Fletcher Hoporona Tabuteau (born 1974) is a New Zealand politician and former Member of Parliament. He was elected as a

list MP A list MP is a member of parliament (MP) elected from a party list rather than a geographic electoral district. The place in Parliament is due to the number of votes the party won, not to votes received by the MP personally. This occurs only in ...

for the

New Zealand First New Zealand First (), commonly abbreviated to NZ First or NZF, is a political party in New Zealand, founded and led by Winston Peters, who has served three times as Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, deputy prime minister. The party has form ...

party from 2014 to 2020 and was deputy leader of the party from 2018 to 2020.

Early life and family

Tabuteau was born in 1974 to parents David Vaughan Tabuteau, a draper, and Maria Titaha Gear. Born and raised 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 ...

, Tabuteau is of

Māori 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 ...

descent through his mother, affiliating to the Ngāti Ngāraranui,

Ngāti Rangiwewehi Ngāti Rangiwewehi is a New Zealand Māori iwi (tribe) of the Te Arawa confederation. A Ngāti Rangiwewehi kapa haka group was founded in 1968 and has published their own songs and participated in various music festivals such as Te Matatini. T ...

, and

Ngāti Whakaue Ngāti Whakaue is a Māori iwi, of the Te Arawa confederation of New Zealand, tracing its descent from Whakaue Kaipapa, son of Uenuku-kopakō, and grandson of Tūhourangi. The tribe lives in the Rotorua district and descends from the Arawa w ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

. Tabuteau is of

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

–

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

descent on his father's side of the family, although he was raised as a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. His younger sister, Stacey, died when she was 30 from a

congenital heart defect A congenital heart defect (CHD), also known as a congenital heart anomaly, congenital cardiovascular malformation, and congenital heart disease, is a defect in the structure of the heart or great vessels that is present at birth. A congenital h ...

. Tabuteau is married to Karen, with whom he shares two children. His

whānau Whānau () is the Māori word for the basic extended family group. Within Māori society the ''whānau'' encompasses three or four generations and forms the political unit below the levels of hapū (subtribe), iwi (tribe or nation) and waka (mi ...

include senior

party official Tommy Gear (who was Tabuteau's uncle) and New Zealand Police deputy commissioner Wally Haumaha.

Education and career

Tabuteau attended

Rotorua Boys' High School Rotorua Boys' High School (RBHS) is a state school educating boys from Year 9 to Year 13. It is situated just outside the Rotorua CBD at the intersection of Old Taupo Road and Pukuatua Street in Rotorua, New Zealand. The school is governed by ...

before completing tertiary study in business and teaching at Waiariki Institute of Technology and the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a Public university, public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in nume ...

. He taught mathematics and social studies at Rotorua Boys' for eight years and was also the careers adviser and senior dean. He was an economics lecturer and head of the business school at Waiariki Institute of Technology from 2011 until his election to Parliament at the 2014 election.

Member of Parliament

Tabuteau is a long-standing member and supporter of

. He joined the party as a teenager after his parents drove him from Rotorua to Auckland to attend the party's launch event in 1993. He has held various positions on the party's Rotorua branch committee including treasurer and chairman. He stood unsuccessfully for the party in the

electorate during the

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. His party list rankings for those elections were 18, 17 and 11 respectively, and he failed to be elected as a list MP on any of those occasions. Tabuteau was first elected into the

New Zealand House of Representatives The House of Representatives () is the Unicameral, sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes Law of New Zealand, laws, provides Ministers in the New Zealand Government, ministers to form the Cabinet of New Zealand, Cabinet, ...

on the New Zealand First list during the 2014 general election. Ranked 4 on the party list, this was the highest position given to any non-incumbent. He was re-elected on the New Zealand First list during the 2017 general election.

First term, 2014–2017

In Tabuteau's first term, New Zealand First was part of the opposition. He was the party's spokesperson on commerce, energy, revenue, tourism and trade and was a member of the foreign affairs, defence and trade committee. His

member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

, the Fighting Foreign Corporate Control Bill, was selected for first reading in March 2015. The bill was designed to limit New Zealand's ability to sign the

Trans-Pacific Partnership The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), or Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), was a proposed trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietn ...

trade agreement but failed its first reading when it was not supported by government parties. The main content of the bill became government policy after the change of government in 2017.

