Hekia Parata
Hekia Parata MP | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Ethnic Affairs | |
| Assumed office 2010 | |
| Prime Minister | John Key |
| Preceded by | Pansy Wong |
| Minister for Women's Affairs | |
| Assumed office 2010 | |
| Prime Minister | John Key |
| Preceded by | Pansy Wong |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for National Party List | |
| Assumed office 2008 | |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Political party | National Party |
| Spouse | Sir Wira Gardiner |
| Relations | Tame Parata (grandfather) |
| Residence | Wellington |
| Alma mater | University of Waikato |
| Occupation | Public Servant, Politician |
Hon. Hekia Parata, Lady Gardiner is a New Zealand politician and member of the New Zealand House of Representatives, having been elected to parliament in the 2008 general election. She is a member of the New Zealand National Party and serves as a Minister of the Fifth National Government.
Life and career prior to Parliament
Born in Ruatoria, Parata shares Scottish, Irish, English, Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Porou ancestry. She was one of eight children to her mother, Hiria Te Kiekie Reedy.
Parata attended the University of Waikato, where she eventually graduated with a Master of Arts. While at Waikato, she served as President of the Waikato Student Union in 1980. She was also a Senior Executive Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Parata was a Youth Representative at the first Hui Taumata held in 1984.[1]
Parata joined the National Party in August 2001.[2]
Public Servant
She initially pursued a career in the state sector, eventually becoming Deputy Chief Executive of Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Maori Development.[3][4] She also served on the boards of New Zealand On Air (a broadcasting funding authority)[5] and the Ngai Tahu Development Corporation. Later, she moved into the private sector, establishing Gardiner and Parata Ltd, a small consultancy firm.
Parata's name was connected to an investigation by the State Services Commissioner Don Hunn into the improper use of public funds in the purchase of two vehicles for her partner (and at that time Te Puni Kokiri Chief Executive) Wira Gardiner in 1995. Parata's name was on the purchase orders issued by the Ministry, although it eventually became known that the cars were paid by and for Mr Gardiner at the time of purchase. The investigation cleared both Gardiner and Parata of any illegal activity, and the cars were returned to the Ministry for re-sale at a Government auction.[6]
In 1997, Parata was appointed by the then Prime Minister Jim Bolger as a member of the Towards 2000 Taskforce, to "advise the Government on the appropriate "vision", events for the [millennium] celebrations and national projects of lasting public benefit"[7]
Parata's consultancy firm was contracted to recommend the best options for providing "ongoing high quality Maori advice" to then chief executive Christine Rankin and senior managers at Work and Income in 1999, at a cost of $207,500. The expenditure was criticised by Green MP Rod Donald, as the Maori unemployment rate rose during this period from 27 to 29%[8] The firm also attracted controversy when National MP Murray McCully criticised the spending of $240,000 by the Ministry of Economic Development for training courses on the Treaty of Waitangi run by the company in 2003.[9]
In 2001, Parata was appointed to the Māori Television Service Board.[10] She resigned within two months, reportedly blaming a "lack of funding" for the new Maori TV channel.[11][12]
Political career
2002 general election
Parata was selected as the National party candidate in the Wellington Central electorate for the 2002 General Election, the first time the party had run a candidate in the electorate since the 1996 election. The campaign was managed by her husband, Wira Gardner. While receiving 10,725 votes, she came second to then incumbent Labour MP Marian Hobbs by 4,181 votes.[13] In spite of Parata's presence in the race, the party vote in the electorate dropped to 56% of their 1999 result (or 19.9% of votes cast), mirroring that of the National party vote result nationwide. Having failed to win the electorate, and the National party's 20.93% result on the nationwide party vote meant that Parata did not enter Parliament as a list MP.
Parata wrote a chapter describing her experience as the candidate in New Zealand votes: the general election of 2002, a review of the election.[2]
Speculation on mid term entry
Parata was placed at number 15 on the National Party List for the 2002 General Election.[14] Due to the 2002 election result, she was expected to be the next National MP to enter Parliament should any sitting List MP in the National party caucus resign, die or be convicted during the 47th Parliament.
