The 1967 Eastern Māori by-election was a by-election for the electorate of

Eastern Maori Eastern Maori was one of New Zealand's four original parliamentary Māori electorates established in 1868, along with Northern Maori, Western Maori and Southern Maori. In 1996, with the introduction of MMP, the Maori electorates were updated, an ...

on 12 August 1967 during the

35th New Zealand Parliament The 35th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It was elected at the 1966 general election on 26 November of that year. 1966 general election The 1966 general election was held on Saturday, 26 November. A total of ...

Background

The by-election resulted from the death of the previous member

Puti Tipene Watene Puti Tipene (Steve) Watene (18 August 1910 – 14 June 1967), of Ngāti Maru and Te Arawa, was a New Zealand rugby league footballer and politician. He was the first Māori to captain the New Zealand league side and he is the only person to ...

on 14 June 1967.

Candidates

;Labour Labour selected Paraone Brown Reweti, a waterfront worker from Tauranga, as their candidate. He was selected from a large field of nominees at a meeting in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

. The party did not disclose the exact amount, but indicated the number was about 15. Two days after the selection meeting another meeting was held by supporters of unsuccessful nominees alleging irregularities in the selection and claiming that a member of the selection panel was biased as they had nominated one of the candidates. The rift group later sent a telegram to Labour Party head office to Allan McDonald, the general secretary of the party. The telegram contained details of the allegations and stated Reweti's selection was an "indictment against the Labour Party” and threatened to stand an independent candidate in protest. The selection dispute resulted in an independent candidate, Donald Mairangi Bennett, being selected by the rift group. Bennett, a car salesman, was a son of Bishop Frederick Bennett. The group said they were standing not as a protest not against Reweti, but against a protest against the method by which he was selected. ;National The National Party had two candidates for nomination: * Hanara Tangiwha (Arnold) Reedy, a farmer from

Ruatoria Ruatoria ( mi, Ruatōria) is a town in the Waiapu Valley of the Gisborne Region in the northeastern corner of New Zealand's North Island. The town was originally known as Cross Roads then Manutahi and was later named Ruatorea in 1913, after the Mā ...

who had stood in the seat for National in and *Monty Searancke, an employee of the Waterfront Industry Commission and former member of the Gisborne Native Affairs Department Reedy was selected in a members ballot after which Searancke pledged his support for Reedy and undertook to accompany him on an electoral tour.

Results

The following table gives the election results: The by-election was won by

Paraone Reweti Paraone Brown Reweti (17 November 1916 – 21 April 1996) was a New Zealand politician and Rātana morehu. Early life Of Ngāti Ranginui ancestry, Reweti came to Parliament from a position as an executive member of the Mount Maunganui Watersi ...

, also of the Labour Party.

Notes

References

* * Eastern Maori 1967 1967 elections in New Zealand Māori politics August 1967 events in New Zealand {{NewZealand-election-stub