The 28 Māori Battalion website www.28maoribattalion.org.nz won the top award in the Crown-Māori Relationships category of the IPANZ-Gen-I Public Sector awards, announced last night in Wellington.
Pictured are Pauline Kingi, Harima Fraser from Te Puni Kokiri and Bronwyn Dalley.
Photo credit: Marty Melville Photographer, courtesy of IPANZ.
The website is a joint initiative between Manatū Taonga (Ministry for Culture and Heritage) and Te Puni Kokiri, on behalf of the 28th Māori Battalion Association.
The awards, run by the Institute of Public Administration of New Zealand (IPANZ), celebrate excellence and innovation in the public sector, and the Crown-Māori Relationships category recognises the diverse ways that Māori and government can work together.
“If you want innovation and excellence, then you really need look no further than this website,” said Dr Bronwyn Dalley, Deputy Chief Executive of Manatū Taonga.
“It is a superb example of what can be done with an enormous amount of good will and commitment, and a small amount of money. The project has a strong kaupapa which has guided all of us working on it.”
The interactive, bilingual website provides a space for people to share their stories of the 28th and their memories of the men who served.
“The community of the 28th has made this site its own”, Dr Dalley said. “It’s just what we hoped would happen.”
The judging panel acknowledged the “significance to nationhood in preserving the taonga for all New Zealand. The successful partnership between government agencies and a Māori organisation clearly demonstrates excellence”.
