Three new SuperSeniors Champions announced

  • Maggie Barry
Seniors

Three more high-profile New Zealanders have become SuperSeniors Champions, Seniors Minister Maggie Barry has announced.

Legendary opera singer Dame Malvina Major, former MP and Minister Margaret Austin and the actor, filmmaker and naturalist Peter Hayden are the latest to join the Champions programme, launched earlier this year.

Ms Barry made the announcement at a function in Parliament this evening to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

“Dame Malvina, Ms Austin and Mr Hayden are three inspirational voices for older New Zealanders across the arts and active community involvement,” Ms Barry says.

“Their advocacy, insight and enthusiasm will be vital to making sure senior’s voices are heard in our communities and they will challenge assumptions and attitudes about older people’s contribution to society.”

SuperSeniors Champions are voluntary, non-political positions to advocate for older people, positive ageing and an age-friendly New Zealand.

The three new Champions join actor Dame Kate Harcourt, weightlifting champion Precious McKenzie and former Taranaki newspaper editor Lance Girling-Butcher, the first to be announced.

Dame Malvina Major is an opera star of international standing and a well-known patron of the arts. Dame Malvina is committed to passing on her skills and experience to a younger generation of opera singers through the Dame Malvina Major Foundation.

Margaret Austin is a former Minister, Member of Parliament and Chancellor of Lincoln University. The long-time Christchurch resident is very involved in her local community, and since the earthquakes has participated in the Wainoni-Avonhead community group.

Peter Hayden is a TV and stage show actor who has also had a long career producing documentaries such as Wild South, and Journeys Across Latitude South 45. He has recently returned to the small screen as the grandfather in the comedy series 800 Words, and had roles in Roger Hall’s play You Can Always Hand Them Back and Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.