Te Kāhui Kaipatuahi o Aotearoa

Posted 18 Sep '20 under Featured News

The NZPFU is embracing the nation’s recognition of te reo Māori starting with the translation of our name.

Te Kāhui Kaipatuahi o Aotearoa is a translation of NZ Firefighters’ Union. 

  • Union translates as Kāhui, meaning, gathering, herd or company of.   It is also a constellation of stars and comes from the word hui 'to meet, gather, assemble'
  • There are three elements to Kaipatuahi - kai is a prefix to denote a worker, patu is to hit/fight and ahi is fire

We greatly appreciate the assistance of Auckland Station Officer Barry Thomas who, with the guidance of his te reo Māori expert, provided the translation.

Barry has also provided a recording to assist with pronunciation.

We are working on updating our website so that we include the translation permanently.

Maori Language week has been celebrated in Aotearoa since 1975.  In 2017 the Mahuru Māori initative began to promote the use of te reo Māori throughout the month of September.  Mahuru Māori is a challenge for us all to take up Māori language in our every-day lives no matter what our current level of speaking Māori may be.  This is an opportunity for us all to learn, raise awareness and contribute to the revitalising of te reo Māori.

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NZPFU GIVES FENZ NOTICE OF RIGHT TO DEPLOY PARNELL 255

Since the last NZPFU notice Auckland Local representatives have met with District Manager Vaughan Mackereth to discuss his direction not to deploy the aerial appliance Parnell 255 unless confirmed fire.

Mr Mackereth refused to withdraw his instruction, threatened industrial action for those that did not comply with his instruction and refused to other alternatives to address aspects of the health and safety implications of his instruction.

Today the NZPFU notified FENZ that Officers had the right on health and safety grounds to deploy the heavy aerial in accordance of their training and experience, regardless of confirmed fire.