Adrian Rurawhe
Adrian Paki Rurawhe (born 1961)[2] is a New Zealand Labour Party politician of Ngāti Apa descent. He is the speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, the second Māori to hold the position, and Member of Parliament for Te Tai Hauāuru.
Adrian Rurawhe | |
|---|---|
Rurawhe in 2022 | |
| 31st Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives | |
| Assumed office 24 August 2022 | |
| Monarchs | Elizabeth II Charles III |
| Governor-General | Cindy Kiro |
| Prime Minister | Jacinda Ardern |
| Deputy | Greg O'Connor |
| Preceded by | Trevor Mallard |
| Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives | |
| In office 26 November 2020 – 24 August 2022 | |
| Speaker | Trevor Mallard |
| Preceded by | Anne Tolley |
| Succeeded by | Greg O'Connor |
| Second Assistant Speaker of the House of Representatives | |
| In office 8 November 2017 – 26 November 2020 | |
| Speaker | Trevor Mallard |
| Preceded by | Trevor Mallard |
| Succeeded by | Jacqui Dean |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Te Tai Hauāuru | |
| Assumed office 20 September 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Tariana Turia |
| Majority | 1,053 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1961 (age 60–61) |
| Relations | Matiu Rātana (grandfather) Iriaka Rātana (grandmother) T. W. Ratana (great-grandfather) Matt Ratana (cousin)[1] |
| Website | www |
Family and professional career
Rurawhe is a grandson of Matiu and Iriaka Rātana, who were both Members of Parliament for the former Western Maori electorate from 1945 to 1969. He is a great-grandson of Rātana founder T. W. Ratana.[3]
His grandfather died before he was born, and he was at secondary school before he was aware that his "Nan" was a Member of Parliament. Koro Wētere, the former Eastern Maori MP, encouraged his early involvement in politics and has been a mentor for Rurawhe.[4]
Rurawhe has a background in health and education.[5] He was the chairman of the Ngāti Apa iwi for ten years[5] and was on the team that negotiated the 2011 treaty settlement with the Crown through the Waitangi Tribunal.[6]
Political career
| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–2017 | 51st | Te Tai Hauāuru | none | Labour | |
| 2017–2020 | 52nd | Te Tai Hauāuru | none | Labour | |
| 2020–present | 53rd | Te Tai Hauāuru | 24 | Labour | |
Rurawhe worked alongside Tariana Turia, to whom he is related, when she was still a member of the Labour Party.[5] He was a member of the Māori Party between 2004 and 2008.[7]
First term, 2014–2017
At the 2014 election, after Turia had retired from politics, Rurawhe contested the Te Tai Hauāuru electorate for Labour and defeated Chris McKenzie of the Māori Party.[5][8]
In his first term of Parliament, Labour was in Opposition and Rurawhe was appointed as the Labour Party spokesperson for civil defence and emergency management (2014–2015), internal affairs (2015–2017) and Treaty of Waitangi negotiations (2017). He was also junior whip after the election of Jacinda Ardern as Labour Party leader.
