Taitoa Wihone ( Luke Leon Taitoa Wijohn; born 25 February 2002) is a
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
environmental activist
The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists advoc ...
and political candidate.
Personal life
Wihone was born on 25 February 2002.
He is of Māori descent. His
iwi
Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...
are
Ngāpuhi,
Ngāi Tūhoe
Ngāi Tūhoe (), often known simply as Tūhoe, is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. It takes its name from an ancestral figure, Tūhoe-pōtiki. ''Tūhoe'' is a Māori-language word meaning "steep" or "high noon". Tūhoe people also bear the sobriquet ...
, and
Te Rarawa. He attended
Māori immersion class at Richmond Road School and later attended
Western Springs College
Western Springs College ( mi, Nga Puna O Waiorea) is a state co-educational secondary school located in Western Springs (Auckland suburb), Western Springs, an inner suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand. The school educates appr ...
, where he was captain of the hockey team.
His mother Elisa Lavelle Wijohn was a
breast cancer advocate until her death in 2022.
Activism and politics
In 2017, Wihone volunteered on
Julie Anne Genter
Julie Anne Genter (; born 17 December 1979) is an American-born New Zealand politician who is a member of the House of Representatives representing the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. She served as the Minister for Women, Associate Ministe ...
's election campaign. In 2019, he helped lead the
School Strike for Climate in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, with a turnout of 80,000.
He accepted the
Ambassador of Conscience Award
The Ambassador of Conscience Award is Amnesty International's most prestigious human rights award. It celebrates individuals and groups who have furthered the cause of human rights by showing exceptional courage standing up to injustice and who h ...
on behalf of the movement.
Wihone was selected by
Chlöe Swarbrick for the 2019
New Zealand Youth Parliament. During general debate, he moved for the Youth Parliament to
declare a climate emergency. The motion was passed in two minutes. Wihone and 78 other Youth MPs signed an open letter to their adult counterparts urging them to also declare a climate emergency.
In August 2019, Wihone and 13 other teenagers received a one year ban from parliament grounds by
Speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** In ...
Trevor Mallard for singing "
Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi
"Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi", or "Tūtira Mai", is a New Zealand Māori folk song (or waiata) written in the 1950s by Canon Wiremu Te Tau Huata. The song became popular after being selected by New Zealand's Ministry of Education for inclusion in schoo ...
" and flying the
Tino Rangatiratanga flag
Tino is an Italian name or nickname, often a diminutive of the names Agostino, Costantino, Martino, Antonino, Valentino, Giustino, Sabatino, Faustino, and other names ending in -tino.
Tino may refer to:
People Given name
* Tino Ausenda ( ...
in the public gallery in support of the protests at
Ihumātao
Ihumātao is an archeological site of historic importance in the suburb of Māngere, Auckland. Once a pā site, it stands on the Ihumātao Peninsula, at the base of Ōtuataua, part of the Auckland volcanic field. Its scoria cone reaches above ...
.
Wihone was selected in February 2020 to contest
Mount Albert 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 parliament. Voters elected 120 members to the House of Representatives, 72 from single-member electorates and 48 from closed ...
. Of several teen candidates, he was the youngest, turning 18 less than 8 months from the election. As with most Green Party candidates, he was campaigning primarily for the party vote.
He was placed 18th on the party list. In the election he came third with 5.56% of the vote, and his list placement was not high enough to enter parliament.
On 27 August 2021, while under COVID-19 lockdown, Wihone observed the police in Wellington arresting a man and made a video of it. The police threatened to arrest him.
Wihone encouraged Swarbrick to challenge party co-leader
James Shaw in the
, but she declined.
Wihone supports lowering the voting age and improving
civics education in schools.
He supports a
wealth tax
A wealth tax (also called a capital tax or equity tax) is a tax on an entity's holdings of assets. This includes the total value of personal assets, including cash, bank deposits, real estate, assets in insurance and pension plans, ownershi ...
and
cannabis legalisation.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wihone, Taitoa
2002 births
Living people
Youth climate activists
New Zealand climate activists
New Zealand child activists
New Zealand left-wing activists
New Zealand Māori activists
Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand politicians
Politicians from Auckland
Māori politicians
Ngāpuhi people
Ngāi Tūhoe people
Te Rarawa people
Unsuccessful candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election
New Zealand Youth MPs