Coalition Government, 2017–2020

Following the formation of a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

consisting of Labour, New Zealand First, and the Greens, Tabuteau was appointed as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

Winston Peters Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician. He has led the political party New Zealand First since he founded it in 1993, and since November 2023 has served as the 25th Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand), ...

and the Minister for Regional Economic Development

Shane Jones Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the New Zealand First party. Jones' political career began in 2005 as a list MP for the Labour Party. He b ...

. He later gained further appointment as Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control when that ministerial position was re-created (and assigned to Peters) in May 2018. As the coalition government had no associate ministers in the foreign affairs portfolio, Tabuteau's role included deputising for Peters as required. He also had delegated responsibility for the

New Zealand Agency for International Development The New Zealand Aid Programme is the New Zealand Government's international aid and development agency. The New Zealand Aid Programme is managed by the Pacific and Development Group in the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT ...

programme and supporting the delivery of regional economic action plans. In addition to his roles in the executive government, Tabuteau was additionally his party's spokesperson for commerce, energy, insurance, revenue, superannuation and tourism and associate spokesperson for finance; the deputy chair of parliament's

finance and expenditure committee The Finance and Expenditure Committee (known as the Public Accounts Committee until 1962, and as the Public Expenditure Committee, from 1962) is a select committee of the House of Representatives, the unicameral chamber of the New Zealand Parliame ...

; and, during the initial

COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand The COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand was part of COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first case of the disease in New Zeala ...

, a member of the

epidemic response committee The Epidemic Response Committee was a select committee of the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was established on 25 March 2020 during the 52nd New Zealand Parliament, 52nd Parliament in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, cor ...

. A second member's bill in Tabuteau's name, the KiwiFund Bill, was introduced in December 2017 and passed its first reading in February 2018. The Bill would have established an independent working group with the objective to set up a government-owned and operated

KiwiSaver KiwiSaver is a New Zealand savings scheme which has been operating since 2 July 2007. Participants can normally access their KiwiSaver funds only after the age of 65, but can withdraw them earlier in certain limited circumstances, for example if ...

provider. However, it was withdrawn in August 2018 after the economic development, science and innovation committee recommended that the bill not be passed. He succeeded

Ron Mark Ron Stanley Mark (born 29 January 1954) is a New Zealand politician of the New Zealand First party, and former soldier, who served as Minister of Defence between October 2017 and November 2020. He served as mayor of Carterton from 2010 to 2014, ...

as deputy leader of New Zealand First on 27 February 2018. He resigned that position in 2020 after the party's defeat in the

2020 New Zealand general election The 2020 New Zealand general election was held on Saturday 17 October 2020 to determine the composition of the 53rd New Zealand Parliament. Voters elected 120 members to the New Zealand House of Representatives, House of Representatives, 72 fro ...

. Tabuteau unsuccessfully contested the Rotorua electorate for the sixth time, coming in fourth place. He and his fellow New Zealand First MPs lost their seats after the party's vote dropped to 2.6%, below the five percent threshold needed to enter Parliament. Tabuteau has remained associated with New Zealand First, such as attending its 2022 party convention, co-emceeing the party's 30th birthday event in 2023, and training new NZ First MPs who will enter Parliament in 2023.

Post-parliamentary career

In March 2021, Tabuteau began working for Rotorua District Council in a part-time economic development role. In July 2021, Tabuteau announced that he would be a candidate for the Rotorua mayoralty at the 2022 local elections, following the incumbent

Steve Chadwick Stephanie Anne "Steve" Chadwick (née Frizzell, born 15 December 1948) is a New Zealand politician. She served as mayor of Rotorua from 2013 to 2022. She previously held the positions of Minister of Conservation, Women's Affairs, and Associat ...

's decision not to stand again. He continued in his council role until January 2022. At the October 2022 elections, he gained the second-highest number of votes after

Tania Tapsell Tania Tapsell (born 22 September 1992) is a New Zealand politician. She has served on the Rotorua Lakes District Council since 2013 and was elected mayor of Rotorua at the 2022 local elections. She is the first woman of Māori descent to hol ...

. In November 2023, Tabuteau joined

lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...

company Capital. The 2023 election put New Zealand First into a position to become part of the government, and Tabuteau said that his history with New Zealand First was significant to his hiring.

References

External links

Fletcher Tabuteau
at NZ Parliament website , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Tabuteau, Fletcher 1974 births Living people New Zealand First MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand list MPs Candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2002 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2005 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2011 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election People from Rotorua New Zealand people of French descent Māori MPs Ngāti Whakaue people Ngāti Rangiwewehi people