The Hapu Party is a Māori political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 was formed
in August 2008. The party's leader is Northland iwi leader David Rankin.

Policies and actions

The Hapu Party believe 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 rate 18% personal tax and GST rate. Finally it sought to introduce the allocation of Treaty of Waitangi

Treaty of Waitangi

The Treaty of Waitangi is a treaty first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand....

 settlement monies to hapū

Hapu

A hapū is sometimes described as "the basic political unit within Maori society".A named division of a Māori iwi , membership is determined by genealogical descent; a hapū is made up of a number of whānau groups. Generally hapū range in size from 150-200 although there is no upper limit...

 and marae

Marae

A marae malae , malae , is a communal or sacred place which serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies...

, and to allow treaty claims to be made over private land.

The Hapu party sought to stand candidates in all seven Māori electorates for the 2008 election

New Zealand general election, 2008

The 2008 New Zealand general election was held on 8 November 2008 to determine the composition of the 49th New Zealand parliament. The conservative National Party, headed by its Parliamentary leader John Key, won a plurality of votes and seats, ending 9 years of government dominated by the social...

. It ran only a single candidate in 2008, receiving only 175 votes. It is not running any candidates in the 2011 election

New Zealand general election, 2011

The 2011 New Zealand general election on Saturday 26 November 2011 determined the membership of the 50th New Zealand Parliament.One hundred and twenty-one MPs were elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives, 70 from single-member electorates, including one overhang seat, and 51 from party...

.

Leadership

The party's leader David Rankin, Matarahurahu hapū leader, has become involved in a number of controversies including attempting to ban Māori Party

Maori Party

The Māori Party, a political party in New Zealand, was formed on 7 July 2004. The Party is guided by eight constitutional "kaupapa", or Party objectives. Tariana Turia formed the Māori Party after resigning from the Labour Party where she had been a Cabinet Minister in the Fifth Labour-led...

 MP Hone Harawira

Hone Harawira

Hone Pani Tamati Waka Nene Harawira is a New Zealand Māori activist and parliamentarian. He was elected to the Parliament of New Zealand for the Māori electorate of Te Tai Tokerau in the 2005 general election as the Māori Party candidate. His resignation caused the Te Tai Tokerau by-election, held...

 and his mother Titiwhai Harawira from Waitangi Day commemorations in 2007. Later he called for Harawira's resignation following Harawira's allegations of racism towards the Australian prime minister. In recent times, Rankin has become involved in the question of authenticity surrounding the auction of a piece of the famous Kororareka flagpole cut down in Russel

Russell, New Zealand

Russell, formerly known as Kororareka, was the first permanent European settlement and sea port in New Zealand. It is situated in the Bay of Islands, in the far north of the North Island. As at the 2006 census it had a resident population of 816, an increase of 12 from 2001...

 in 1844 as an act of defiance against British authority, by his great great uncle Hone Heke

Hone Heke

Hone Wiremu Heke Pokai was a Māori rangatira and war leader in Northern New Zealand and a nephew of Hongi Hika, an earlier war leader of the Ngāpuhi iwi. Hone Heke is considered the principal instigator of the Flagstaff War....

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