The Right Honourable
Adrian Rurawhe
MP
Rurawhe in 2022
31st Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives
In office
24 August 2022 – 5 December 2023
MonarchsElizabeth II
Charles III
Governor‑GeneralCindy Kiro
Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern
Chris Hipkins
Christopher Luxon
DeputyGreg O'Connor
Preceded byTrevor Mallard
Succeeded byGerry Brownlee
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office
26 November 2020 – 24 August 2022
SpeakerTrevor Mallard
Preceded byAnne Tolley
Succeeded byGreg O'Connor
Second Assistant Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office
8 November 2017 – 26 November 2020
SpeakerTrevor Mallard
Preceded byTrevor Mallard
Succeeded byJacqui Dean
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Labour Party list
Assumed office
14 October 2023
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Te Tai Hauāuru
In office
20 September 2014 – 14 October 2023
Preceded byTariana Turia
Succeeded byDebbie Ngarewa-Packer
Majority1,053
Personal details
Born1961 (age 62–63)
RelationsMatiu Rātana (grandfather)
Iriaka Rātana (grandmother)
T. W. Ratana (great-grandfather)
Matt Ratana (cousin)[1]
Soraya Peke-Mason (cousin)[2]
Websitewww.labour.org.nz/adrianrurawhe

Adrian Paki Rurawhe (born 1961)[3] is a New Zealand Labour Party politician. He has been an MP since 2014, and the speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2022 to 2023.

Rurawhe held the seat for the Te Tai Hauāuru Māori electorate from 2014 to 2023. Due to the demands of being speaker, he did not contest the electorate in the 2023 election, but returned to Parliament at number 11 on Labour's party list.

Family and professional career

Rurawhe is a grandson of Matiu and Iriaka Rātana, who were both Members of Parliament for the Western Maori electorate between 1945 and 1969. He is a great-grandson of Rātana founder T. W. Ratana.[4] 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.

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] Koro Wētere, the former Eastern Maori MP, encouraged his early involvement in politics and was a mentor for Rurawhe.[7]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2014–2017 51st Te Tai Hauāuru none Labour
2017–2020 52nd Te Tai Hauāuru none Labour
2020–2023 53rd Te Tai Hauāuru 24 Labour
2023–present 54th List 11 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.[8]

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][9]

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.[10]

Second term, 2017–2020

Rurawhe retained Te Tai Hauāuru for Labour in the 2017 general election.[11][12] 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.[13] 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.[14]

Third term, 2020–2023

Rurawhe won re-election in the 2020 general election, defeating the Māori Party's candidate, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. When the official results were released, Rurawhe had a majority of 1,035,[15] but after the Māori Party requested a recount in Te Tai Hauāuru, Rurawhe's majority increased slightly to 1,053.[16][17] Following the election, Rurawhe was nominated as deputy speaker in the new Parliament, and was formally appointed to the role on 26 November.[18]

Rurawhe receives a letter from the governor-general, Dame Cindy Kiro, confirming his appointment as speaker of the House of Representatives, at Government House, Wellington, on 24 August 2022

As part of a cabinet reshuffle on 13 June 2022, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern designated Rurawhe to replace Trevor Mallard as the next speaker of the House. It was announced that Mallard would resign in mid-August 2022 to assume a diplomatic position in Europe.[19][20] 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, after Peter Tapsell.[21][22] 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.[23]

Fourth term, 2023–present

Rurawhe did not contest the Te Tai Hauāuru electorate in the 2023 general election, but stood as a list-only candidate, as all previous incumbent speakers under MMP have done. He felt that the demands of being speaker meant that he could not serve the electorate fully.[2][24] He was placed 11 on the Labour party list.[25] During the 2023 general election, Rurawhe was re-elected on the party list.[26]

Following the formation of the National-led coalition government in late November 2023, Rurawhe became spokesperson for Whānau Ora and Associate Māori Development in the Shadow Cabinet of Chris Hipkins.[27]

Political views

Rurawhe voted against the End of Life Choice Act 2019[28] and against the Abortion Legislation Act 2020.[29]

References

  1. ↑ "NZ-born officer Matiu Ratana fatally shot in England". Radio New Zealand. 26 September 2020. Archived from the original on 6 October 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  2. 1 2 Coughlan, Thomas (26 January 2023). "Speaker Adrian Rurawhe will not contest seat, going list only". New Zealand Herald.
  3. ↑ "Roll of members of the New Zealand House of Representatives, 1854 onwards" (PDF). New Zealand Parliament. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  4. ↑ Stowell, Laurel (17 December 2013). "Rurawhe new Labour candidate". Wanganui Chronicle. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Ihaka, James (22 September 2014). "Election 2014: Rurawhe has big shoes to fill". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  6. ↑ "Settlement". Ngāti Apa. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  7. ↑ Interview in Dominion Post, 31 January 2015 p C5
  8. ↑ Small, Vernon (6 December 2013). "Ratana progeny likely candidate". Stuff. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  9. ↑ Grocott, Matthew (27 September 2014). "Rurawhe regains seat for Labour". Stuff. Archived from the original on 25 October 2018.
  10. ↑ "Official Information (Parliamentary Under-Secretaries) Amendment Bill – New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  11. ↑ "MP plans to stand for reelection in 2017". Stuff. 18 January 2016. Archived from the original on 25 October 2018.
  12. ↑ "Official Count Results – Te Tai Hauauru". Wellington: Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ "Wednesday, 8 November 2017 – Volume 725". New Zealand Parliament. 8 November 2017. Archived from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  15. ↑ "Te Tai Hauāuru – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  16. ↑ "Amended Official Result for the Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Tai Hauāuru Electoral Districts". New Zealand Gazette. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  17. ↑ Maxwell, Joel (19 November 2020). "Māori Party-sought recount sees fewer votes for co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer". Stuff. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  18. ↑ "Daily progress for Thursday, 26 November 2020". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  19. ↑ 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.
  20. ↑ Lee, Irra (13 June 2022). "Mallard to step down as Speaker for diplomatic post". 1 News. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  21. ↑ Palmer, Russell (24 August 2022). "Gaurav Sharma hijacks Speaker ceremony to accuse Trevor Mallard". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  22. ↑ 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.
  23. ↑ 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. Archived from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  24. ↑ Ellis, Moana (26 January 2023). "Rurawhe will not contest Te Tai Hauāuru, moves to Labour list". Stuff. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  25. ↑ "Labour releases party list for 2023 election". Radio New Zealand. 31 July 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  26. ↑ "2023 General Election - Official Result". Electoral Commission. 3 November 2023. Archived from the original on 12 December 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  27. ↑ "Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins reveals new shadow Cabinet". Radio New Zealand. 30 November 2023. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  28. ↑ "End of Life Choice Bill — Third Reading – New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  29. ↑ "Abortion Legislation Bill — Third Reading – New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
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