New Group Manager Community Jeanette Wikaira welcomed with pōwhiri
Published on 21 May 2025
Former Thames woman Jeanette Wikaira has been formally welcomed to a senior leadership role at Thames-Coromandel District Council with a pōwhiri at Matai Whetū Marae, Kōpū.
Wikaira, (Ngāti Pukenga, Ngāti Tamaterā, Ngāpuhi) spent five years as part of the executive leadership team at Dunedin City Council with roles including General Manager for Arts, Culture and Recreation, plus General Manager of Community Services, and General Manager of Partnerships, Policy and Governance.
Wikaira says she has now “returned home” to Thames to take on the Council’s role of Group Manager Community. She will oversee all community-facing aspects of the Council including Customer Services, Emergency Management, Communications, Parks, Libraries and Facilities.
The Honourable Sir Justice Joe Williams (Ngāti Pukenga, Waitaha, Tapuika); Māori Heritage Council chairman Edward Ellison (Kāi Tahu) and Dunedin City Council Chief Executive Sandy Graham attended the pōwhiri, officially handing over Wikaira to the TCDC. Each applauded Wikaira’s appointment and were supported by Wikaira’s wider whānau from Manaia.
Council’s senior leaders, staff and elected members also attended.
Afterward, Wikaira said the relationships with Kāi Tahu and across the community and the roles she held in Dunedin had been incredibly valuable. Now, it was time to serve the communities that raised her.
“I was born in Thames Hospital, I grew up in Thames, I went to kindergarten, primary school, high school in Thames. I do feel like I’m coming back to give back to a place that I grew up in.”
Wikaira also has ties to Manaia and Waiomu.
Sir Justice Williams, who is Wikaira’s uncle from Manaia, said it was a great honour “that one of our own whānau has taken up a senior position in the Council”.
“Our people from Manaia have come today to show their support and to let you know that she is not an individual, she is a member of a hapu, iwi, and whānau.”
Thames-Coromandel District Council Chief Executive Aileen Lawrie described Wikaira as a “taonga” the Council and district were lucky to have.
Prior to Wikaira’s local government background, she held senior roles at the University of Otago and Auckland University of Technology and is currently chair of the Hone Tuwhare Charitable Trust, co-chair of the Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival, and a trustee of Manaia Marae. Her academic career spans more than 30 years.