Robert Pouwhare | Ngāti Haka, Tūhoe

Robert (Ngāti Haka, Tūhoe) is a television director/producer and app developer with 43 years of production experience in broadcasting.  

He has produced, researched and directed numerous documentaries, children's programmes, and 2D/3D animation series. He has also composed music and lyricist for over 50 original songs aimed at kōhanga reo (Māori language immersion pre-school) children for television, in a concerted effort at language revitilisation.  

He was one of the members of the Māori Language Society who presented the Māori Language Petition to parliament in 1972. This paved the way for introducing language into schools, on radio and television – he was part of the first Māori programme series Koha in 1980. The Māori Language Act was introduced in 1987 and Māori Television established in 2004.  

He is a licensed translator and interpreter for The Māori Language Commission.