Tau Henare
Encyclopedia
Tau Henare is a New Zealand
Māori parliamentarian. He served as a Member of Parliament
from 1993 to 1999 and returned to Parliament in 2005. He has been involved with four political parties: Mana Motuhake
, New Zealand First
, Mauri Pacific
and the National Party
- representing three in parliament.
. Before entering politics, he held a number of governmental and consultancy positions, including advisory roles at the Department of Internal Affairs
and with the Waitakere
City Council. His family has a political history, with Henare's great-grandfather, Taurekareka (Tau) Henare
, having served in Parliament from 1914 to 1948 alongside famous Māori politicians such as Apirana Ngata
, James Carroll
and Maui Pomare
. Henare's own involvement with Māori politics began with Mana Motuhake
, a purely Māori party. When Winston Peters
(himself half Māori) established the New Zealand First
party, Henare changed the focus of his activities.
as the New Zealand First candidate for the Northern Maori electorate. He defeated Bruce Gregory
, the incumbent Labour Party
member, a surprising result given Labour's traditional dominance in the Māori electorates. He became New Zealand First's second MP, joining Peters in the House. As such, Henare became New Zealand First's deputy leader.
, conducted under the new MMP electoral system, New Zealand First gained fifteen further MPs, and also made a clean sweep of the five Māori electorates. As deputy leader, Henare was second on New Zealand First's party list. He easily won re-election in his electorate, which had been renamed Te Tai Tokerau. When New Zealand First went into coalition with National, allowing a third term of the fourth National government
, Henare joined the Cabinet
, with his most prominent ministry that of Māori Affairs
. He and the four other New Zealand First Māori MPs — Tuku Morgan
, Rana Waitai
, Tu Wyllie
and Tuariki Delamere
— became known as the Tight Five
, an allusion to the five tight forwards in a rugby union
team.
Associate Minister for Sport, Fitness and Leisure 16 December 1996-2 August 1998
Minister of Maori Affairs 16 December 1996-10 December 1999
Associate Minister of Corrections 31 August 1998-10 December 1999
Associate Minister of Education 31 August 1998-10 December 1999
Associate Minister of Tertiary Education 21 June 1999-10 December 1999
Associate Spokesperson, Treaty of Waitangi Issues and Māori Affairs (Treaty Negotiations) 26 October 2005-1 December 2006
Associate Spokesperson, Education (Early Childhood) 26 October 2005-1 December 2006
Jenny Shipley
sacked Peters from Cabinet on 14 August 1998, Peters pulled New Zealand First out of the coalition. However, Henare and several other New Zealand First MPs left the party
and offered their support to National, allowing the government to maintain a slim majority. It later emerged that before departing, Henare had mounted an unsuccessful challenge to Peters. After a brief time as an independent, he banded together with four other MPs who had departed New Zealand First (including two other members of the Tight Five, Morgan and Waitai), and established the Mauri Pacific party with himself as the new party's leader. Late in the term, he was criticised for refusing to give Trevor Mallard
a chance to speak on the use of the Māori language
in Parliament, because Mallard wasn't Māori.
In the 1999 elections
, Henare finished a distant third in his electorate and Mauri Pacific only gained 0.08% of the vote, forcing it out of Parliament.
, after Mauri Pacific's dissolution, he stood as a candidate for the National Party. He contested the Te Atatu electorate, and was ranked thirty-fifth on National's list. On election day, he finished second in Te Atatu and National did not win enough seats for him to return to Parliament.
, he stood again as a National candidate, again contesting Te Atatu and holding the 29th slot on the party list. He expressed agreement with the controversial Orewa speech
on race relations made by National Party leader Don Brash
. Henare finished a distant second in Te Atatu, but National's gains in the election were enough to return him to Parliament as a list MP.
In February 2010, Henare's Employment Relations (Workers' Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill was drawn from the member's ballot. The bill passed its first reading and is currently before a select committee.
outside the debating chamber in Parliament House
. It is understood he had made personal comments regarding the Labour MP's marriage breakup and subsequent new relationship.
