Dame Areta Koopu, of Auckland, DNZM for services to Māori and the community
Dame Areta Koopu is a Director of the Māori Women’s Development Inc. and has more than 30 years’ experience in social services, in both paid and voluntary capacities.Dame Areta was National President of the Māori Women’s Welfare League from 1993 until 1996 and a Human Rights Commissioner from 1996 until 2001. She has also been a member of the Waitangi Tribunal from 1996 to 2008, a member of the New Zealand Māori Council from 1987 until 1992, and a Trustee of the Māori Education Trust and Te Kohanga Reo National Trust Board from 1993 until 1996. She was a member of the National Aids Foundation and a member of the Confidential Listening Service from 2008 to 2011. She worked as a Marriage and Family Court counsellor with Marriage Guidance New Zealand for more than 20 years and was a member of Marriage Guidance New Zealand’s national body. She has been a mediator for Housing New Zealand, based in Rotorua. Dame Areta was a member of the Prime Minister’s Honours Advisory Committee, which conducted the review of the New Zealand Royal Honours System in 1995.