Manuera Benjamin Rīwai Couch (27 June 1925 – 3 June 1996) was a New Zealand politician and

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. He was a team-member of the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

and the

New Zealand Māori rugby union team New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

in the 1940s.

Early life

Couch was born in 1925 in Lyttelton. He was raised by his maternal grandmother in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

until the age of eight, when he was sent to live with his maternal uncle near Pirinoa in rural

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service t ...

. He was educated at Ōtaki Māori College, and then, from 1940 to 1942, Christchurch Technical College. After a carpentry apprenticeship in Christchurch, Couch joined the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF; ) is the aerial warfare, aerial military service, service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Perm ...

in August 1943, and later transferred to the army. In 1945, Couch returned to Pirinoa to work as a builder, and in 1947 he married Bessie Carter, his childhood sweetheart. Carter was a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

, and Couch converted to that faith in 1949.

Rugby union

A first five-eighth, Couch represented

at a provincial level. He was selected as one of the 5 promising players of the year for the 1945 season in the Rugby Almananac of New Zealand. Couch was a member of the New Zealand national side, the

, from 1947 to 1949. He played seven matches for the All Blacks including three internationals. Of

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori people, Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenhe ...

and

Ngāti Mutunga Ngāti Mutunga is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand, whose original tribal lands were in north Taranaki. They migrated, first to Wellington (with Ngāti Toa and other Taranaki hapū), and then to the Chatham Islands (along with Ngāti Tama) ...

descent, he also played 20 matches for New Zealand Māori between 1948 and 1950.

Political career

In the 1975 general election, he was elected to Parliament as the National Party member of parliament for the Wairarapa electorate, thus becoming (with Rex Austin) only the second and third Māori (after Sir James Carroll) to win a general electorate (as opposed to a

Māori electorate Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

). He served as

Minister of Māori Affairs Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

and Minister of Police in the

third National Government Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

, but lost his seat in 1984 to Labour's Reg Boorman. While Minister of Police, he called for the

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

to be introduced for violent offenders and allowed the police to use longer batons. He created some controversy by wearing a Springbok rugby team blazer at the time of their 1981 tour of New Zealand as well as attending a public meeting organised by the League of Rights. This was despite his having been denied entry to South Africa as part of the All Blacks rugby team in the 1940s because of his race. In June 1981, he was asked "So you support

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

in South Africa?" to which he responded "Yes. Over there I've got to". In 1977, Couch was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal () is a commemorative medal created in 1977 to mark the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The medal is physically identical in all realms where it was awarded, save for Canada ...

, and in 1990 he received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. In the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours, Couch was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant of Queen regnant, Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to t ...

for public services.

Later life and death

In the 1990s, Couch was involved in various Māori organisations. He died in 1996 in

Masterton Masterton () is a large town in the Wellington Region, Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand that operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Couch, Ben 1925 births 1996 deaths New Zealand National Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand New Zealand sportsperson-politicians New Zealand Latter Day Saints Converts to Mormonism from Methodism New Zealand international rugby union players Māori All Blacks players Rugby union fly-halves Māori MPs Ngāi Tahu people Ngāti Mutunga people Companions of the Queen's Service Order New Zealand military personnel of World War II Unsuccessful candidates in the 1987 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1984 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1972 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1963 New Zealand general election Rugby union players from the Canterbury Region People from Lyttelton, New Zealand