During debate on the Auckland Local Government changes in August 2009, it emerged that Tau Henare had sent an email to his colleagues lobbying for the right to vote against part of the legislation, in particular whether there should be Maori seats on the new Auckland super city Council. In that email he made controversial remarks about the role of the National Party's coalition partner, the ACT Party, and during the reaction to the emails, made a number of challenging remarks about the co-leader of the Maori Party, another support party for his party's government.
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...
Māori parliamentarian. He served as a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
from 1993 to 1999 and returned to Parliament in 2005. He has been involved with four political parties: Mana Motuhake
Mana Motuhake
Mana Māori Motuhake was a Māori political party in New Zealand. The name is difficult to translate accurately, but essentially refers to Māori self-rule and self-determination — mana, in this context, can be understood as "authority" or "power", while motuhake can be understood as...
, New Zealand First
New Zealand First
New Zealand First is a political party in New Zealand that was founded in 1993, following party founder Winston Peters' resignation from the National Party in 1992...
, Mauri Pacific
Mauri Pacific
Mauri Pacific was a short-lived political party in New Zealand. It was formed in 1998 by five former members of the New Zealand First party. It has often been described as a Māori party. Officially, Mauri Pacific was a multiculturalist party, welcoming anyone who supported racial and cultural...
and the National Party
New Zealand National Party
The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...
- representing three in parliament.
Early life
Henare was born and educated in AucklandAuckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
. Before entering politics, he held a number of governmental and consultancy positions, including advisory roles at the Department of Internal Affairs
Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand)
The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs is a state sector organisation whose roles include the issue of passports; administering citizenship grant applications, and lottery grant applications; enforcement of censorship and gambling law; registration of births, deaths, marriages and civil...
and with the Waitakere
Waitakere
Waitakere City was the name of a city which existed from 1989 until 2010 in the Auckland region. It was New Zealand's fifth largest city, with an annual growth of about 2%...
City Council. His family has a political history, with Henare's great-grandfather, Taurekareka (Tau) Henare
Taurekareka Henare
Taurekareka Henare was a Māori politician of the Reform Party.-Background and early life:Henare was born at Pipiwai in the Bay of Islands, in 1878 or 1877. His father, Henare Wynyard, was said to be the son of Robert Wynyard, acting governor of New Zealand...
, having served in Parliament from 1914 to 1948 alongside famous Māori politicians such as Apirana Ngata
Apirana Ngata
Sir Apirana Turupa Ngata was a prominent New Zealand politician and lawyer. He has often been described as the foremost Māori politician to have ever served in Parliament, and is also known for his work in promoting and protecting Māori culture and language.-Early life:One of 15 children, Ngata...
, James Carroll
James Carroll (New Zealand politician)
Sir James Carroll, KCMG , known to Māori as Timi Kara, was a New Zealand politician of Irish and Ngati Kahungunu descent. Beginning his career as an interpreter and land agent, Carroll was elected to the Eastern Maori seat in 1887. He was Colonial Secretary from 1895...
and Maui Pomare
Maui Pomare
Sir Maui Wiremu Pita Naera Pomare, KBE, CMG was a New Zealand doctor and politician, being counted among the more prominent Māori political figures...
. Henare's own involvement with Māori politics began with Mana Motuhake
Mana Motuhake
Mana Māori Motuhake was a Māori political party in New Zealand. The name is difficult to translate accurately, but essentially refers to Māori self-rule and self-determination — mana, in this context, can be understood as "authority" or "power", while motuhake can be understood as...
, a purely Māori party. When Winston Peters
Winston Peters
Winston Raymond Peters is a New Zealand politician and leader of New Zealand First, a political party he founded in 1993. Peters has had a turbulent political career since entering Parliament in 1978. He served as Minister of Maori Affairs in the Bolger National Party Government before being...
(himself half Māori) established the New Zealand First
New Zealand First
New Zealand First is a political party in New Zealand that was founded in 1993, following party founder Winston Peters' resignation from the National Party in 1992...
party, Henare changed the focus of his activities.
Member of Parliament
Henare first won election to Parliament in the 1993 electionsNew Zealand general election, 1993
The 1993 New Zealand general election was held on 6 November 1993 to determine the composition of the 44th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the governing National Party, led by Jim Bolger, win a second term in office, despite a major swing back towards the Labour Party. The new Alliance and New...
as the New Zealand First candidate for the Northern Maori electorate. He defeated Bruce Gregory
Bruce Gregory
Bruce Craig Gregory was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.Gregory won the , which was caused by the resignation of the previous incumbent, Matiu Rata and held the seat until 1993, when Tau Henare won the seat for New Zealand First.-References:New Zealand Parliamentary Record 1840-1984...
