A life of dedication LADY TUREITI'S NEW GOALS

The health campaigner's focus is on the wellbeing of the next generation

- Kasia De Vydt-Jillings

Lady Tureiti Moxon has always been a leader. The eldest of 12 children, from an early age she was responsible for helping with her siblings on their small dairy farm in the rural Hawke's Bay settlement of Mohaka.

"When you're the oldest of 12, you can't help but be the boss," laughs Tureiti, 68. "Someone has to tell everyone what to do!"

Tureiti remembers waking at dawn to bring the cows into the shed for her mother to milk before going back to sleep, then waking again to make toast and porridge for her siblings' breakfast.

"After that, my mother would get the cream from the farm, put it on my horse and I'd take it down the road, then I'd go to school."

Early on, Tureiti learned the importance of taking care of each other.

"Home was not a place to play — it was a place to work, where everyone had an important role to play in the health and wellbeing of everyone else."

It's a value that still drives the work she does today as a leading Māori health campaigner and managing director of Te Kōhao Health, which opened Taakiri Tuu Wellness and Diagnostic Centre last year.

She recalls, "There was no government funding to support us, so we fundraised for it and created a joint venture with Pacific Radiology to support Māori to be diagnosed earlier.