16/09/2026
Emeritus Professor John Renata Broughton CNZM
19 March 1947–15 September 2026
Ko horo! Ko horo!
Ko tanuku! Ko tanuku!
E titiro kau nei ki te tai o Āraiteuru e haruru mai ana
Ki te ākau o Karitāne
Kāhore ia nei he tohu o te mate
Auē rā he aituā! He aituā!
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu regrets to advise the passing of Emeritus Professor John Renata Broughton CNZM, nō Kāi Tahu (Kāti Huirapa ki Puketeraki) me Ngāti Kahungunu, at Dunedin Hospital on Tuesday afternoon following an accident at his Karitāne property on Saturday.
John was born at Hastings in 1947 to Leonard (1918–2006) and Margaret Broughton (née Evans) (1917–2005). Margaret’s mother, Ani, was a daughter of the long-serving Southern Māori MP, Tame Parata, and his wife Peti, of Puketeraki. Leonard, who graduated in medicine from the University of Otago in 1944, took residence with Ani and her husband Clive at their Dunedin home, “Te Maraenui", during his studies.
After he completed his secondary schooling at Hasting Boys’ High School, John studied microbiology at Massey University, graduating with a BSc in 1971. John later studied dentistry at Otago graduating with a BDS in 1977. He worked as a dental house surgeon at Dunedin Hospital and in private practice before being recruited to work at the university’s Department of Preventive and Social Medicine where he established the Ngāi Tahu Māori Health Research Unit. John served on the University of Otago Council for several years during the early 2000s and offered an enthusiastic and inimitable mihi to graduands and their whānau during Otago’s graduation ceremonies for nearly 30 years.
John completed a PhD in Māori oral health service provision in 2006 and served as Associate Dean Māori for the School of Dentistry. John also served in the New Zealand Territorial Force and was commissioned as an officer in 1977. John was, moreover, an award-winning playwright: part of a wave of Māori creatives who brought Māori stories to wide audiences through the 1980s and 1990s. His plays include Te Hokinga Mai, Michael James Manaia, 1981, Mana is My Name, and Frankie and Hone. Since moving to Dunedin in the 1970s, John has had a consistent and valued presence at Huirapa Marae and Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka. He was also a strong supporter and life-member of Āraiteuru Marae in Dunedin.
Details of John’s tangihanga and funeral service arrangements will follow. For now, our thoughts are with his whānau whānui and Kāti Huirapa ki Puketeraki at this sad and difficult time.
E te rakatira, anei tō rahi e taki nei, e taki nei.
