior lecturer at the Victoria University of Wellington.
Tureiti Haromi Moxon, Lady Moxon is a New Zealand Māori health leader and campaigner.
Andrew John Becroft is a New Zealand Jurist and Barrister. From 2016 until 2021 Becroft was Children's Commissioner. Prior to that, he practised community law, and was a District Court judge and principal judge of the Youth Court of New Zealand. Throughout his career Becroft has taken a specialist approach to dealing with youth and child offenders and been involved in many organisations and initiatives to support this. During his time as Children's Commissioner, Becroft developed strong public positions of monitoring and advocacy on a range of issues related to the safety of children.
Elizabeth Anne Hakaraia is a New Zealand film producer and director.
Matewa Media is a New Zealand production company that dubs Disney animated films into the Māori language.
Matariki Williams is a Māori curator and writer based in Whakatane, New Zealand. In 2021, she was appointed Pou Matua Mātauranga Māori, Senior Historian, Mātauranga Māori at Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage in Wellington. She is a member of the Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Whakaue, and Ngāti Hauiti iwis.