Prior to the suspension of National party MP Maurice Williamson (for comments criticising the then party leader for the 2002 election result), it was speculated that he could resign from Parliament. Had this occurred and the subsequent by-election been won by a sitting List MP from the National party, then Parata would have entered Parliament. However, after the replacement of then leader Bill English by Don Brash, Williamson was reinstated into the caucus, meaning Parata would remain outside Parliament.[15]
Don Brash leadership of the National Party
In a speech given on 27 January 2004 by the then-leader of the New Zealand National Party Don Brash to the Orewa Rotary Club, Brash spoke on the perceived "Māori racial separatism" in New Zealand.
The speech, while being suggested as the main reason for a major surge in public support for the National Party (after their 2002 election provided the party's worst ever result), was displeasing to Parata and other Maori members of the National Party. Parata was reported as saying "this is taking the party back to the past. The views expressed [in the speech] marginalise New Zealand into a small island of rednecks".[16] Nevertheless, Parata did not leave National and Brash was eventually replaced as leader of National (after quitting as leader) in 2006 by John Key.
Parata's husband Wira Gardner described the situation for him and Parata during this period in a 2008 interview: "We seriously contemplated whether the National Party was ever going to be the party for us...but in the end we didn't abandon it, we just went to sleep for a while."[17] Reflecting back on this period in 2010, Parata said: "I didn't consider them wilderness years; I had a particular disagreement with a particular person and his outlook at the time."[18]
2008 General Election
Having neither appeared as a candidate for an electorate, nor on the National Party List for the 2005 general election, Parata returned to politics, being selected as the National party candidate in the Mana electorate for the 2008 election.[19] Although losing to the then incumbent Labour MP Winnie Laban, she performed better than the National party candidate in the 2005 election, Christopher Finlayson, as well as an increased party vote percentage from three years previously.[20]
In spite of the electorate result, Parata was elected to Parliament as a list MP, having been ranked 36 on the National Party List.[21]
Member of Parliament
| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–2011 | 49th | List | 36 | National | |
| 2011–present | 50th | List | 18 | National | |
In her maiden speech, Parata alluded to her great-great-grandfather Tame Parata, who was an MP in the Southern Māori electorate for the Liberal Party from 1885 to 1911, in addition to her tupuna (ancestor) Apirana Ngata:
- "I enter Parliament and begin this phase of my public service journey proud to follow in the footsteps of these ancestors in the pursuit of quality citizenship for all. They provide a model that I am glad to emulate: unambiguously Ngati Porou and Ngai Tahu; unequivocally a New Zealander...As I stand before you today, I am at once conscious of the weight of history and expectation that press upon me, and the lightness of possibilities that beckon. I am familiar with this dichotomy – I have grown up in a culture that walks through the present, with the constant companions of the past and the future."
She has had an Out of Parliament office in the electorate (in the Mana suburb) since becoming an MP.[22]
2010 Mana by-election
On 10 August 2010, Mana MP Luamanuvao Winnie Laban announced that she would resign from Parliament to take up a position as an Assistant Vice Chancellor at Victoria University of Wellington, leading to a by-election in the Mana electorate.
Parata was the sole nomination for the National party, winning the nomination without contest.[23] Parata received 41% of all votes cast, an increase of 6% from the 2008 election, where she was also the candidate. Although she lost to Kris Faafoi by 1406 votes,[24] the result was seen as a strong performance from Parata.[citation needed]
Minister in Fifth National Government
On 6 December 2010, it was announced that Parata would take over the cabinet position formerly held by Pansy Wong (after her resignation from Cabinet coming soon after a scandal emerged involving the use of taxpayer funded travel)[25] including the Women's and Ethnic Affairs portfolios, as well as taking up the newly created Associate Ministerial portfolios of Energy and Community & Voluntary sector.
