Sir Harawira Tiri Gardiner was a New Zealand soldier, public servant, and writer.
17 Facts About Wira Gardiner
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Wira Gardiner was Maori, of Ngati Awa, Ngati Pikiao, Whakatohea, and Te Whanau-a-Apanui descent.
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Wira Gardiner was brought up under whangai, the Maori custom of open inner family adoption.
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Wira Gardiner received his secondary education in Whakatane and his tertiary education at the University of Canterbury and at King's College London.
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For twenty years Wira Gardiner served in the New Zealand Army as a professional soldier.
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Wira Gardiner retired from the army in 1983 at the rank of lieutenant colonel; at the time he was the army's highest-ranked Maori officer.
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Wira Gardiner was National Director of Civil Defence, chair of Te Mangai Paho, and deputy chairman of Te Ohu Kaimoana, the trust responsible for advancing the interests of iwi in the development of fisheries.
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Wira Gardiner was the fourth ministerial appointee to the council of Te Wananga o Aotearoa, and deputy chair of council at Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi.
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Wira Gardiner was chair of the Tertiary Education Commission from May 2010 to July 2012.
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On 1 July 2009, Wira Gardiner was appointed to the board of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and the following year, he was named as board chair.
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Wira Gardiner was appointed acting chief executive of Oranga Tamariki in 2021 following the resignation of Grainne Moss, in an attempt to restore confidence in the agency following the 2019 controversy over the uplifting of Maori babies from their families.
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Wira Gardiner was a member of the National Party and for a period chaired the party's Wellington Central electorate committee.
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Wira Gardiner published a number of books on topics related to New Zealand history and the Maori world, including the 28th Maori Battalion, race relations in New Zealand, a biography of politician Parekura Horomia and the art form of haka.
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In 2012, Wira Gardiner was hospitalised with suspected pancreatic cancer but was discharged after five days with a clean bill of health.
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In October 2021 Wira Gardiner resigned his role as acting chief executive of Oranga Tamariki because of an illness, later reported to be a brain tumor.
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Wira Gardiner believed his brain tumor was connected to Agent Orange exposure during his military service in Vietnam.
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On 17 March 2022, aged 78, Wira Gardiner died at his home in Gisborne.