spoke publicly<\/a> about this being a catalyst for his drive for change in his later years.<\/p>\nHe enrolled at Waiariki Institute of Technology and was awarded a Certificate and Diploma in M\u0101ori Studies, followed by a Degree of M\u0101ori Studies from Auckland University of Technology.<\/p>\n
Kennedy returned to Waiariki Institute of Technology under Borren\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n
Borren told the Rotorua Daily Post Kennedy was his \u201cright arm\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI regard Keneti as an amazing iwi leader.\u201d<\/p>\n
Borren said Kennedy had a \u201cmassive influence\u201d on Waiariki Institute of Technology – now known as Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology.<\/p>\n
![\"Kaum\u0101tua]()
Kaum\u0101tua Dr Ken Kennedy. Photo \/ Stephen Parker<\/p>\n
Borren said Kennedy was kaum\u0101tua of Waiariki when he was appointed in 2006 and the first thing he did was shift Kennedy from the M\u0101ori department prefab to an office next to his. <\/p>\n
\u201cWaiariki\u2019s vision was to be uniquely bicultural. To achieve that, I needed someone at my level \u2013 equal in the leadership structure. That person was Keneti.”<\/p>\n
He said together they grew the institute, student numbers tripled, and M\u0101ori student numbers quadrupled – the latter, he said, was mostly due to Kennedy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe opened doors. He gave me mana. And we both sang from the same song sheet: biculturalism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Borren, who recently returned to his chief executive role, said he re-employed Kennedy as his adviser in the office next to his.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was so happy to be back.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Ken]()
Ken Kennedy in 2017.<\/p>\n
On Thursday last week, Kennedy opened and closed Borren\u2019s all-staff hui and executive meeting in the afternoon.<\/p>\n
That evening the two attended a drinks function and then went to dinner at Indian Star on Eat Streat with other returned staff members.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeneti was his normal, relaxed and happy self. On reflection, it is fitting that Keneti\u2019s last meal was Indian food and that his last beer was a Kingfisher because it was the indigenous people of India, the most populated country in the world, who bestowed on Keneti an honour that was so deserved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Waiariki MP T\u0101mati Coffey said Kennedy was the pou tuara [cultural leader] for his political campaign in 2017, which saw the Waiariki seat turn red for Labour. <\/p>\n
\u201cKen was a big part of making that happen. He walked with me as my guide on my political journey as my not-so-secret political adviser.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"]()
Dr Ken Kennedy was a loyal supporter of T\u0101mati Coffey during his political career. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Coffey said Kennedy should have been a politician. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe had all the traits as a true man of the people, who never forgot where he came from. The people continually chose him to be their mangai [spokesperson] and that is the mana of a rangatira.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawyer and iwi advocate Annette Sykes said Kennedy was of Ng\u0101ti Pikiao descent but, like many of Te Arawa, drew descent to all hap\u016b and iwi.<\/p>\n
She said he used his political voice to advance the interests of working people and his passion for the trade union movement.<\/p>\n
She said he organised rallies against the denial of pay equity for nurses and teachers and would \u201ctravel miles\u201d to help colleagues in the education sector.<\/p>\n
She said he was revered for the fact he grew up not speaking M\u0101ori but became one of its most astute advocates.<\/p>\n
She said he developed groundbreaking courses that saw people from all walks of life attending night classes, weekend wananga and tailor-made courses. He said that allowed \u201clanguage trauma\u201d to be confronted for M\u0101ori who were denied their culture and language. <\/p>\n
\u201cI have seen him spend time patiently with people from all walks of life to learn at his feet. Judges of the mainstream courts, lifers released from prison, solo mothers leaving violent relationships, right through to community leaders who were too embarrassed to admit that te reo M\u0101ori was something not in their kete matauranga.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was an eclectic leader of our time.\u201d<\/p>\n
They last met at a Te Kotahitanga o Te Arawa Fisheries meeting last week, where they were writing a submission on the Fisheries Bill and challenging the present coalition\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith a twinkle in his eye, he told me to fight the fight and forget the photographic tabloids on social media platforms because working for our people was always something expected but not a commitment that would see us monetarily compensated. The richness we would derive would be the memories we would leave for others to be inspired by.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Prime]()
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with former Whakat\u0101ne mayor Tony Boone (left), Waiariki MP T\u0101mati Coffey, and Dr Ken Kennedy. Photo \/ Katee Shanks<\/p>\n
Labour List MP Willie Jackson said Kennedy was a loyal and strong advocate for M\u0101ori and Labour.<\/p>\n
\u201cI admired how staunch he was to us, despite the M\u0101ori party dominance in Waiariki over the last six years; Ken never wavered with his support.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Labour was lucky to have him as a leading kaum\u0101tua.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never let us down when we needed support at hui and major functions. On behalf of our M\u0101ori Caucus, our leader Chris Hipkins and the wider Labour membership, I want to thank his family and Te Arawa iwi for his involvement and great support of the Labour Party.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kennedy is survived by his partner Rangimahuta Wiringi-Easthope, eight children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n
Kelly Makiha<\/a> is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2012 Kennedy was given an honorary doctorate by Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya University in India in recognition of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[95,216442,1952,29194,57422,3047,13489,34535,111,43,139,69,1327,8690],"class_list":["post-421540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-and","tag-arawa","tag-dr","tag-educator","tag-ken","tag-kennedy","tag-leader","tag-mourns","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rotorua","tag-te"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}