The Hapu Party was a Māori political party in New Zealand that was formed in August 2008 [1] and contested the Te Tai Tokerau seat in the 2008 general election. The party was led by David Rankin, [1] a leader of the Matarahurahu hapū of Northland.
The Hapu Party believed that because of poorer Māori health outcomes, and therefore reduced life expectancy, Māori should be eligible for the pension at age 56. It planned to introduce a flat 18% rate for personal tax and GST. It sought to have Treaty of Waitangi settlement monies allocated directly to hapū and marae, [1] and to allow Treaty claims to be made over private land. [2]
The Hapu Party had hoped to have candidates in all seven Māori electorates for the 2008 election, [1] but stood only one candidate. David Rankin, a leader of the Matarahurahu hapū of Northland and the party leader, stood in Te Tai Tokerau and received 202 votes [3] (1% of the total in the electorate). The party did not run in the 2011 election.
David Rankin, the party leader, became involved in a number of controversies, including attempting to ban Māori Party MP Hone Harawira and his mother Titewhai Harawira from Waitangi Day commemorations in 2007. [4] Later he called for Harawira's resignation following Harawira's allegations of racism towards the Australian prime minister. [5] Rankin became involved in the question of authenticity surrounding the auction of a piece of the famous Kororareka flagpole cut down in Russell in 1844 as an act of defiance against British authority, by his great great uncle Hone Heke. [6]
Waitangi Day, the national day of New Zealand, marks the anniversary of the initial signing—on 6 February 1840—of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty of Waitangi was an agreement towards British sovereignty by representatives of the Crown and indigenous Māori chiefs, and so is regarded by many as the founding document of the nation.
Te Pāti Māori, also known as the Māori Party, is a political party in New Zealand advocating indigenous rights. It contests the specially reserved Māori electorates, in which its main rival is the Labour Party.
In New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially known as the Māori seats, are a special category of electorate that give reserved positions to representatives of Māori in the New Zealand Parliament. Every area in New Zealand is covered by both a general and a Māori electorate; as of 2020, there are seven Māori electorates. Since 1967, candidates in Māori electorates have not needed to be Māori themselves, but to register as a voter in the Māori electorates people need to declare that they are of Māori descent.
Ngāpuhi is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland regions of New Zealand centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei.
Dover Spencer Peneha Samuels is a former Labour Member of Parliament in New Zealand from 1996 to 2008 inclusive.
Māori politics is the politics of the Māori people, who were the original inhabitants of New Zealand and who are now the country's largest minority. Before the arrival of Pākehā (Europeans) in New Zealand, Māori society was based largely around tribal units, and chiefs provided political leadership. With the British settlers of the 19th century came a new British-style government. From the outset, Māori sought representation within this government, seeing it as a vital way to promote their people's rights and improve living standards. Modern Māori politics can be seen as a subset of New Zealand politics in general, but has a number of distinguishing features, including advocacy for indigenous rights and Māori sovereignty. Many Māori politicians are members of major, historically European-dominated political parties, but several Māori parties have been formed.
Hone Pani Tamati Waka Nene Harawira is a New Zealand Māori activist and former parliamentarian. He was elected to parliament as the member for the Māori electorate of Te Tai Tokerau in 2005 as the Māori Party candidate.
Piri Wiri Tua Movement was a Māori political party in New Zealand associated with the Ratana movement. It was formed in 1999 with the aim of establishing a separate Māori assembly that would work in a partnership alongside Parliament to administer Māori affairs, social services, health and education and the Māori Land Court. The party's leader Te Kaiarahi Hui said the party's name referred to working closely with others to achieve benefits for Māori. He said Ratana had taken on the role of Piri Wiri Tua when he worked to meet the needs of Māori people.
Te Tai Tokerau is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate that was created out of the Northern Maori electorate ahead of the first Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) election in 1996. It was held first by Tau Henare representing New Zealand First for one term, and then Dover Samuels of the Labour Party for two terms. From 2005 to 2014, it was held by MP Hone Harawira. Initially a member of the Māori Party, Harawira resigned from both the party and then Parliament, causing the 2011 by-election. He was returned under the Mana Party banner in July 2011 and confirmed at the November 2011 general election. In the 2014 election, he was beaten by Labour's Kelvin Davis, ending the representation of the Mana Party in Parliament.
The 49th New Zealand Parliament was elected at the 2008 election. It comprised 122 members, including an overhang of two seats caused by the Māori Party having won two more electorate seats than its share of the party vote would otherwise have given it. The Parliament served from 2008 until the November 2011 election.
Kelvin Glen Davis is a New Zealand politician and a member of the House of Representatives who has served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party since 1 August 2017.
The 2014 New Zealand general election took place on Saturday 20 September 2014 to determine the membership of the 51st New Zealand Parliament.
The Mana Movement, formerly known as the Mana Party, is a former political party in New Zealand. The party was led by Hone Harawira who formed it in April 2011 following his resignation from the Māori Party. Harawira won the by-election in Te Tai Tokerau of 25 June 2011 for the Mana Party and retained the seat during the 2011 general election in November.
The 2011 Te Tai Tokerau by-election was a by-election in the New Zealand electorate of Te Tai Tokerau that was caused by Hone Harawira's resignation from the seat. Prior to resigning his seat, Harawira had resigned from the Māori Party and formed his own Mana Party.
Rino Tirikatene is a New Zealand politician and a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Te Tai Tonga electorate since the 2011 election. He is a member of the Labour Party. He comes from a family with a strong political history.
Muriwhenua are a group of northern Māori iwi, based in Te Hiku o te Ika, the northernmost part of New Zealand's North Island. It consists of six iwi, Ngāti Kurī, Ngāi Takoto, Te Pātū, Ngāti Kahu, Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa, with a combined population of about 34,000 people. The spiritually significant Hokianga Harbour, located just to the south of the Maungataniwha Range, is of special significance to the Muriwhenua people.
Titewhai Te Hoia Hinewhare Harawira was a New Zealand Māori activist. Born in Whakapara and descended from Ngāpuhi chiefs, Harawira was an outspoken political commentator and a civil rights campaigner beginning with her involvement with activist group Ngā Tamatoa in the 1970s. She became a nationally recognised figure due in part to her role escorting New Zealand prime ministers onto the marae during annual Waitangi Day celebrations.
David Breen Seymour is a New Zealand politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Epsom and leader of ACT New Zealand since 2014.
Sir Graham Stanley Latimer was a New Zealand Māori leader, chosen in the late 1960s to be a new leader to resolve Māori grievances. He was a member of the New Zealand Māori Council from 1964, and president from 1973. In 1987 he initiated a successful appeal against the State-Owned Enterprises Act leading to actions against the Crown relating to land, forests, fisheries and te reo Māori.
Dame Rangimārie Naida Glavish is a New Zealand politician and Māori community leader from the Ngāti Whātua iwi. From 2013 to 2016, she was President of the Māori Party.