Naida Glavish

Dame Rangimārie Naida Glavish DNZM JP (/ˈɡlævɪʃ/ GLAV-ish; born 1946)[1] is a New Zealand politician and Māori community leader from the Ngāti Whātua iwi.

[4] Her Croatian grandparents arrived in New Zealand in the 20th century, settling near Kaipara Harbour and changing the spelling of their name from the original Glavaš.

In 1984, at a time when the use of Māori phrases was uncommon in New Zealand, Glavish, who was then an Auckland telephone operator,[6] was instructed to stop using kia ora when greeting callers after the post office had received a complaint.

[7] The Postmaster-General, Rob Talbot, convinced the Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon, to overturn the prohibition on Māori greetings by telephone operators.

[1][9] A member of Mana Motuhake, Glavish stood for the Alliance in the Te Tai Tokerau electorate at the 2002 general election, finishing third out of nine candidates.

[14] In the 2011 New Year Honours, Glavish was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to Māori and the community.

Glavish at Te Tii Waitangi Marae in February 2017