Teanau Tuiono (born 25 December 1972) is a New Zealand politician. In 2020 he became a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

as a representative of the

Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand ( mi, Rōpū Kākāriki o Aotearoa, Niu Tireni), commonly known as the Greens, is a green and left-wing political party in New Zealand. Like many green parties around the world, it has four organisational ...

Early life and career

Tuiono was born on 25 December 1972. He is both

Cook Islands Māori Cook Islands Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language that is the official language of the Cook Islands. Cook Islands Māori is closely related to New Zealand Māori, but is a distinct language in its own right. Cook Islands Māori is simply c ...

(

Atiu Atiu, also known as Enuamanu (meaning ''land of the birds''), is an island of the Cook Islands archipelago, lying in the central-southern Pacific Ocean. Part of the Nga-pu-Toru, it is northeast of Rarotonga. The island's population has dropped b ...

) and New Zealand Māori (

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland region of New Zealand and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2018 New Zealand census, the estimated population of Ngāpuhi is 165, ...

and

Ngāi Takoto Ngāi Takoto is a Māori iwi from Northland, New Zealand. The iwi is one of the six Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Ngāi Takoto trace their whakapapa (ancestry) back to Tuwhakatere, and trace their arrival in New Zealand to ...

); he is , and also belongs to the Pasifika/Moananui diaspora. Tuiono grew up in

Te Atatū Te Atatū (from the Māori : "the dawn") is the name of two adjacent suburbs in West Auckland, New Zealand: ''Te Atatū Peninsula'' and ''Te Atatū South''. They are located next to each other some 10 kilometres to the west of the Auckland city ...

and

Ōtāhuhu Ōtāhuhu is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand – to the southeast of the CBD, on a narrow isthmus between an arm of the Manukau Harbour to the west and the Tamaki River estuary to the east. The isthmus is the narrowest connection between the ...

, with a two-year period in

Rarotonga Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands. The island is volcanic, with an area of , and is home to almost 75% of the country's population, with 13,007 of a total population of 17,434. The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings a ...

. He initially enrolled for an engineering certificate but partway through changed to a BA in Māori Studies at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. He credits an environmental paper he took there, taught by

Jeanette Fitzsimons Jeanette Mary Fitzsimons (née Gaston; 17 January 1945 – 5 March 2020) was a New Zealand politician and environmentalist. She was the co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand from 1995 to 2009, and was a Member of Parliament from ...

, as turning him into environmental activism. He followed his BA with a law degree, also from the University of Auckland. By profession, Tuiono is an education consultant who has previously worked at both the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

and was the activist in residence at

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 ...

. Tuiono attended the protests at the

anti-Springbok tour protests The 1981 South African rugby tour (known in New Zealand as the Springbok Tour, and in South Africa as the Rebel Tour) polarised opinions and inspired widespread protests across New Zealand. The controversy also extended to the United States, wh ...

in 1981. Prior to entering parliament, he organised protests for subjects such as GCSB laws, the TPPA, and support for

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

rights. He was also involved in translating

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

into

Māori 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 C ...

. In 2021, during a debate on new anti-terrorism laws he recalled how his home had been raided by police during the

2007 New Zealand police raids The 2007 New Zealand police raids were a series of armed police raids conducted on 15 and 16 October 2007, in response to alleged paramilitary training camps in the Urewera mountain range near the town of Ruatoki. About 300 police, including m ...

Political career

Tuiono stood for the Green Party at the election and was 16th on the party list. This was not high enough for Tuiono to be elected to parliament, as the party won only 8 seats. At the 2019 local-body elections, Tuiono stood for

Mayor of Palmerston North The Mayor of Palmerston North is the head of the municipal government of Palmerston North, New Zealand, and presides over the Palmerston North City Council. The current mayor is Grant Smith, who became mayor in a February 2015 by-election. This ...

as the Green Party candidate, running a campaign focusing on the local

effects of climate change The effects of climate change impact the physical environment, ecosystems and human societies. The environmental effects of climate change are broad and far-reaching. They affect the water cycle, oceans, sea and land ice (glaciers), sea level ...

. He finished a distant second to incumbent Grant Smith. During the 2020 general election, Tuiono stood as the 8th ranked list candidate for the Green Party and as the party's candidate for . He came third place in Palmerston North, with 2,039 votes. With the Greens winning 10 seats, he became a list Member of Parliament. Tuiono is the Green Party's first Pasifika MP. During his campaign, Tuiono pledged to tackle wealth inequality in New Zealand. During the

2023 New Zealand general election The 2023 New Zealand general election to determine the composition of the 54th Parliament of New Zealand is planned to be held on 14 October 2023, after the currently elected 53rd Parliament is dissolved or expires. Voters will elect 120 memb ...

, Tuiono was re-elected to Parliament on the Greens' party list. On Thursday 7 December 2023, Tuiono was appointed as the third assistant speaker, the first Green Party MP to become a member on the speaker team and the second MP, after

Peter Hilt Peter Malcolm Hilt (born 1942) is a former New Zealand politician. Biography Hilt was born in Auckland, and attended Takapuna Grammar School. He was in the New Zealand Police for 18 years, becoming a Detective Sergeant. He was an MP fr ...

in 1996, from a party other than National or Labour to become an assistant speaker.

Views and positions

In December 2020, Tuiono joined fellow Green MP

Golriz Ghahraman Golriz Ghahraman ( fa, گلریز قهرمان; born 1981) is an Iranian-born New Zealand politician, member of Parliament, and author. The former United Nations lawyer was a child asylum seeker, and became the first refugee elected to New Zea ...

and

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

MP Ibrahim Omer in pledging to form a new parliamentary Palestine friendship group to "raise the voices of Palestinian peoples in the New Zealand Parliament" during an event organised by the Wellington Palestine advocacy group to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people. Tuiono serves as his party's agriculture spokesperson. He supports

regenerative agriculture Regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration, ...

and a move away from intensive dairy farming. He considers it appropriate for MPs to be able to pledge allegiance to

Te Tiriti O Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the M ...

instead of to the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuiono, Teanau Living people New Zealand left-wing activists Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand list MPs Unsuccessful candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election Candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election Candidates in the 2023 New Zealand general election Māori MPs Ngāpuhi people Ngāi Takoto people New Zealand people of Cook Island descent Cook Island Māori people Politicians from Auckland 1972 births