Tau Henare

Tau Henare (born 29 September 1960) 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 3 political parties: New Zealand First, Mauri Pacific and the National Party.

Early life

Henare was born and educated in Auckland. 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.

Member of Parliament

Henare first won election to Parliament in the 1993 elections as the New Zealand First candidate for the Northern Māori electorate. He defeated Bruce Gregory, the incumbent Labour Party member, a surprising result given Labour's traditional dominance in the Māori seats. 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 elections, conducted under the new MMP electoral system, New Zealand First gained fifteen further MPs, and also made a clean sweep of the five Māori seats. 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.

Parliamentary roles

Minister for Racing 16 December 1996-30 August 1998
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

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 Minister 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.

National Party

In the 2002 elections, 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 elections, 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.

Henare currently also works as a talkback host on the nationwide radio station, Newstalk ZB.

Controversies

On 25 October 2007, Henare had an altercation with Labour Party MP Trevor Mallard outside the debating chamber in Parliament House. [cite web|url=http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411368/1414972|title=Mallard sorry for punching Henare|publisher=TVNZ|date=25 October 2007|accessdate=2007-10-26] It is understood he had made personal comments regarding the Labour MP's marriage breakup and subsequent new relationship.

References