Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro with Sir Collin Tukuitonga. Photo / Government House
Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro with Sir Collin Tukuitonga. Photo / Government House
It was a moment Sir Collin Fonotau Tukuitonga had been preparing for for months - and when it came, so too did the tears.
A knighthood has officially been bestowed upon the Pasifika health leader and well-respected doctor, in recognition of his long service and dedication to public health tothe Pacific region and its peoples.
At the investiture at Auckland's Government House yesterday, Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro carried out the dubbing ceremony - a moment Sir Collin did not expect would suddenly be so overwhelming.
Governor-General Dame Cindy Koro with Sir Collin Tukuitonga as he is made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Photo / Government House
Sir Collin Tukuitonga pictured with Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro. Photo / Government House
"I just remember Dame Cindy talking to me and I just got emotional," he said.
"I don't know what I was thinking of exactly. I was just thinking about my family and the people who helped me along the way."
And he has come a long way - from the village of Alofi North, on the small island of Niue, and the humble beginnings of a family that would inspire him to want social justice for all and the need to help others.
Speaking to the Herald when the Queen's Birthday Honours were announced, he spoke of a key moment when he was just a young boy - the first time he saw a Palagi doctor who had come to see his grandfather.
"He had a stethoscope and a bag and I thought: 'Oh, that's really cool'," Sir Collin said at the time.
"He was popular on the island and people liked him because he made people better, so it went. I guess I was curious at an early age."
Sir Collin would go on to study and graduate as a junior doctor from the University of the South Pacific in Fiji in 1981.
He went back to Niue to work as a doctor there before moving back to Fiji in the late 1980s, eventually moving with his young family to New Zealand, where he has also had a massive impact.
Sir Collin Tukuitonga pictured in the early 80s working in Niue as a junior doctor. Photo / Supplied
Sir Collin is responsible for establishing the Department of Māori and Pacific Health at the University of Auckland and is also the inaugural Associate Dean (Pacific) for the university's Faculty of Medical and Health Science.
Among the many other titles he has held, he has been the Director of Public Health, founded Pacific community-owned health clinic The Fono and developed international policies for the control of non-communicable diseases for the World Health Organisation between 2003 to 2006.
Recently, he has been instrumental in helping Pasifika communities in New Zealand in the Covid-19 response.
Sir Collin was joined by his wife and four of his five children at yesterday's event; during which Dame Cindy paid tribute to the people of Niue - something he was proud of.
"I couldn't bring Niue island with me to the ceremony, but she acknowledged Niueans in her speech and there was a John Pule [Niuean artist] hanging on the wall - so there was enough there to represent Niue."
