Areta Koopu

Dame Areta Koopu
DNZM CBE
Koopu in 2019
14th President of the Māori Women's Welfare League
In office
1993–1996
Preceded byAroha Reriti-Crofts
Succeeded byDruis Barrett
Personal details
BornAreta King
(1941-03-08) 8 March 1941
Gisborne, New Zealand
Spouse
Hoera Koopu
​
(m. 1961)​
Children5

Dame Areta Koopu DNZM CBE (née King; born 8 March 1941) is a New Zealand social worker and Māori activist.

Biography

Koopu was born in Gisborne on 8 March 1941, the daughter of Wiremu and Ngaro Alice King.[1][2][3] She was educated at Gisborne Girls' High School, and married Hoera Koopu in 1961.[1] The couple went on to have five children.[1][2]

Koopu worked as an independent mediator for the Housing Corporation and as a national trainer of the Family Court.[4] She was a member of the New Zealand Māori Council from 1987 to 1992, National President of the Māori Women's Welfare League from 1993 to 1996, and succeeded Erihapeti Murchie[4] as Human Rights Commissioner from 1996 to 2001.[5][6][7] In these roles she visited indigenous communities and attended conferences across the globe on behalf of New Zealand, such as attending a conference of the Sami people in Northern Europe and meeting Native Hawai'ians.[8]

In the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours, Koopu was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the community.[9] In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Māori and the community.[10][11] Koopu is also a recipient of the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993.[5]

In 2023 Koopu was made a life member of Te Ao Marama, the New Zealand Māori Dental Association.[12] She has also served with the Māori Education Trust and Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 220. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
  2. ^ a b "Koopu, Areta, 1941-". National Library Wellington. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  3. ^ "Dame Areta Koopu: Peacemaker". RNZ. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  4. ^ a b Graham, Doug (22 June 1996). "New Human Rights Commissioner appointed". www.beehive.govt.nz. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Citations for Dames Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit – KOOPU, Mrs Areta, CBE". Queen's Birthday Honours 2019. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  6. ^ Carter, Charlotte (3 June 2019). "Queen's Birthday Honours: Fighting to have te reo recognised central to Dame Areta Koopu's work". Stuff. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  7. ^ Tebbutt, Leah (2 June 2019). "Queen's Birthday Honours: Rotorua's Areta Koopu acknowledged for service to Māori and community". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  8. ^ a b "New Zealand is far ahead on reparations for indigenous - Dame Areta Koopu". Te Ao Māori News. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  9. ^ "No. 53697". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 11 June 1994. p. 34.
  10. ^ "Queen's Birthday Honours 2019". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 3 June 2019. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  11. ^ Te Karere TVNZ (3 June 2019). Areta Koopu named Dame Companion of the NZOM. Retrieved 26 December 2025 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ "Dame Areta Koopu". Te Ao Mārama. 14 September 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
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