, the incumbent Labour Party
New Zealand Labour Party
The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....
member, a surprising result given Labour's traditional dominance in the Māori electorates. He became New Zealand First's second MP, joining Peters in the House. As such, Henare became New Zealand First's deputy leader.
Minister of Maori Affairs
In the 1996 electionsNew Zealand general election, 1996
The 1996 New Zealand general election was held on 12 October 1996 to determine the composition of the 45th New Zealand Parliament. It was notable for being the first election to be held under the new Mixed Member Proportional electoral system, and produced a parliament considerably more diverse...
, conducted under the new MMP electoral system, New Zealand First gained fifteen further MPs, and also made a clean sweep of the five Māori electorates. As deputy leader, Henare was second on New Zealand First's party list. He easily won re-election in his electorate, which had been renamed Te Tai Tokerau. When New Zealand First went into coalition with National, allowing a third term of the fourth National government
Fourth National Government of New Zealand
The Fourth National Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 2 November 1990 to 27 November 1999. Following in the footsteps of the previous Labour government, the fourth National government embarked on an extensive programme of spending cuts...
, Henare joined the Cabinet
New Zealand Cabinet
The Cabinet of New Zealand functions as the policy and decision-making body of the executive branch within the New Zealand government system...
, with his most prominent ministry that of Māori Affairs
Minister of Maori Affairs
The Minister of Māori Affairs is the minister of the New Zealand government with broad responsibility for government policy towards Māori, the first inhabitants of New Zealand. The current Minister of Māori Affairs is Dr. Pita Sharples.-Role:...
. He and the four other New Zealand First Māori MPs — Tuku Morgan
Tuku Morgan
Tukoroirangi Morgan is a New Zealand Māori politician. He was chair of Te Arataura, the Waikato-Tainui committee or tribal parliament, but his status and membership within that body remain undecided...
, Rana Waitai
Rana Waitai
Rana Donald Waitai is a former politician. He was an MP from 1996 to 1999.-Early years:His father was Te Rangi Koroingo Te Oreore Waitai born and died in Lower Hutt...
, Tu Wyllie
Tu Wyllie
Tutekawa Wyllie , generally called Tu Wyllie, is a former New Zealand politician and rugby union player, who represented his country.-Early years:...
and Tuariki Delamere
Tuariki Delamere
Tuariki John Delamere is a former New Zealand politician. He served as an MP from 1996 to 1999, and was a member of Cabinet for the duration of his term.-Before politics:...
— became known as the Tight Five
Tight Five
-Parliamentary terms:-History:The Tight Five was a nickname given to the five Māori elected to the New Zealand Parliament in 1996 from the centrist/nationalist New Zealand First party....
, an allusion to the five tight forwards in a rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team.
Parliamentary roles
Minister for Racing 16 December 1996-30 August 1998Associate Minister for Sport, Fitness and Leisure 16 December 1996-2 August 1998
Minister of Maori Affairs 16 December 1996-10 December 1999
Associate Minister of Corrections 31 August 1998-10 December 1999
Associate Minister of Education 31 August 1998-10 December 1999
Associate Minister of Tertiary Education 21 June 1999-10 December 1999
Associate Spokesperson, Treaty of Waitangi Issues and Māori Affairs (Treaty Negotiations) 26 October 2005-1 December 2006
Associate Spokesperson, Education (Early Childhood) 26 October 2005-1 December 2006
Mauri Pacific
In August 1998, the coalition between National and New Zealand First started to become unstable, and internal tensions arose within New Zealand First itself. When Prime MinisterPrime Minister of New Zealand
The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...
