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Harete Hipango

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Harete Hipango
MP
Hipango in 2019
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for National Party list
Assumed office
11 June 2021
Preceded byNick Smith
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Whanganui
In office
23 September 2017 – 17 October 2020
Preceded byChester Borrows
Succeeded bySteph Lewis
Personal details
Born1964 or 1965 (age 59–60)[1]
Putiki, New Zealand
Political partyNational
SpouseDean
Children3

Harete Makere Hipango[2] is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the National Party.

Hipango served as an MP from 2017 to 2020 but did not receive a seat in the 2020 general election. After National MP Nick Smith resigned, she re-entered Parliament in June 2021 as his replacement.

Personal life

Hipango was born in Whanganui and raised in Pūtiki. Her father, Hoani Hīpango, is Māori and her mother, Eileen Shaw, is Pākehā.[3] Her iwi are Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Apa, Ngā Rauru Kītahi, Ngāti Tamakōpiri, and Ngāti Whitikaupeka. She is the great-great granddaughter of Hoani Wiremu Hīpango,[4] and World War II pilot John Pohe was her great uncle. She is a Christian and is married with three children. She graduated from law school in 1991 and was a lawyer for more than 25 years and was a member of the Whanganui District Health Board.[5][6][7]

Political career

2017 election and first term

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2017–2020 52nd Whanganui 62 National
2021–present 53rd List 21 National

Hipango was selected by the New Zealand National Party to contest the Whanganui electorate at the 2017 general election, after the retirement of incumbent MP Chester Borrows. It was the first time the party had chosen a Māori woman to contest a seat that it already held.[8]

In her first term, Hipango strongly opposed the End of Life Choice Act 2019 and the Abortion Legislation Act 2020.[9] Hipango received considerable media attention when she said that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was being morally inconsistent by voting to decriminalise abortion while also speaking out on child mortality rates.[10][11] Hipango also stated that the act allowed for full-term abortions, which was criticised by many as being factually incorrect, as under the legislation two health practitioners must sign off any abortion after 20 weeks.[12]

In a series of interviews given in 2021, many fellow National MPs criticised Hipango for her actions in her first term. Several said that she was not well-liked in the caucus and "didn't have a lot of friends", with one MP saying that she "sailed her own waka" and seemed to think the party should be honoured that she agreed to join, rather than being grateful for the opportunity. Some described her as a liability, and not a team player. Hipango herself said in 2021 that it was very lonely during her time as an MP and Māori woman in the National Party caucus and that the party still undervalues the Māori voice.[9]

Hipango helped unseat leader Simon Bridges in a leadership challenge of May 2020 in which Todd Muller took leadership. Some among the National Party felt that National MPs who supported Judith Collins, which included Hipango, supported Muller's bid as a step towards leadership by Collins, and Collins would become the leader of the party in July 2020.[9]

2020 loss of seat, and subsequent return in 2021

At the 2020 general election, Hipango was defeated in Whanganui by Labour's Steph Lewis by a margin of 8,191 votes.[13] Hipango was ranked 21st on National's party list, but this was not high enough to receive a seat at the election. Hipango was the highest-ranked list candidate who did not enter parliament after the 2020 election.

In May 2021, National list MP Nick Smith announced that he would resign. As the highest-ranked person on National's party list not in parliament, Hipango was automatically his replacement.[14] Hipango re-entered parliament on 11 June 2021.[15][16] She took on Smith's electoral reform and research and science portfolios, as well as the portfolio of Māori tourism that she had held previously, but other policy work for the party previously undertaken by Smith was taken on by a more senior MP.[17][9]

On her return, one fellow MP expressed mixed feelings, saying “While she is a conservative and some people think we have too many of those, she is also bringing some ethnic diversity to the caucus, which we desperately need", while another said that she would need to change her behaviour of "talking outside of the party view".[9] Todd Muller later identified himself as one of the anonymous critical MPs, allegedly after being overheard making his comments, and announced on 23 June 2021 that he would not stand at the next general election, following a late-night caucus meeting. After then-leader Judith Collins was replaced by Christopher Luxon, he changed his position and said he would not leave the party, and would run in his electorate again.[18][19]

References

  1. ^ Waters, Simon (8 April 2017). "She could be our first Maori MP. But who is Harete Hipango?". New Zealand Herald.
  2. ^ "Daily progress for Tuesday, 7 November 2017". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  3. ^ Fisher, David (17 January 2022). "Profile: Harete Hipango and how she upset National colleagues". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 January 2022..
  4. ^ Ormond, Georgie (19 August 2020). "Local Focus: Who is Harete Hipango, National candidate for Whanganui?". New Zealand Herald.
  5. ^ Groenestein, Catherine (25 March 2017). "National selects Harete Hipango as candidate for Whanganui". Taranaki Daily News. Stuff. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 24 September 2017 suggested (help)
  6. ^ "Address in Reply". New Zealand Parliament. 16 November 2017.
  7. ^ Walters, Laura (23 October 2020). "Is new-look National really more socially conservative?". Stuff.co.nz.
  8. ^ Stolwell, Luarel (26 March 2017). "Harete Hipango is National Party's Whanganui candidate". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d e Moir, Jo (16 June 2021). "National Party all out of love for returning MP". Newsroom. Retrieved 17 June 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Feek, Amelia Wade and Belinda (28 July 2020). "PM's abortion stance 'rank' – National MPs viral post, views differ with Collins". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  11. ^ "National MPs' full term abortion claims 'silly' – Andrew Little". Radio New Zealand. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  12. ^ "Jacinda Ardern asks for 'views based on fact' after National MP Harete Hipango accuses her of backing full-term abortions". Newshub. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  13. ^ "Whanganui – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 8 November 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ "National MP Nick Smith quits as an MP, cites 'employment issue' inquiry". The New Zealand Herald. 31 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  15. ^ Sowman-Lund, Stewart (11 June 2021). "Live updates, June 11: Film on mosque attacks faces backlash, producer addresses criticism". The Spinoff. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  16. ^ "Declaration by Electoral Commission That Harete Hipango is Elected a Member of Parliament – 2021-au2280 – New Zealand Gazette". gazette.govt.nz. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  17. ^ "Harete Hipango". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  18. ^ Trevett, Claire (23 June 2021). "National MP Todd Muller's resignation followed admission at late-night caucus meeting". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  19. ^ Trevett, Claire (24 June 2021). "National MP Todd Muller retires: Who narked and the 'brutal' meeting with Judith Collins". New Zealand Herald.
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Whanganui
2017–2020 		Succeeded by
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