Tutekawa Wyllie generally called Tu Wyllie, is a former 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...

 politician and 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...

 player, who represented his country.

Early years

Before entering politics, he worked as a teacher

Teacher

A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...

 and as a policy analyst for various government departments. He was also a rugby union player, having played both for the All Blacks

All Blacks

The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

 and the New Zealand Māori rugby union team

New Zealand Maori rugby union team

New Zealand Māori is a rugby union team that traditionally plays teams touring New Zealand. A prerequisite for playing in this team is that the player is to have Māori whakapapa or genealogy. In the past this rule was not strictly applied. In the past non-Māori players who looked Māori were often...

.

Member of Parliament

He was an MP from 1996 to 1999, representing 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. He was first elected to Parliament in the 1996 elections

New 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...

 as MP for Te Tai Tonga

Te Tai Tonga

Te Tai Tonga is a New Zealand Parliamentary Māori electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Te Tai Tonga is Rino Tirikatene of the Labour Party, who in 2011 defeated Rahui Katene of the Māori Party, who won the seat in 2008.Te Tai...

, defeating the 29-year parliamentary veteran Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan

Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan

Tini "Whetu" Marama Tirikatene-Sullivan, ONZ was a New Zealand politician. She was an MP from 1967 to 1996, representing the Labour Party. At the time of her retirement, she was the second longest-serving MP in Parliament, being in her tenth term of office...

. New Zealand First captured all five Māori seats

Maori seats

In New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially also called Māori seats, are a special category of electorate that gives reserved positions to representatives of Māori in the New Zealand Parliament...

 in the 1996 election (including Te Tai Tonga) When New Zealand First splintered, he was one of the MPs who remained with the party core. 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...

, Wyllie did not stand on the New Zealand First list. He did, however, seek re-election as MP for Te Tai Tonga, but was defeated by Mahara Okeroa

Mahara Okeroa

The New Zealand politician Mahara Okeroa, a member of the Labour Party, represented the voters of the Te Tai Tonga Māori electorate as their Member of Parliament from 1999 to 2008.- Career :...

 of the 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....

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