Oriini Kaipara

Oriini Kaipara (born 1983) is a New Zealand Māori broadcaster, journalist and translator and interpreter of te reo Māori and English. Kaipara has worked for Mai FM, TVNZ 1, Māori Television, and Three. She currently co-hosts Three's weekly political current affairs show Newshub Nation.

Oriini Kaipara
Born	1983 (age 39–40) Whakatāne, New Zealand
Occupation	Broadcaster / Journalist
Children	4

In 2019 Kaipara was the first person with a moko kauae tā moko facial tattoo to present mainstream television news. In 2021 she became the first such person to host a primetime news program on national television.

Early life

Kaipara was born in Whakatāne in 1983. Her iwi are Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa, Tūwharetoa and Ngāti Rangitihi. She attended a Kura Kaupapa Māori, and trained at South Seas Film and Television School in 2002.^[1]

Career

Kaipara was a newsreader at Mai FM, and then in 2004 joined TVNZ's fully te reo Māori Waka Huia as a reporter and director.

In 2017, the Māori Television programme Native Affairs, which she presented, revealed she has essentially pure Māori DNA, despite having some Pākehā ancestry.^[2][3][4]

She received her moko kauae facial tattoo in January 2019 while she was a journalist for TVNZ's Te Karere.^[5] In November 2019 she was the first person with a moko kauae to present mainstream television news on TVNZ's One News.^[6][7]

In May 2021 she moved to Three and began presenting news on the programme Newshub Live at 4.30pm.^[8]

In February 2022 Kaipara joined Simon Shepherd as co-host of Three's weekly political current affairs show Newshub Nation. As host, she is valued for her conversational fluency in both Māori and English, her approach to political issues that are important to Māori, and her commitment to the renewal of both te reo Māori and tikanga Māori.^[9][10]

Recognition

In 2008, Kaipara won the best female television presenter award at the Māori Media Awards.^[11] In 2018, Kaipara won the Voyager award for Best Māori Affairs Reporter for her work on Native Affairs for Māori Television.^[12]

In 2021 Kaipara received international recognition for being the first person to host a primetime news program on national television, with traditional facial markings.^{[13][14][15][16]}

Personal life

Kaipara lives in West Auckland and has four children.^[1]

In 2020 Kaipara was upset by a portrait painted of her without permission by Auckland artist Samantha Payne. After talking with Kaipara, the artist apologised and removed the portrait from public sale.^[17][18]

See also

• List of New Zealand television personalities

References

1. "'It's for all of us': How news presenter Oriini Kaipara is making history with her moko kauae". Woman's Day. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
2. "Oriini Kaipara responds to public reaction". Māori Television. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
3. "Native Affairs newsreader Oriini Kaipara identified as 'full-blooded Maori' via DNA test". The New Zealand Herald. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
4. Kaipara, Oriini (13 April 2017). "A DNA test showed I'm 100% Māori. Many thought there were none of us left | Oriini Kaipara". the Guardian. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
5. Jeevan Ravindran. "Māori journalist becomes first person with facial markings to present primetime news". CNN. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
6. "Oriini Kaipara first with moko kauae to read major news bulletin". Stuff. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
7. "TVNZ's Oriini Kaipara first with moko tattoo to present mainstream news". The New Zealand Herald. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
8. "Ground-breaking Māori presenter Oriini Kaipara heads to Three with Newshub role". Stuff. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
9. "Oriini Kaipara joins Simon Shepherd as Newshub Nation co-host". Newshub. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
10. Jack, Amberleigh (22 February 2022). "Oriini Kaipara has a new role as co-host of Newshub Nation". Stuff. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
11. "Kōkiri 8 – Profiling Oriini Kaipara". www.tpk.govt.nz. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
12. "Oriini Kaipara says best reporting win was a team effortn". Māori Television. 12 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
13. Ravindran, Jeevan (2021). "Māori journalist becomes first person with facial markings to present primetime news". CNN.
14. "Meet Oriini Kaipara: First news presenter with traditional face tattoo - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
15. Torre, Giovanni (29 December 2021). "Maori newsreader becomes first person with chin tattoo to anchor news programme". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
16. "Why the world cares so much that Oriini Kaipara read the prime time news". Stuff. 3 January 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
17. "Te Karere's Oriini Kaipara 'shocked' and 'taken aback' after discovering portrait painted without her consent for sale". 1 News. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
18. "Te Karere presenter 'shocked' after seeing portrait of her being sold without consent". Newshub. Retrieved 12 March 2022.