The 1967 Eastern Māori by-election was a by-election for the electorate of

Eastern Maori Eastern Maori was one of New Zealand's four original parliamentary Māori electorates established in 1868, along with Northern Maori, Western Maori and Southern Maori. In 1996, with the introduction of MMP, the Maori electorates were updated, ...

on 12 August 1967 during the

35th New Zealand Parliament The 35th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It was elected at the 1966 general election on 26 November of that year. 1966 general election The 1966 general election was held on Saturday, 26 November. A total of ...

Background

The by-election resulted from the death of the previous member

Puti Tipene Watene Puti Tipene "Steve" Watene (18 August 1910 – 14 June 1967) was a New Zealand rugby league footballer and politician. He was the first Māori people, Māori to captain the New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand league side and he ...

on 14 June 1967.

Candidates

;Labour Labour selected Paraone Brown Reweti, a waterfront worker from

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

, as their candidate. He was selected from a large field of nominees at a meeting in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...

. The party did not disclose the exact amount, but indicated the number was about 15. Two days after the selection meeting another meeting was held by supporters of unsuccessful nominees alleging irregularities in the selection and claiming that a member of the selection panel was biased as they had nominated one of the candidates. The rift group later sent a telegram to Labour Party head office to Allan McDonald, the general secretary of the party. The telegram contained details of the allegations and stated Reweti's selection was an "indictment against the Labour Party" and threatened to stand an independent candidate in protest. The selection dispute resulted in an independent candidate, Donald Mairangi Bennett, being selected by the rift group. Bennett, a car salesman, was a son of Bishop Frederick Bennett. The group said they were standing not as a protest not against Reweti, but against a protest against the method by which he was selected. ;National The

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

had two candidates for nomination: * Hanara Tangiwha (Arnold) Reedy, a farmer from

Ruatoria Ruatoria () is a town in the Waiapu Valley of the Gisborne Region in the northeastern corner of New Zealand's North Island. The town was originally known as Cross Roads then Manutahi and was later named Ruatorea in 1913, after the Māori Mast ...

who had stood in the seat for National in and *Monty Searancke, an employee of the Waterfront Industry Commission and former member of the Gisborne

Native Affairs Department The Ministry of Internal Affairs, commonly referred to as INTAF (or Intaf), was a cabinet ministry of the Rhodesian government. One of Rhodesia's most important governmental departments, it was responsible for the welfare and development of the ...

Reedy was selected in a members ballot after which Searancke pledged his support for Reedy and undertook to accompany him on an electoral tour.

Results

The following table gives the election results: The by-election was won by Paraone Reweti, also of the Labour Party.

Notes

References

* * Eastern Maori 1967

Māori electorates August 1967 in Oceania {{NewZealand-election-stub