In 2012, Durie was elected to the Maori Council and elected co-chair, a role he held until being appointed the sole chair of the national body in April 2016.[4]
On 13 April 2002, Durie's 8-month-old adopted daughter Kahurautete ('Kahu') was kidnapped at gunpoint in Lower Hutt and held for $3 million ransom.[12] Kahu was found by police eight days later, 660 kilometres (410 mi) away in Taumarunui.[13] The kidnapper was sentenced to eleven years imprisonment and released after serving seven years.[14] The kidnapping was the subject of the 2010 film Stolen: The Baby Kahu Story in which Eddie Durie was played by George Henare.[15]
^"New Year honours list 2008". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2007. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2019.