Mana Wahine Te Ira Tangata was a small and short-lived political party in New Zealand. It was established by

Alamein Kopu Manu Alamein Kopu (1943 – 4 December 2011) was a New Zealand politician. Biography Early life and career Kopu was raised in Ōpōtiki, Kopu was the seventh in a family of twenty children. Her family was not wealthy, and Kopu characteris ...

, a member of the

New Zealand Parliament The New Zealand Parliament () is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the Monarchy of New Zealand, Sovereign and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by his Governor-General of New Zeal ...

who had left her original party (the

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

). After a short time as an independent MP, Kopu established Mana Wahine as her own party. It was officially registered on 12 June 1998. The name "Mana Wahine Te Ira Tangata" is difficult to translate, but essentially refers to dignity or respect for women. Kopu claims that the party was intended to support

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 ...

women, promoting a Māori form of

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. Critics of Alamein Kopu, however, did not see the party as a genuine ideological organization. Rather, they saw a more cynical reason for the party's creation – as leader of a party rather than an independent, Kopu was entitled to $80,000 in additional funding.

Jim Anderton James Patrick Anderton (born Byrne; 21 January 1938 – 7 January 2018) was a New Zealand politician who led a succession of Left-wing politics, left-wing parties after leaving the New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party in 1989. Anderton's pol ...

, leader of Kopu's former party, said that the creation of Mana Wahine smelled of corruption, a sentiment which was echoed by several other politicians. Kopu (and thus Mana Wahine) closely followed the National Party government of

Jenny Shipley Dame Jennifer Mary Shipley (née Robson; born 4 February 1952) is a New Zealand former politician who served as the 36th prime minister of New Zealand from 1997 to 1999. She was the first female prime minister of New Zealand, and the first woma ...

. National, having recently ended its coalition with 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, was highly interested in finding additional parliamentary support. It is sometimes claimed that National's influence was instrumental in gaining Mana Wahine official recognition as a party, and many members of the Opposition claimed that National offered this help in return for Mana Wahine's vote –

Trevor Mallard Sir Trevor Colin Mallard (born 17 June 1954) is a New Zealand politician and diplomat. Since 2023, he has served as Ambassador of New Zealand to Ireland. He was a Member of Parliament from 1984 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2022. He served a ...

, a Labour Party MP, openly called it a "bribe". Mana Wahine contested only two elections. The first was the Taranaki-King Country by-election in 1998. The Mana Wahine candidate, Mary Gilmore, received 7 of the 20,225 valid votes. In the 1999 general election, Mana Wahine failed to submit a party list, with Kopu saying that she missed the deadline by just minutes. The party nevertheless contested twelve electorate seats, gaining a total of 1,082 votes across the country, which would have been nowhere near enough to qualify for MMP in any event. None of the party's candidates came anywhere close to being elected; Kopu herself contested the Waiariki electorate, and gained sixth place with 1.70% of the vote. On 12 February 2001, Mana Wahine was removed from the list of registered political parties at its own request.

Notes

{{Historic New Zealand political parties Mana Wahine Māori feminism Māori political parties in New Zealand Feminist organisations in New Zealand Political parties established in 1998 Political parties disestablished in 2001