Pink Shirt match for Māori

May 19, 2023

It's Pink Shirt Day and the Mental Health Foundation's senior Māori engagement specialist says the anti-bullying kaupapa is something Māori can really get behind.

It’s Pink Shirt Day and the Mental Health Foundation’s senior Māori engagement specialist says the anti-bullying kaupapa is something Māori can really get behind.

Chrissy Looker says this year’s theme is upstanding and encourages whanau to call out bullying in all forms, support the bullied, and not be afraid to get help .

She says while Pink Shirt Day originates from Canada – it’s a kaupapa that Maori can understand at all levels.

“It doesn’t necessarily have to come from a kaupapa Maori whakaaro, but it does resonate with us in the sense that we have – as a Maori nation – experienced bullying or some sort of discrimination. And we’re really good at manaakitanga and supporting people. So, in that aspect I think it sits with us as Maori,” Ms Looker says.

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Pink Shirt Day Aotearoa even has its own catchy Pere Wihongi-written te reo waiata from last year – which Chrissy Looker says will again feature heavily in the 2023 campaign.