Tetangi Matapo (born 3 October 1965) is a

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

politician and member of the Cook Islands Parliament. She is a member of the Cook Islands Democratic Party. Matapo was born on

Mangaia Mangaia (traditionally known as A'ua'u Enua, which means ''terraced'') is the most southerly of the Cook Islands and the second largest, after Rarotonga. It is a roughly circular island, with an area of , from Rarotonga. Originally heavily popul ...

and educated at Mangaia School and Mangaia College. She studied to be a teacher at the

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the gov ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Education and a Masters of Education. She worked as a teacher and later deputy principal at Mangaia School. She was elected to Parliament in the 2013 Tamarua by-election. In April 2013 she attended the inaugural Pacific Parliamentary Forum in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. At the 2014 election, she lost the seat on the night to the

Cook Islands Party The Cook Islands Party is a nationalist political party in the Cook Islands. It was the first political party founded in the Cook Islands, and one of the two major parties of the islands' politics since 1965. From 1999 until 2005 it sometimes ...

's Tokorua Pareina, but regained it in an electoral petition. In 2015, she was appointed opposition spokesperson for Education and Internal Affairs. In 2016, she was part of the Cook Islands' delegation to the second Pacific Parliamentary Forum. She was re-elected at the 2018 election. Shortly after the election she was sent to the 2018 Presiding Officers and Clerks Conference in Wellington as "interim Deputy Speaker", despite there having been no election for the position. In December 2019 she was part of a protest by women MPs to permit the wearing of ei katu (floral crowns) in Parliament. In February 2020 she was appointed Democratic Party spokesperson for Business, Trade and Investment Board, Education and Justice. She was re-elected at the

2022 Cook Islands general election The 2022 Cook Islands general election was held on 1 August 2022 to determine the composition of the 18th Parliament of the Cook Islands. A referendum on legalising medical cannabis was held on the same day. Background In the 2018 general e ...

References

Living people 1965 births category:People from Mangaia University of the South Pacific alumni Members of the Parliament of the Cook Islands Democratic Party (Cook Islands) politicians Cook Island women in politics Cook Island schoolteachers {{CookIslands-politician-stub