Mita Michael Ririnui is a former
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 ...
politician and a member of the
Labour Party. He was a member of parliament from 1999 to 2011.
Early years
Ririnui was born in
Tauranga
Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...
. He obtained his education from
Tauranga Boys' College
Tauranga Boys' College is a state secondary school for boys, located on the edge of the downtown area of Tauranga, New Zealand. The school was founded in 1946 as Tauranga College, before overcrowding saw the school become single-sex in 1958. The s ...
,
Bay of Plenty Polytechnic
Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology is a New Zealand tertiary education institute with campuses in Rotorua, Tauranga, and other towns in the Bay of Plenty and South Waikato regions. It was formed in May 2016 after the amalgamation of Bay of Plenty ...
,
University of Waikato
The University of Waikato ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato), is a Public university, public research university in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand established in 1964. An additional campus is located in Tauranga.
The university perfo ...
and
Massey University
Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...
. Before entering politics, Ririnui worked for a number of notable Maori community organisations including
Te Puni Kōkiri
Te Puni Kōkiri (TPK), the Ministry of Māori Development, is the principal policy advisor of the Government of New Zealand on Māori wellbeing and development. Te Puni Kōkiri was established under the Māori Development Act 1991 with responsib ...
, and he is a registered minister of the
Rātana
The Rātana movement ( mi, Te Haahi Rātana) is a church and pan-''iwi'' political movement founded by Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana in early 20th-century New Zealand. The Rātana Church has its headquarters at the settlement of Rātana Pā near W ...
church.
Member of Parliament
Ririnui was originally elected to Parliament as the MP for the
Māori electorate of
Waiariki, winning the
1999 election from
Tuariki Delamere
Tuariki John Edward Delamere (born 9 December 1951) is a former New Zealand politician. He served as a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1996 to 1999, and was a member of Cabinet for the duration of his term.
Early life
Delamere was b ...
. He retained the seat in
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
. However, in the
2005 election, he lost his electorate seat to
Te Ururoa Flavell
Te Ururoa James William Ben Flavell (born 7 December 1955), also known as Hemi Flavell, is a New Zealand politician who was a co-leader of the Māori Party from 2013 until 2018 and represented the Waiariki electorate for the party in Parliamen ...
of 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 ...
and remained in Parliament as a
list MP
A list MP is a member of parliament (MP) elected from a party list rather than from by a geographical constituency. The place in Parliament is due to the number of votes that the party won, not to votes received by the MP personally. This occurs ...
.
At the beginning of his second term as an MP, Ririnui was appointed a Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the ministers responsible for Conservation, Corrections and Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations; in July 2004, his Conservation portfolio was replaced with Health. In December 2004 Ririnui instead became a Minister outside Cabinet, as a Minister of State with Associate Ministerial roles in the Corrections, Health, Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, and Forestry portfolios, and held these roles until the defeat of the Labour government in 2008.
He also chaired the Labour Party's internal Maori Caucus.
Labour was defeated in the
2008 general election, meaning that Ririnui was unable to retain his ministerial positions. He was unsuccessful at regaining Waiariki, but his list placing of 23 ensured his return to Parliament on the Labour list.
On 14 June 2010, four days after the release of ministerial credit card records, Ririnui along with two other MPs
Chris Carter and
Shane Jones
Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician. He served as a New Zealand First list MP from 2017 to 2020 and was previously a Labour list MP from 2005 to 2014.
Jones was a cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour Gove ...
were demoted by Opposition 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 ...
for misuse of such credit cards. In the case of Ririnui, he was accused of purchasing items such as golf clubs and a bike which violate the rules regarding the usage of ministerial credit cards. Ririnui reimbursed Ministerial Services at the time for the purchases. Ririnui's demotion included the loss of the shadow portfolio of Forestry.
In February 2011, Ririnui announced that he would retire at the
2011 election.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ririnui, Mita
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
University of Waikato alumni
New Zealand Labour Party MPs
Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
New Zealand list MPs
New Zealand MPs for Māori electorates
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
New Zealand Rātanas
21st-century New Zealand politicians