Christina Mei Carline (née Ngaparu; 1948 – 29 February 2020) was a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. She was the first weather presenter on TV One after the dissolution of the

NZBC The New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC) was a publicly owned company of the New Zealand Government founded in 1962. The Broadcasting Act 1976 then reformed NZBC as the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand (BCNZ). The corporation was ...

in 1975.

Early life and family

Born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

in 1948 of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

descent, Carline affiliated to

Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua ( Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North Is ...

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the Arawa migration canoe (''waka'').Ngāti Raukawa Ngāti Raukawa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Waikato, Taupo and Manawatu/Horowhenua regions of New Zealand. In 2006, 29,418 Māori registered their affiliation with Ngāti Raukawa. History Early history Ngāti Raukawa rec ...

. She was the daughter of Huitao and Barbara Duff Ngaparu, growing up in the

Hutt Valley The Hutt Valley (or 'The Hutt') is the large area of fairly flat land in the Hutt River valley in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Like the river that flows through it, it takes its name from Sir William Hutt, a director of the New Zeala ...

and being educated at Upper Hutt College, where she was named as best speaker in the school debating club in 1965. After leaving school, Ngaparu trained as a bookkeeping machinist. In 1970, she was one of 14 hostesses at the New Zealand

Expo '70 The or Expo 70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fair ...

pavilion in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

for seven months, and then travelled in Europe and North America for three months.

Broadcasting career

When she returned to New Zealand, Ngaparu joined the NZBC in Wellington at the end of 1970, and after a course at the broadcasting training school, worked as an announcer on radio stations

2ZB ZB or Zb may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Monarch Airlines (IATA code ZB) * Zbrojovka Brno, a former Czechoslovakian state producer of small weapons and munitions * Zentralbahn, a Swiss railway * Zentralblatt MATH, now zbMATH, interna ...

2ZM ZM Wellington (previously 2ZM, ZMFM and 91ZM) is a Contemporary Hit Radio, hit music radio station in Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand. It is a station of the ZM (New Zealand), ZM network, and is owned and operated by New Zealand Media and Ent ...

and 2YA, and as a continuity announcer and weather presenter on WNTV1. After marrying and moving to Rotorua, Carline was persuaded to return to Wellington to present the weather on TV One, broadcast from the

Avalon Studios Avalon is a suburb of Lower Hutt in New Zealand, formed as a private residential development in the 1970s on land formerly occupied by market-gardens on the left (eastern) bank of the Hutt River. It features mostly California-inspired designed ...

in the Hutt Valley. She was the first weather presenter on the new nationally networked channel, and shared the role with Sue Scott until the early 1980s. Carline is noted for regularly using the Māori language greeting "

kia ora Kia ora (, approximated in English as or ) is a Māori-language greeting which has entered New Zealand English. It translates literally as "have life" or "be healthy", wishing the essence of life upon someone, from one speaker to the other ...

" in her broadcasts. Along with

Marama Martin Marama Isabel Martin (née Koea; 3 April 1930 – 10 July 2017) was a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. She was the first person seen on colour television in New Zealand, and was the last person to appear on NZBC TV. Early life and ...

, she is credited as being a trailblazer for Māori broadcasters.

Later life

Carline moved to Australia, and undertook university studies as a mature student. She earned a bachelor's degree in linguistics and a master's in peace and education studies, and also qualified as a teacher of English as a second language. She taught English as a second language to students ranging in age from seven to 15 years, before working at

Central Queensland University Central Queensland University (alternatively known as CQUniversity) is an Australian public university based in central Queensland. CQUniversity is the only Australian university with a campus presence in every mainland state. Its main campus ...

on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

as a guidance officer for international students. She also worked as a real estate agent for a time. Carline settled in

Runaway Bay, Queensland Runaway Bay is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Runaway Bay had a population of 9,068 people. The neighbourhood of Anglers Paradise () is situated within Runaway Bay. It is the southern area of Runaway ...

, and was active in

Toastmasters Toastmasters International (TI) is a US-headquartered nonprofit educational organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of promoting communication, public speaking, and leadership. History The organization grew out of a single c ...

with Runaway Toastmasters Club in Runaway Bay, serving as the club's inaugural vice president of education in 2000, and as club president from 2001 to 2002. Carline died of cancer on 29 February 2020.

References

External links

Clip of Tina Carline presenting the weather in 1978
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carline, Tina 1948 births 2020 deaths Ngāti Tūwharetoa people Ngāti Raukawa people Te Arawa people People from Wellington City People educated at Upper Hutt College New Zealand Māori broadcasters New Zealand radio presenters New Zealand women radio presenters New Zealand television presenters New Zealand women television presenters New Zealand expatriates in Australia