Oriini Kaipara
Newsreader, Reporter [Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Tuhoe, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rangatihi]
Over a career spanning more than two decades, Oriini Kaipara has been on a mission to normalise Māori language and culture on-air. Kaipara began her long run of newsreading gigs at Mai FM radio in Auckland, then in 2004 joined TVNZ te reo series Waka Huia as a reporter. After time on Te Karere, she moved to Māori Television current affairs show Native Affairs in 2016. Kaipara achieved her longtime goal of becoming a news anchor on mainstream television — initially on 1 News in 2019, then on Three's bulletin Newshub in 2021. She made international headlines as the first woman with a moko kauae to present the prime time news.
Just because there is a Māori dedicated show on 1 News, doesn't mean that we're all confined to that one space. We deserve to be in the other spaces as well, moko or no moko, reo or no reo. Oriini Kaipara in an interview with website 1News, 28 November 2019
