Tariana Turia Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Tariana Turia (born 8 April 1944) is a New Zealand politician. She gained considerable recognition during the foreshore and seabed controversy, and eventually broke with her party as a result of it. She resigned from parliament, and successfully contested a by-election in her former electorate as a candidate of the new Maori Party.
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2 Political career 3 Foreshore and seabed legislation 4 By-election |
Early work
Turia was born in 1944, and has roots in the Whanganui, Ngati Apa, Nga Rauru, and Tuwharetoa iwi. Before entering politics, she had considerable involvement with a number of Maori organizations, working with Te Puni Kokiri (the Ministry of Maori Development) and a number of Maori health providers. She was also associated with the Te Kura Kaupapa and kohanga reo movements.
Political career
Turia entered parliament in the 1996 election as a list MP for the Labour Party. Her rank on the Labour list was twentieth. In the 1999 election, she remained a list MP, being ranked sixteenth. In the 2002 election, however, she contested the Te Tai Hauauru electorate, and opted not to place herself on the party list at all. She was elected as Te Tai Hauauru's member of parliament.
Although never a member of Cabinet, Turia has held a number of non-Cabinet ministerial roles. From Labour's electoral victory in 1999, she was Associate Minister of Maori Affairs, Associate Minister of Social Services and Employment, Associate Minister of Health, and Associate Minister of Housing. In 2002, she also became Associate Minister of Corrections. When Labour was re-elected in 2002, she dropped the Corrections role and gained full ministerial rank as Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector.
Foreshore and seabed legislation
When debate about ownership of New Zealand's foreshore and seabed broke out, and the Labour Party proposed vesting ownership in the state, Turia voiced dissatisfaction. Turia, along with many of her supporters in Te Tai Hauauru, claimed that Labour's proposal amounted to an outright confiscation of Maori land. When it became publicly known that Turia might vote against Labour's bill in parliament, tensions between Turia and the Labour Party's leadership became great. It was strongly implied that if Turia did not support Labour policy, she would not be able to keep her ministerial roles.
By-election
On April 30 2004, after a considerable period of confusion about Turia's intentions, she announced that she would resign from parliament on 17 May. This precipitated a by-election being called in Te Tai Hauauru, which Turia contested as a member of the new Maori Party that was being formed around her. The same day as Turia announced her resignation, Prime Minister Helen Clark sacked Turia from her ministerial posts.
Turia is seen by her supporters as having bravely defied her party in order to stand up for her principles. Her critics, however, portray her as a dangerous radical. The Labour Party has criticised Turia for putting the foreshore and seabed issue before the party's wider policies for Maori development, and says that she has unreasonably focused on a single issue. Helen Clark said that Turia had shown "an astonishing lack of perspective". Turia described the Te Tai Hauauru by-election as a chance to test her mandate, and to ensure that she had the support of her voters, but there is debate about how competitive the by-election really was, since none of the major parties put forward candidates. Labour called the event "a waste of time and money".
Turia was re-elected with 92.74% of the vote, and retook her seat in Parliament again on 27 July.
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