I was born and bred in Te Tai Tokerau and has lived there all my life apart from the time I spent training to be a teacher and the first three years of my teaching career when I taught in South Auckland.

I rose quickly through the teaching ranks becoming a Deputy Principal after three years and a Principal after just six years teaching.

After only four years as a principal I was seconded to be an Advisor to Principals and travelled around schools north of Whangarei offering policy advice, guidance and support to other Principals and Boards of Trustees.

This was followed with a twelve month stint with the Ministry of Education before deciding it was time to get back into a school. In 2001 I became the Principal of Kaitaia Intermediate School which at the time had the reputation of being the school most at risk north of Auckland.

In 2004 my work at Kaitaia Intermediate School was recognised by receiving a Woolf Fisher fellowship which enabled me to spend three months travelling the world and visiting schools.

My particular interest was indigenous education which enabled me to visit schools in Hawaii, US and Canadian reservation schools and Welsh Immersion schools in the UK.

The highlight of the fellowship was a two week School Leadership Course at Harvard University.

I am a sports addict. I played competitive club rugby until I was forty and I will follow any sport.

I am married with three beautiful, intelligent, respectful children.

I am proud of my links to my hapu of Ngati Manu and I am most at home mucking around on his marae in Karetu in the Bay of Islands with my cousins, uncles and family.

My move into politics came about because of my success as a Maori educator. I was very vocal in his community about the conditions necessary to ensure Maori achieve beyond their potential.

I entered politics with a focus on improving outcomes for Maori and I believes= education is the vehicle that will enable Maori to fulfil their aspirations.

I believe that Treaty settlements are but the cream on the cake, and not the cake itself - I believe that education is that path that Maori need to take to enable us all to achieve greater health, wealth and happiness.

I believe Maori will struggle to assert any meaningful influence over the leadership and direction of Aotearoa/ New Zealand while we allow ourselves to languish academically.

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