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Today we are very lucky to speak to Tia Potae, the winner of the inaugural Primary Industries award at the 2021 New Zealand Women of Influence Awards. Tia is based in the sunny Coromandel, but hails from Milton at the bottom of the South Island. 

The Potae name is extremely well known in shearing circles, with her grandfather’s brother George Potae winning the Golden Shears in 1969. Tia herself has been in the shearing industry all her life, representing New Zealand in woolhandling in 2005 and 2013. 

Tia has a huge list of achievements and is truly a champion of rural communities. 

Tia is a Whānau Ora navigator at Tokomairiro Waiora and won the award for supporting shearers and their families through the challenges of Covid-19. During the 2020 lockdown, she developed an online programme for wool, forestry and fishing industry workers who found it difficult to access services after hours. She also helped workers access the Wage Subsidy Scheme.

Tia is also a rural navigator for Tokomairiro Waiora, a Kaupapa Māori Health Service providing Whānau Ora services in South Otago. Her rural navigator programme was a response to a Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu 2019 survey of wool harvesters which found they needed better access to health and social services.

And if you thought she couldn’t possibly do anymore, she also has a small business, Taki Toru Woolshed Services, where she runs her own training programme. 

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