Jenny Shipley
Jenny Shipley
Dame Jenny Shipley, DNZM , served as the 36th Prime Minister of New Zealand from December 1997 to December 1999, the first woman to hold this office and the first, and to date only, woman to serve as parliamentary leader of the National Party of New Zealand.-Early life:Shipley was born as Jennifer...
sacked Peters from Cabinet on 14 August 1998, Peters pulled New Zealand First out of the coalition. However, Henare and several other New Zealand First MPs left the party
Party switching
Party-switching is any change in political party affiliation of a partisan public figure, usually one currently holding elected office.In many countries, party-switching takes the form of politicians refusing to support their political parties in coalition governments...
and offered their support to National, allowing the government to maintain a slim majority. It later emerged that before departing, Henare had mounted an unsuccessful challenge to Peters. After a brief time as an independent, he banded together with four other MPs who had departed New Zealand First (including two other members of the Tight Five, Morgan and Waitai), and established the Mauri Pacific party with himself as the new party's leader. Late in the term, he was criticised for refusing to give Trevor Mallard
Trevor Mallard
Trevor Colin Mallard is a New Zealand politician. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand holding portfolios including Environment, Labour, Broadcasting, State Owned Enterprises, Rugby World Cup and Education. He was also Associate Minister of Finance.-Early...
a chance to speak on the use of the Māori language
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
in Parliament, because Mallard wasn't Māori.
In the 1999 elections
New Zealand general election, 1999
The 1999 New Zealand general election was held on 27 November 1999 to determine the composition of the 46th New Zealand Parliament. The governing National Party, led by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, was defeated, being replaced by a coalition of Helen Clark's Labour Party and the smaller Alliance...
, Henare finished a distant third in his electorate and Mauri Pacific only gained 0.08% of the vote, forcing it out of Parliament.
National Party
In the 2002 electionsNew Zealand general election, 2002
The 2002 New Zealand general election was held on 27 July 2002 to determine the composition of the 47th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the reelection of Helen Clark's Labour Party government, as well as the worst-ever performance by the opposition National Party.Arguably the most controversial...
, after Mauri Pacific's dissolution, he stood as a candidate for the National Party. He contested the Te Atatu electorate, and was ranked thirty-fifth on National's list. On election day, he finished second in Te Atatu and National did not win enough seats for him to return to Parliament.
Return to Parliament
In the 2005 electionsNew Zealand general election, 2005
The 2005 New Zealand general election held on 17 September 2005 determined the composition of the 48th New Zealand Parliament. No party won a majority in the unicameral House of Representatives, but the Labour Party of Prime Minister Helen Clark secured two more seats than nearest rival, the...
, he stood again as a National candidate, again contesting Te Atatu and holding the 29th slot on the party list. He expressed agreement with the controversial Orewa speech
Orewa Speech
The Orewa Speech was a speech delivered by the then-leader of the New Zealand National Party Don Brash to the Orewa Rotary Club on 27 January 2004. It addressed the theme of race relations in New Zealand and in particular the special status of Māori people...
on race relations made by National Party leader Don Brash
Don Brash
Donald "Don" Thomas Brash , a New Zealand politician, was Leader of the Opposition, parliamentary leader of the National Party from 28 October 2003 to 27 November 2006 and the leader of the ACT Party for 28th April 2011 - 26 November 2011...
. Henare finished a distant second in Te Atatu, but National's gains in the election were enough to return him to Parliament as a list MP.
In February 2010, Henare's Employment Relations (Workers' Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill was drawn from the member's ballot. The bill passed its first reading and is currently before a select committee.
Controversies
On 25 October 2007, Henare had an altercation with Labour Party MP Trevor MallardTrevor Mallard
Trevor Colin Mallard is a New Zealand politician. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand holding portfolios including Environment, Labour, Broadcasting, State Owned Enterprises, Rugby World Cup and Education. He was also Associate Minister of Finance.-Early...
outside the debating chamber in Parliament House
New Zealand Parliament Buildings
The New Zealand Parliament Buildings house the New Zealand Parliament and are on a 45,000 square metre site at the northern end of Lambton Quay, Wellington...
. It is understood he had made personal comments regarding the Labour MP's marriage breakup and subsequent new relationship.
During debate on the Auckland Local Government changes in August 2009, it emerged that Tau Henare had sent an email to his colleagues lobbying for the right to vote against part of the legislation, in particular whether there should be Maori seats on the new Auckland super city Council. In that email he made controversial remarks about the role of the National Party's coalition partner, the ACT Party, and during the reaction to the emails, made a number of challenging remarks about the co-leader of the Maori Party, another support party for his party's government.