Rahui Reid Katene ( Hippolite, born 1954) is a New Zealand politician. She was elected to the 49th New Zealand Parliament at the 2008 general election representing the

Māori Party 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 ...

in the seat of

Te Tai Tonga Te Tai Tonga is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was established for the 1996 general election, replacing Southern Maori. The current MP for Te Tai ...

, but lost in the 2011 general election to Labour's

Rino Tirikatene Rino Tirikatene (born 1972) is a New Zealand politician and a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Te Tai Tonga electorate since the . He is a member of the Labour Party. He comes from a family with a strong political histor ...

Early life and family

The daughter of activist John Hippolite, Katene is of Ngati Koata, Ngati Kuia,

Ngati Toa ''Ngati'' is a 1987 New Zealand feature film directed by Barry Barclay, written by Tama Poata and produced by John O'Shea. Production ''Ngati'' is of historical and cultural significance in New Zealand as it is the first feature film written an ...

and Kai Tahu descent. She grew up in

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

and was educated at

Waimea College Waimea College is a co-educational secondary school in Richmond, Tasman District, New Zealand. With a growing roll of 1500+ students from year groups 9–13, Waimea College is equipped with a park-like campus and numerous facilities. History W ...

and

Church College of New Zealand Church College of New Zealand (CCNZ) was a private secondary school in Temple View, Hamilton, New Zealand, that was operated by the Church Educational System of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It was closed at the ...

. A lawyer, she spent six years as managing solicitor at Te Ratonga Ture / Māori Legal Services. Katene is 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 ...

Member of Parliament

Prior to the 2008 general election, Katene initially missed out on the

candidacy for

to Monte Ohia. However she became the candidate following Ohia's death. She defeated incumbent Labour MP

Mahara Okeroa Mahara Okeroa (born 1946) is a former New Zealand politician of the New Zealand Labour Party. He represented the Te Tai Tonga Māori electorate as a Member of Parliament from 1999 to 2008. Early life and career Okeroa was born in Waitara, T ...

with an election night majority of 684. In 2009 her Te Rā o Matariki Bill/Matariki Day Bill, which would have made

Matariki ), signalling the Māori new year., litcolor=, observedby=New Zealanders, nickname=, official_name=, alt=, image=M45 Pleiades Pbkwee (cropped to core 9 stars).jpg, relatedto=, date2022=24 June, date2023=14 July In Māori culture, Matariki is the ...

a public holiday, was drawn from the member's ballot. The bill was defeated at its first reading. In 2010, her member's bill to remove Goods and Services Tax from healthy food was drawn from the member's ballot. The bill gathered support although Labour leader

Phil Goff Philip Bruce Goff (born 22 June 1953) is a New Zealand politician. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2016. He served as leader of the Labour Party and leader of the Opposition between 11 No ...

favoured a simpler exemption on just fruit and vegetables. It was defeated at its first reading:

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

, ACT and

United Future United Future New Zealand, usually known as United Future, was a Centrism, centrist List of political parties in New Zealand, political party in New Zealand. The party was in government between 2005 and 2017, first alongside New Zealand Labou ...

voted against the bill while Labour, the Greens, the Māori Party and the Progressive Party supported it. Since leaving Parliament Katene has remained active in the Māori Party and was briefly in the media spotlight for failing to remove her designation as an MP from social media, a revelation discovered after she appeared in new articles criticising her replacement,

who she argued was not listening to the electorate. In early 2013 Katene put her hat in the ring to replace retiring co-leader

Tariana Turia Dame Tariana Turia (born 8 April 1944) is a New Zealand politician. She was first elected to Parliament in 1996. Turia gained considerable prominence during the foreshore and seabed controversy in 2004, and eventually broke with the Labour Pa ...

who had announced she would step down before the 2014 General election. However,

Marama Fox Marama Kahu Fox is a former New Zealand politician who was elected to the New Zealand parliament at the 2014 general election as a representative of the Māori Party. Following her election to parliament, she was named Māori Party co-leader al ...

was subsequently chosen as Turia's replacement following the general election. Katene has also been working for the

New Zealand Māori Council The New Zealand Māori Council is a body representing and consulting the Māori people of New Zealand. The council is one of the oldest Māori representative groups. Recently, the council increased its focus on social challenges and issues that ...

as a spokeswomen, supporting its legal challenge to the sale into mixed ownership of Crown-owned assets.

References

External links

Māori Party Te Tai Tonga website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Katene, Rahui Living people Māori Party MPs New Zealand Latter Day Saints Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives 20th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand MPs for Māori electorates Ngāti Koata people Ngāti Kuia people Ngāti Toa people Ngāi Tahu people New Zealand Māori lawyers Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives People from Nelson, New Zealand People educated at Waimea College People educated at the Church College of New Zealand 21st-century New Zealand politicians 21st-century New Zealand women politicians New Zealand Māori women lawyers 1954 births