Karen Chhour, the Family Violence Prevention Minister, announced the decisions last week. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Karen Chhour, the Family Violence Prevention Minister, announced the decisions last week. Photo / Mark Mitchell
A Māori advisory group’s co-chairs have taken issue with claims Family Violence Prevention Minister Karen Chhour made last week when announcing she was replacing it with a “multi-cultural” board.
They are “disappointed” in the minister’s statement and worried outcomes for Māori may become less of a focus by disbandingtheir advisory group.
Chhour on Friday said members of Te Pūkotahitanga - a tangata whenua group set up to provide advice to the minister on preventing family and sexual violence – had raised concerns about her decision not to extend their term.
She claimed some members had “concerns around my decision to include other communities in a new, multi-cultural advisory board which will replace the current Māori-only one”.
“I need an advisory board that can advise on all issues victim-survivors face, and one that reflects the diversity of our nation, not just the 17% of New Zealanders who identify as Māori,” Chhour said.
She said work would be strengthened by incorporating Pasifika and Asian communities as well as other groups “who were deliberately excluded by the scope of the previous Ministerial Advisory Board for this portfolio”.
Chhour also said an agency set up to deliver a whole-of-government approach to family and sexual violence prevention would stop using “Te Puna Aonui” as their name.
It’s currently an informal name for the “Executive Board for the Elimination of Family Violence and Sexual Violence”.
“This decision reflects the reality that all people are potentially victims of Family Violence and Sexual Violence, as well as the wishes of disgruntled former advisory board members who have asked for the gifted Te Reo name to be returned,” she said.
Family Violence Prevention Karen Chhour issued a statement on the group last week. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Te Pūkotahitanga’s outgoing co-chairs, Poata Watene and Amokura Panoho, have responded to the minister, expressing disappointment with how events have unfolded.
They said the group advised Chhour last Thursday that it was withdrawing the names - Te Pūkotahitanga and Te Puna Aonui - “from all Crown use”.
“These names were not branding assets - they were taonga, gifted with purpose, tikanga, and expectation,” said Watene.
“When those responsibilities are no longer honoured, we reserve the right to reclaim them.”
The pair is now requesting a formal process to remove these names from all Government documents and branding.
Chhour has said it will take time to update the “agency’s branding and letterhead”.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Panoho said there had been a “breach” in the relationship between the group and the minister, leading to the names being withdrawn.
She said this involved the minister wanting to make changes to the group’s terms of reference and membership.
“That would undermine the integrity of the reason why we came together in the first place and we felt really strongly that what works well for us will benefit everybody else around the country.”
Watene said there were other forums whereby other communities could have their voice, and because Māori were significantly affected by family and sexual violence, it was appropriate to have something focused on them.
The co-chairs’ statement said Te Pūkotahitanga rejected any suggestion that Māori names “or tikanga-based leadership” excluded those from other communities.
“On the contrary, it is precisely by honouring Te Tiriti and upholding Māori solutions that we ensure safety and equity for all communities across Aotearoa. This is not a political gesture - it is a tikanga-based response to the Crown’s failure to uphold its responsibilities.”
The pair said Te Pūkotahitanga believed the “unilateral actions of the Crown directly contravene the principles of Te Aorerekura [the national strategy to eliminate family and sexual violence]”.
They said the strategy commits to “shared leadership, tikanga Māori, and Tiriti-based partnership in all governance and decision-making processes”.
“We also take this opportunity to acknowledge the staff and leadership of Te Puna Aonui, who have worked tirelessly across agencies to support the kaupapa and advance the commitments of Te Aorerekura.
“We recognise the invidious position they have been placed in — where their professional advice and evidence-based work have not been supported by their present political leadership.”
In Chhour’s statement, she spoke about being proud to be Māori herself.
“I am also a mother, a wife, and a survivor of both family and sexual violence. The idea that one part of my being is somehow more important than any other is something I don’t accept, and I don’t believe that the majority of New Zealanders would accept this either.”
The co-chairs spoke about this in their statement.
“Te Pūkotahitanga acknowledges her journey — and also affirms that many of its members carry their own intergenerational experiences of violence, healing, and whakapapa responsibilities.
“These are not political qualifications; they are what compel us to do the work, in the service of our people.”
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. In 2025, he was a finalist for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.