In July 2015, Rurawhe introduced the Official Information (Parliamentary Under-Secretaries) Amendment Bill. Under the provisions of the bill, information held by parliamentary under-secretaries would be classified as official information and consequently subject to Official Information Act requests. The bill was passed into law with the support of all parties except New Zealand First and received royal assent in July 2016.[9]
Second term, 2017–2020
During the 2017 general election, Rurawhe successfully retained Te Tai Hauāuru for Labour.[10][11]
Following the formation of the Sixth Labour Government in October 2017, Rurawhe was elected to the office of Assistant Speaker. National Party MP Simon Bridges challenged Rurawhe's election to the Chair on grounds that Rurawhe's name was still on the door of the Whip's office. Party whips are not eligible to be a presiding officer.[12] Speaker Trevor Mallard ruled that a name on a door in Parliament is not binding on the House and that the Speaker's office had already been notified in writing that Rurawhe was not a Whip, so the election could proceed.[13]
Third term, 2020–present
During the 2020 general election, Rurawhe won re-election, defeating the Māori Party's candidate Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. When the official results were released, Rurawhe had a majority of 1,035,[14] but after the Māori Party requested a recount in Te Tai Hauāuru, Rurawhe's majority increased slightly to 1,053.[15][16] Following the election, Rurawhe was nominated as Deputy Speaker in the new Parliament, and was formally appointed to the role on 26 November.[17]
As part of a cabinet reshuffle that occurred on 13 June 2022, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern designated Rurawhe to replace Trevor Mallard as the next Speaker of the House. It was also announced that Mallard would resign in mid-August 2022 to assume a diplomatic position in Europe.[18][19] On 24 August Rurawhe was elected as Speaker of the House with the support of both the governing and opposition parties, becoming the second Māori to hold the position.[20][21] As Speaker, Rurawhe promised to award opposition parties more opportunities to question Government ministers if the governing Labour party did not shorten some of its answers to its parliamentary debate questions.[22]
Political views
Rurawhe voted against the End of Life Choice Act 2019[23] and against the Abortion Legislation Act 2020.[24]
References
- ^ . Radio New Zealand. 26 September 2020. Archived from the original on 6 October 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
- ^ "Roll of members of the New Zealand House of Representatives, 1854 onwards" (PDF). New Zealand Parliament. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
- ^ Stowell, Laurel (17 December 2013). "Rurawhe new Labour candidate". Wanganui Chronicle. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
- ^ Interview in Dominion Post, 31 January 2015 p C5
- ^ a b c d Ihaka, James (22 September 2014). "Election 2014: Rurawhe has big shoes to fill". The New Zealand Herald. from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
- ^ "Settlement". Ngāti Apa. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
- ^ Small, Vernon (6 December 2013). "Ratana progeny likely candidate". Stuff. from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
- ^ Grocott, Matthew (27 September 2014). . Stuff. Archived from the original on 25 October 2018.
- ^ "Official Information (Parliamentary Under-Secretaries) Amendment Bill – New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ "MP plans to stand for reelection in 2017". Stuff). 18 January 2016. from the original on 25 October 2018.
- ^ "Official Count Results – Te Tai Hauauru". Wellington: Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- ^ New Zealand House of Representatives. "Standing Orders". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
Standing Order 30: No member who is the leader of a party or who holds office as a whip may be appointed Deputy Speaker or Assistant Speaker.
- ^ . New Zealand Parliament. 8 November 2017. Archived from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
- ^ "Te Tai Hauāuru – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ "Amended Official Result for the Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Tai Hauāuru Electoral Districts". New Zealand Gazette. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ Maxwell, Joel (19 November 2020). "Māori Party-sought recount sees fewer votes for co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer". Stuff. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ "Daily progress for Thursday, 26 November 2020". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
- ^ Manch, Thomas (13 June 2022). "Labour's new Cabinet – who's in, who's out, as Trevor Mallard and Kris Faafoi resign". Stuff. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
- ^ Lee, Irra (13 June 2022). "Mallard to step down as Speaker for diplomatic post". 1 News. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Palmer, Russell (24 August 2022). "Gaurav Sharma hijacks Speaker ceremony to accuse Trevor Mallard". Radio New Zealand. from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
- ^ Trevett, Claire; Pearse, Adam (24 August 2022). "MP Adrian Rurawhe elected Speaker, Gaurav Sharma makes new accusations against Trevor Mallard". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Ensor, Jamie (24 August 2022). "New Speaker Adrian Rurawhe threatens to give Opposition more chances to question ministers if Government doesn't change tack". Newshub. from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
- ^ "End of Life Choice Bill — Third Reading – New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ "Abortion Legislation Bill — Third Reading – New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
External links
- Page on New Zealand Parliament website
- Page on Labour Party website