Whatever the weather 'I'M STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS'

The TV presenter's forecasts are causing a storm in a teacup, but Te Rauhiringa's turning the lows into a high

- Aroha Awarau

With her cheery demeanour and her passion for te Reo Māori, TVNZ's newest weather presenter, Te Rauhiringa Brown, is a ray of sunshine to those who tune in to watch.

But recently she experienced a cloudy moment in her career after a raft of negative comments surfaced online, complaining about the fluent Māori speaker using both English and te reo while presenting the weather. One complainant said it was a "disgrace".

"It baffles me that people say these things and have views about Māori, a culture that they've probably never spent any time with and a language they haven't put any energy into learning about," Te Rauhiringa tells the Weekly.

"Te reo Māori is more than just a language. It's a world view; it's the way that we treat people."

The 30-year-old grew up attending kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori-language immersion schools.

She started her TV career at 19 as a presenter on te reo Māori children's show Pukana and has been a regular presenter on various kids' shows. She has since become an actress and writer of theatre shows in both English and Māori.

The all-rounder has also acted in films. She joined TVNZ in 2018 as a journalist and worked on Te Karere before joining Seven Sharp. This year, she was asked to juggle her role on the week-night current affairs show with being a weekend weather presenter on 1News to cover for Renee Wright, who is on maternity leave.