On 24 February 2011, Parata became the acting Minister of Energy and Resources, relieving Gerry Brownlee to concentrate on his role as Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery after the catastrophic February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.[26]
2011 general election
Parata has already announced her intentions to stand again in the Mana electorate for the 2011 general election, suggesting that her failure to win the seat in two attempts is 'unfinished business'.[27]
Private life
Parata is married to former professional soldier, senior public servant and author Sir Wira Gardiner, KNZM. Hence, she is formally styled Lady Gardiner. They met while they worked together at the Ministry of Maori Development, Te Puni Kokiri.[17] They have two children together and three stepchildren from Gardiner's previous marriage to former MP Pauline Gardiner.[28]
References
- ^ Dominion Post, 26 February 2005, "HUI TAUMATA" Nick Venter.
- ^ a b Boston, Jonathan; Church, Stephen; Levine, Stephen; McLeay, Elizabeth; Roberts, Nigel S. New Zealand votes: the general election of 2002. p. 152.
- ^ "New post for Parata". Dominion Post. 11 May 2004.
- ^ "Te Puni Kokiri Deputy Secretaries Appointed" (Press release). Te Puni Kokiri. 11 May 2004.
- ^ "New Chair For NZ On Air" (Press release). New Zealand Government. 8 May 2002.
- ^ MacKenzie, Jonathan (8 August 1996). "Gardiner cleared over deal on discount cars". The Dominion.
- ^ Bain, Helen (30 July 1997). "NZ will lead world into 2000, says Bolger". The Dominion.
- ^ Cardy, Tom (3 September 1999). "WINZ blasted over payment". Evening Post.
- ^ Young, Audrey (21 April 2003). "Treaty course bill $240,000". The New Zealand Herald.
- ^ Lawrence, Hannah (11 September 2001). "Four appointed to Maori TV board". Dominion Post.
- ^ "Maori TV resignation". Evening Post [NZ]. 24 October 2001.
- ^ Beattie, Simon (30 April 2002). "Maori TV loses another director". Evening Post [NZ].
- ^ "Official Count Results - Wellington Central". Chief Electoral Office, Wellington. 2002.
- ^ "General Election 2002 - National Party List Ranking" (Press release). New Zealand National Party. 17 June 2002.
- ^ Young, Audrey (16 July 2003). "Williamson exit could pave way for Maori MP". The New Zealand Herald.
- ^ Haines, Leah (2 February 2004). "Back me or quit Brash tells te Heuheu". Dominion Post.
- ^ a b Roughan, John (20 November 2008). "A word with... Wira Gardiner". The New Zealand Herald.
- ^ Watkins, Tracy (7 December 2010). "Out of the wilderness and into Cabinet for new list MP". Dominion Post.
- ^ Farrar, David. "More candidates".
- ^ "Official Count Results -- Mana". Chief Electoral Office, Wellington. 2008.
- ^ "National's list promotes strength and diversity" (Press release). New Zealand National Party. 17 August 2008.
- ^ "Hekia Parata - Mana Office Opening". Flickr Images.
- ^ Andrea Vance (2010-09-08). "Hekia Parata to contest Mana byelection". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
- ^ "Official Count Results -- Mana By-Election". Chief Electoral Office, Wellington. 2010.
- ^ Fowler, Nina (14 December 2010). "Pansy Wong Resigns". National Business Review.
- ^ Key, John (24 February 2011). "PM reallocates portfolios to put focus on quake". New Zealand Government. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
- ^ "Parata rewarded for strong showing in Mana". 3 News NZ. 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
- ^ "Outstanding leader graduates from Police College" (Press release). New Zealand Police. 17 February 2010.
External links
- Hekia Parata MP official site
- Profile at National party
- Profile at New Zealand Parliament
- Releases and speeches at Beehive.govt.nz
- Maiden speech (via Kiwiblog)