Koro Wētere

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The Honourable
Koro Wētere
CBE
35th Minister of Māori Affairs
In office
26 July 1984 – 2 November 1990
Prime MinisterDavid Lange
Geoffrey Palmer
Mike Moore
Preceded byBen Couch
Succeeded byWinston Peters
39th Minister of Lands
In office
26 July 1984 – 16 September 1987
Prime MinisterDavid Lange
Preceded byJonathan Elworthy
Succeeded byPeter Tapsell
21st Minister of Forestry
In office
26 July 1984 – 24 July 1987
Prime MinisterDavid Lange
Preceded byJonathan Elworthy
Succeeded byPeter Tapsell
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Western Maori
In office
29 November 1969 – 12 October 1996
Preceded byIriaka Rātana
Succeeded byElectorate abolished
Personal details
Born
Koro Tainui Wētere

(1935-06-22)22 June 1935
Oparure, New Zealand
Died23 June 2018(2018-06-23) (aged 83)
Te Kūiti, New Zealand
Political partyLabour
Spouse
Nedracita Takuora Edwards
​
​
(m. 1960)​
Children5
RelativesNanaia Mahuta (niece)[1]
Simon Bridges

Koro Tainui Wētere CBE (22 June 1935 – 23 June 2018) was a New Zealand politician. He was an MP from 1969 to 1996, representing the Labour Party.[1] He served as Minister of Māori Affairs in the Fourth Labour Government (1984–1990).[2]

Biography[edit]

Early life and family[edit]

Born at Oparure, near Te Kūiti, on 22 June 1935, Wētere was the son of Weo Maruatara Wētere and Te Aorangi Wētere (née Eketone),[3] and affiliated to the Ngāti Maniapoto iwi. He was educated at Te Kūiti High School and Massey University,[3] and was ordained a minister (āpotoro rēhita or registered apostle) of the Rātana Church, serving as parish minister for Oparure, Te Kūiti and Piopio in the 1960s.

In 1960, Wētere married Nedracita Takuora Edwards, and the couple went on to have five children.[3]

Member of Parliament[edit]

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1969–1972 36th Western Maori Labour
1972–1975 37th Western Maori Labour
1975–1978 38th Western Maori Labour
1978–1981 39th Western Maori Labour
1981–1984 40th Western Maori Labour
1984–1987 41st Western Maori Labour
1987–1990 42nd Western Maori Labour
1990–1993 43rd Western Maori Labour
1993–1996 44th Western Maori Labour

Wētere joined the Labour Party in 1957,[3] and was first elected to Parliament in the 1969 election as MP for the Western Maori electorate, one of the four Māori electorates in New Zealand's House of Representatives. Given Labour's traditional dominance in the Māori electorates, Wētere held his position without difficulty until his retirement at the 1996 election. In 1976 he was promoted by Labour leader Bill Rowling and made Shadow Minister of Forests.[4] Three years later he was given the Maori Affairs and Lands portfolios instead.[5]

Cabinet minister[edit]

Wētere became Minister of Māori Affairs when the Labour Party won the 1984 election, serving in that role until 1990. He also served as Minister of Lands, Minister of Forestry, and the Minister in charge of the Valuation Department between 1984 and 1987, and the Minister in charge of the Iwi Transition Agency between 1989 and 1990.[3]

Wētere was criticised during the Māori loan affair of 1985–86, and was nearly asked to resign. Tamati Reedy, the head of Wētere's department, Te Puni Kokiri, attempted to arrange an unauthorised overseas loan for Māori businesses. Wētere was the subject of strong attacks over the issue by National Party MP Winston Peters, but denied any wrongdoing. In 1990 Wētere refused to translate his addresses to parliament into English, having given them in Māori. This was one of a number of steps which pushed the issue of the use of Māori in public life during this time. There are now arrangements for simultaneous interpretation between English and Māori in Parliament.[6]

When Labour lost power in the 1990 election, Wētere returned to opposition for two terms before retiring from politics. He was Shadow Minister of Maori Affairs from 1990 to 1996 under Mike Moore and later Helen Clark.[7][8] Never a supporter of Clark, Wētere was one of several frontbenchers who was part of a delegation met with Clark in her office prior to a caucus meeting in 1996 persuading her to stand down and informing her (in a ruse) that they had the numbers to oust her as leader (in favour of Phil Goff) if she refused. Clark stared Goff and his supporters down and ultimately remained leader.[9]

Death[edit]

Wētere died in Te Kūiti on 23 June 2018, one day after his 83rd birthday.[10]

Honours[edit]

Wētere was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977, and the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.[11] In the 1996 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the Māori people.[12]

The University of Waikato awarded Wētere an honorary doctorate for his contributions to the well-being and the advancement of Māori affairs in Aotearoa in 1999, and a lifetime achievement award, Te Tohu Whakamaharatanga ki Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu, in 2008.[13]

Personal life[edit]

Wētere suffered from gout.[14] In 2001, Wētere was convicted of drink driving. [15]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Low profile but leading". The New Zealand Herald. 26 November 1999. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  2. ^ Gardiner, James; Bidois, Vanessa (29 April 2000). "Wetere tipped as Tainui head". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d e Lambert, Max, ed. (1991). Who's Who in New Zealand (12th ed.). Auckland: Reed. p. 682. ISBN 0-7900-0130-6.
  4. ^ "Surprises Among Party Spokesmen". The New Zealand Herald. 30 January 1976. p. 10.
  5. ^ "Heads of Labour Posts Named". The New Zealand Herald. 15 December 1979. p. 12.
  6. ^ "Launch of Simultaneous Interpretation in the House". Archived from the original on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  7. ^ "All Labour's 29 MPs get areas of responsibility". Otago Daily Times. 28 November 1990. p. 4.
  8. ^ "The Labour Shadow Cabinet". The Dominion. 14 December 1993. p. 2.
  9. ^ Quin, Phil (2 April 2011). "Phil Quin: The anatomy of a failed Labour coup". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  10. ^ Yalden, Phillipa (23 June 2018). "Former Labour minister Koro Wētere dies surrounded by family at Te Kuiti hospital". Stuff. New Zealand. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  11. ^ Taylor, Alister, ed. (2001). "New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa 2001". New Zealand Who's Who, Aotearoa. Auckland: Alister Taylor Publishers: 933. ISSN 1172-9813.
  12. ^ "No. 54256". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 30 December 1995. p. 34.
  13. ^ "University hosts celebration of Maori academic excellence". University of Waikato. 4 March 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  14. ^ Bassett 2008, p. 322.
  15. ^ "Come clean on crimes: Morgan to Tainui". NZ Herald. 2 March 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.

References[edit]

Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Māori Affairs
1984–1990 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Forestry
1984–1987 		Succeeded by
Minister of Lands
1984–1987
New ministerial post Minister for Land Information
1987
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Western Maori
1969–1996 		Constituency abolished,
replaced by Te Tai Hauauru
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