Dame Farah Palmer has retired as chair of the NZ Māori Rugby Board. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Dame Farah Palmer is to stand down as New Zealand Māori Rugby Board chair, after 17 years as a member.
The former Black Ferns captain Palmer (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato) was recognised at her last board meeting in Auckland on Thursday night. She is retiring after three terms on the New Zealand Rugby board.
She has been NZR's representative on the Māori board since 2016, when she replaced Wayne Peters as chair, having originally been appointed as an independent member in 2007.
Palmer told the NZMRB annual meeting it had been honour to lead Māori rugby during a transformative time for the sport.
"The inclusion of independent and appointed members as well as the regional Māori representatives is one of many highlights. Along with, encouraging greater engagement between the two boards, insisting the Māori board be involved in strategic discussions, CEO and Chair forums, and part of the Silver Lake and Governance Review process.
"To Māori in rugby, as rangatira and rangatahi, both on and off the field, around boardrooms and on rugby fields, and everything in between - keep striving, stay true to your values, and you will thrive," she said.
Board deputy chair Doug Jones (Rongowhakaata, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Ngāti Kahungunu) praised her contribution to Māori rugby, saying she had set a new precedent as the first Māori wāhine to chair the board and serve on the NZR board, recently rising to be its deputy chair.
"Where the presence of a wāhine around the board table was once unheard of, it is now a new norm thanks in large part to Farah".
The board was told of a strong year, with an overall increase in Māori involved in rugby, with 41,072 players taking the field in 2023. This was a 25 percent increase for kōtiro, mareikura and wāhine and a 7 percent increase for tama, whatukura and tāne.
"All regions have shown growth in wāhine player numbers, with 11 provincial unions showing more than a 20 percent increase. Poverty Bay in particular showed a 95 percent increase in wāhine Māori playing rugby which is awesome to see," Palmer said.
More than 500 Māori participated in Tu Toa Māreikura and Whatukura programmes, led by Tiki Edwards and Kahu Carey. They use rugby to teach young people about Māori values and ways of living to cope with today's world.
An increasing number of players from these programmes are progressing to higher honours and in 2023, the programme celebrated its first All Black representative when Tamaiti Williams became All Black No 1209.
New Zealand Rugby will appoint its new representative on the Māori board, when its own board is ratified in the coming weeks.
Following this, the Māori board will have the ability to choose its chair for the first time, following changes to its constitution approved last night.