NZ Wars national day of commemoration
Rowan Patrick made this Official Information request to Ministry of Māori Development
Response to this request is delayed. By law, Ministry of Māori Development should normally have responded promptly and by (details and exceptions)
From: Rowan Patrick
Kia ora Ministry of Māori Development,
I would like all TPK reports, correspondence, minutes, etc., relating to the discussion, planning, and implementing of the NZ Wars national day of commemoration (now officially He Rā Maumahara, Te Pūtake o Te Riri) since 2000. I realise some of this will sit with MCH and other agencies. I am especially interested in the earlier discussions around a possible day of commemoration, prior to the Ōtorohanga school petition in 2015, such as iwi leaders and other stakeholders.
Thanks for your time
Ngā mihi
Rowan
From: MB - OIA
Ministry of Māori Development
Tēnā koe
Thank you for your email. This is an automatic reply to let you know we
received it.
If you are submitting an Official Information Act request, in accordance
with the Act, we'll let you know our decision within no more than 20
working days. If you'd like to calculate the timeframe, you can use the
Ombudsman's online calculator here: http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
Sometimes we may need to clarify aspects of a request. You can expect to
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If you have any questions while we're processing your request, please let
us know via [TPK request email]
Ngā mihi
From: Gail Campbell
Ministry of Māori Development
+AFs-UNCLASSIFIED+AF0-
Kia Ora Karen
You are correct, this work originally sat in the Cultural Wealth Policy team. Mani Crawford led a lot of this mahi and reported to Tamati.
Ng+AQE- mihi
Gail Campbell
Rongowhakaata, Ngati Porou, Te Whakatohea
Kai+AQE-rahi, Haumitanga
Te Puni Rohe +AHw- Regions Puni
Te Haumitanga +AHw- Investments
Te Haumitanga Tuatahi +AHw- Investments One
Te Tari Matua +AHw- National office
Waea P+AWs-koro +AHw- Mobile: +-64 27 222 2893
Waea Utu Kore+AHw- Freephone: 0800 875 663
Te Puni K+AU0-kiri, Te Iho, 1 Bowen Street,
Wellington, New Zealand.
PO Box 3943, Wellington 6140
T+AWs-hono mai +AHw- Connect with us
+AFs-UNCLASSIFIED+AF0-
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From: Rowan Patrick
Kia ora Gail,
Thanks for this. Look forward to hearing from the Cultural Wealth Policy team.
Ngaa mihi
Rowan Patrick
From: Gail Campbell
Ministry of Māori Development
+AFs-UNCLASSIFIED+AF0-
Kia Ora Rowan
Please ignore my email below- I was supposed to respond to Karen.
Gail Campbell
Rongowhakaata, Ngati Porou, Te Whakatohea
Kai+AQE-rahi, Haumitanga
Te Puni Rohe +AHw- Regions Puni
Te Haumitanga +AHw- Investments
Te Haumitanga Tuatahi +AHw- Investments One
Te Tari Matua +AHw- National office
Waea P+AWs-koro +AHw- Mobile: +-64 27 222 2893
Waea Utu Kore+AHw- Freephone: 0800 875 663
Te Puni K+AU0-kiri, Te Iho, 1 Bowen Street,
Wellington, New Zealand.
PO Box 3943, Wellington 6140
T+AWs-hono mai +AHw- Connect with us
+AFs-UNCLASSIFIED+AF0-
show quoted sections
From: MB - OIA
Ministry of Māori Development
[UNCLASSIFIED]
Tēnā koe Rowan
Official Information request - NZ Wars national day of commemoration
We refer to your official information request dated 20 November 2025.
An initial search has identified that a large number of documents could
potentially be in scope of this request and it may amount to substantial
collation and research. Before we make a decision on your request, we
invite you to consider refining the scope to be seeking:
"advice to the Minister regarding the establishment of the
commemoration/fund"
Can you please confirm if you are happy with this proposed refinement, or
are willing to provide an alternative refined request?
Please note, any clarification or amendment of a request is considered to
be a new request for the purpose of calculating the maximum statutory
timeframe for response—see section 15(1AA) of the Official Information
Act.
We would like to advise that Te Puni Kokiri is unlikely to hold
information relating to discussions/meeting minutes with Iwi leaders and
stakeholders as those meetings were not initiated by Te Puni Kōkiri. You
may wish to contact the relevant Iwi and organisations directly.
