Thursday, 20 September 2018 - 11:59am

Tui takes flight

3 min read

News article photos (1 items)

Tui

After 21 years with the Police Infringement Bureau (PIB), Tui Matene wants to use her knowledge of Police, the law and human nature to help some of New Zealand’s most vulnerable.

Tui started with PIB in 1997 after moving from Kaikohe to Wellington with husband Shane and young son Dylan for the better job prospects.

She has left Police and is returning to Kaikohe, looking for a role with the Te Pae Oranga iwi panel which is due to launch in Northland in the coming months.

“It’s a good time to leave Police and leave Wellington,” she told colleagues, friends and family at her farewell at Police National Headquarters (PNHQ). “I’ve gone as far as I believe I can down here.

“My kete’s full – I want to pack it up and take it home, to help out the community, and help out the whānau.”

Tui first applied for a data entry job at PIB’s old base in Cuba Street, Wellington. The jobs had gone but because of her legal background as a former legal secretary she was offered a role in the Courts section of Adjudication.

“I was very quiet and properly dressed in those days,” she says. “I’m still properly dressed – I’m just not very quiet any more.”

She says working for Police built up her confidence in life.

“For me a person needs three things. You’ve got to have respect, have trust, and be open and honest. That’s what’s got me through, besides my family.

“Be yourself. Some people just want to tick every box to get where they want to be, but for me it was always just about being me.

“He aha te mea nui o te ao? What is the most important thing in the world? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. It is people, it is people, it is people.

“I’ve always been about the people. People first, business second. You need the people to make your business successful.”

She worked in almost every area of PIB, eventually going full circle to finish as Courts section Team Leader. “I said to my first team leader ‘I’m going to have your job when you leave’. And I did.”

She says her final role was the one she enjoyed most. “I loved the investigation side. I loved the evidence. I wanted to make sure everything was correct from the defendant’s side as well as from Police’s.

“I wanted to make sure we had a case and everything was fair.”

She says she enjoyed her working relationships with Police prosecutors - and Road Policing Managers nationwide, as her role included managing speed camera activations by police and other emergency service vehicles.

 

Tui award
Tui receives her 21-year badge from Inspector Pete McKennie.

 

Tui also welcomed the Police High Performance Programme as a way motivating staff and ensuring best practice. “I was doing this for years before it became compulsory - it's about reaffirmation for my team and myself, and about helping and supporting others that aren't so sure.”

In Northland she intends networking with Police and community partners to find how she can be of use to Te Pae Oranga, a community-based process which seeks to address low-level offending outside the formal court system.

Tui says her experience in legal environments and expertise in matters related to driving offending could prove valuable. Driving offences often come before panels, while getting a licence and getting on the road legitimately is a way many people can be lifted out of offending.

Tui’s desire to ensure everything is fair remains a motivation – away from the adversarial court atmosphere, the panel’s kaupapa is to work together to help the participant.

At her farewell, colleagues queued up to pay tribute. Her sense of fun and reluctance to keep her opinions to herself were a recurring theme.

Inspector Pete McKennie, Road Policing Operations Manager, referred to Tui’s “smiley face and a can-do attitude” as he presented her 21-year Long Service and Good Conduct badge.

She also received a certificate of service, and a certificate from the RNZPC/PNHQ kapa haka group to mark her membership and contribution.

“Tui’s one of those people who breaks down barriers,” said her final boss at PIB, Inspector Mike Brooklands. “She’s a straight-talker – I always knew where I stood with Tui.”