Tutehounuku "Nuk" Korako ( ; born 1954) is a New Zealand politician and member of

Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) Environment Canterbury, frequently abbreviated to ECan. is the promotional name for the Canterbury Regional Council. It is the regional council for Canterbury, the largest region in the South Island of New Zealand. It is part of New Zealand's s ...

. He was previously a list Member of Parliament, representing the National Party, from 2014 to 2019.

Early life and family

Korako is of the Ngāi Tahu iwi. His father is from North Canterbury and was a freezing worker; his paternal grandfather was a wharfie. His mother is from

Te Rāpaki-o-Te Rakiwhakaputa Te Rāpaki-o-Te Rakiwhakaputa, commonly known as Rāpaki or Rapaki, is a small settlement within the Lyttelton Harbour basin. Rāpaki is one of four Banks Peninsula ''rūnanga'' (communities) based around ''marae'' (tribal meeting grounds). The ...

Banks Peninsula Banks Peninsula is a peninsula of volcanic origin on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an area of approximately and encompasses two large harbours and many smaller bays and coves. The South Island's largest cit ...

. Korako was educated at St Stephen's School in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

south of

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 ...

Rangiora High School , motto_translation = Enlightenment with Friendship , location = , coordinates = , type = State , religious_affiliation = , religion = , denomination = , patron ...

, and Lincoln College. He is married to Christine, and they have four sons.

Career

Korako is a businessman in the tourism sector and a Ngāi Tahu board member.

Political career

Korako supported the National Party for many years, and contributed to Bob Parker's 2007 mayoral campaign. Korako stood for Christchurch City Council in the 2013 local elections in the

ward. Based on preliminary results, he was just five votes behind Andrew Turner, with 80 special votes still to be counted. On the strength that he might get declared elected, Korako attended the induction meeting, and joined the council delegation that met Earthquake Recovery Minister

Gerry Brownlee Gerard Anthony Brownlee (born 4 February 1956) is a New Zealand politician of the New Zealand National Party. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1996, was Leader of the House, Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery and Minister of ...

. One week after the election, Turner was declared the winner with a five votes margin. Korako contested

Port Hills The Port Hills are a range of hills in Canterbury Region, so named because they lie between the city of Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton. They are an eroded remnant of the Lyttelton volcano, which erupted millions of years ago. The hi ...

for National in the . He was selected as the National candidate over fellow contenders Lincoln Platt and Jason White, and had been asked to stand by former Banks Peninsula MP and current Speaker of the House David Carter. The electorate was won by the incumbent

Ruth Dyson Ruth Suzanne Dyson (born 11 August 1957) is a former New Zealand politician. She was a Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2020. She represented the electorate from the election to 2020. She also held a number of senior offices i ...

of the Labour Party, but National polled well enough that Korako entered Parliament via the National party list. He chaired the Māori Affairs Committee in his first term. In 2016, Korako had a private member's bill drawn by ballot for debate in Parliament. The Airport Authorities (Publicising Lost Property Sales) Amendment Bill would allow airports to decide the best way to advertise lost property for sale. The Bill was criticised by Labour, New Zealand First and ACT for being a minor law change that could have been achieved through other legislative means. The Government eventually progressed Korako's sought amendments through a Statutes Amendment Bill, rather than a standalone law change. Korako was re-elected as a list MP in the 2017 election, having failed to unseat Dyson for a second time. National was in Opposition from the election; Korako served as the party's spokesperson for Māori Affairs and Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations from November 2017 to May 2019, when he retired. In mid-April 2019, Korako announced his retirement from politics, which took effect on 16 May 2019. He was succeeded by Paulo Garcia. After the

2022 local elections This local electoral calendar for 2022 lists the subnational elections held in 2022. Referendums, Recall election, recall and retention elections, and national By-election, by-elections (special elections) are also included. January *9 January: ...

, Korako was appointed as a Ngāi Tahu representative on

Environment Canterbury Environment Canterbury, frequently abbreviated to ECan. is the promotional name for the Canterbury Regional Council. It is the regional council for Canterbury, the largest region in the South Island of New Zealand. It is part of New Zealand's s ...

Political views

Korako held generally conservative positions. He voted against cannabis reform and euthanasia reform as a Member of Parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Korako, Nuk 1954 births Living people People from Kaiapoi New Zealand National Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand list MPs Ngāi Tahu people Māori MPs People educated at Rangiora High School Lincoln University (New Zealand) alumni 21st-century New Zealand politicians Candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election Māori politicians New Zealand justices of the peace Canterbury regional councillors