We also note that some information that you may find helpful is publicly
available online here:
National Library Blog
o Explains the origins of the commemoration, iwi advocacy, and the
Ōtorohanga College petition.
o [1]28 October and the New Zealand Wars – National Library
[2][natlib.govt.nz]
2. Te Ara – Encyclopedia of New Zealand
o Covers the petition, first national commemoration in 2018, and
curriculum changes.
o [3]He Rā Maumahara – A Day of Remembering | Te Ara [4][teara.govt.nz]
3. Ministry of Education Resource
o Details the phrase’s origin at Ōrākau 150th commemorations, petition
process, and creation of the fund.
o [5]Te Pūtake o te Riri – Ministry of Education
[6][kauwhatare...on.govt.nz]
4. NZHistory (Manatū Taonga)
o Provides historical context, iwi involvement, and government response.
o [7]New Zealand Wars commemorated at Waitara | NZHistory
[8][nzhistory.govt.nz]
5. Te Papa Exhibition
o Marks the first national commemoration and explores the wars’ impact.
o [9]Rā Maumahara | Te Papa [10][tepapa.govt.nz]
6. Beehive Release
o Government statement on the significance of the day and its origins.
o [11]New Zealand Wars commemorations highlight importance of our
history | Beehive.govt.nz [12][beehive.govt.nz]
Kindly confirm any refinement/change to your request as soon as possible
so that Te Puni Kōkiri can continue with processing.
Ngā mihi
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Ngā Ratonga Minita me Te Puni Kōkiri, Te Iho, 1 Bowen Street, |
| Tapatahi| Ministerial & Wellington, PO Box 3943, Wellington 6140,|
| Governance Services New Zealand |
| National Office Tūhono mai | Connect with us |
| |
| [13]sign-tpklogo [14]Web [15]LinkedIn [16]Facebook |
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[UNCLASSIFIED]
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From: Rowan Patrick
Kia ora
I’d rather not amend this request along those lines, because although my request might require extensive compilation and capture a wider range of documents, I want to understand the earliest references to a NZ Wars day, and the incremental decisions made around its development that led to the public announcement. Advice to the minister will be important to this, but I’m also interested in tracing the timeline of other stakeholder input, as well as the nature of that input.
Thanks
Rowan
Yours sincerely,
Rowan Patrick
From: MB - OIA
Ministry of Māori Development
[UNCLASSIFIED]
Tēnā koe Rowan
Thank you for your reply email.
We will continue to progress your original request and will let you know
our decision on or before Thursday 18 December 2025.
Ngā mihi
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Ngā Ratonga Minita me Te Puni Kōkiri, Te Iho, 1 Bowen Street, |
| Tapatahi| Ministerial & Wellington, PO Box 3943, Wellington |
| Governance Services 6140, New Zealand |
| National Office Tūhono mai | Connect with us |
| |
| [1]sign-tpklogo [2]Web [3]LinkedIn [4]Facebook |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[UNCLASSIFIED]
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From: MB - OIA
Ministry of Māori Development
+AFs-UNCLASSIFIED+AF0-
T+ARM-n+AQE- koe Rowan
Thank you for your below request for information.
The Official Information Act requires that we advise you of our decision on your request no later than 20 working days after the day we received your request. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to meet that time limit and we are therefore writing to notify you of an extension of the time to make our decision, to Monday 9 February 2026.
This extension is needed because your request necessitates a search through a large quantity of information and meeting the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with our operations.
We also note that the OIA summer holiday period is from 25 December 2025 to 15 January 2026.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/ or freephone 0800 802 602.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request with us, including this decision, please feel free to contact us at oia+AEA-tpk.govt.nz.
Nga mihi
Ng+AQE- Ratonga Minita me Tapatahi+AHw- Ministerial +ACY- Governance Services
National Office
Te Puni K+AU0-kiri, Te Iho, 1 Bowen Street, Wellington, PO Box 3943, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
T+AWs-hono mai +AHw- Connect with us
+AFs-UNCLASSIFIED+AF0-
show quoted sections
From: Rowan Patrick
Kia ora - thanks for this update. I look forward to hearing from you in the new year. Ngā mihi o te wā.
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