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

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player. He was a team-member of the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 198 ...

and the

New Zealand Māori rugby union team New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

in the 1940s.

Early life

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

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

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) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeal ...

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 nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...

, and Couch converted to that faith in 1949.

Rugby union

first five-eighth In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

, Couch represented

at a provincial level, and 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 (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), Mount Mahanga and Kahurangi Poi ...

and

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

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 William Rex Austin (23 May 1931 – 23 June 2022) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. Biography Austin was born in Riverton, Southland, in 1931. Of Māori descent, he affiliated to Ngāi Tahu, Waitaha and Kāti Māmo ...

) 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 Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian languag ...

). 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 ...

and Minister of Police in the third National Government, 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 The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jerse ...

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: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

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 (french: link=no, Médaille du jubilé d'argent de la reine Elizabeth II) is a commemorative medal created in 1977 to mark the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The medal is p ...

, and in 1990 he received the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people. Background The New Zea ...

. In the

1991 Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 1991 for the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms of Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, New Zealand, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, were announced on 14 June 1 ...

, Couch was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

for public services.

Later life and death

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

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

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 Canterbury, New Zealand People from Lyttelton, New Zealand