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.