Tutekawa "Tu" Wyllie (born 24 October 1954) 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
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
player. A
first five-eighth
In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...
, Wyllie represented
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...
at a provincial level, and played one match for the New Zealand national side, the
All Blacks
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...
, in 1980. He was the
New Zealand First Member of Parliament for
Te Tai Tonga
Te Tai Tonga is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was established for the 1996 general election, replacing Southern Maori. The current MP for Te T ...
from 1996 to 1999.
Early life
Born in
Manutuke,
Wyllie affiliates to the
Ngāi Tāmanuhiri,
Ngāti Ruapani and
Rongowhakaata
Rongowhakaata is a Māori '' iwi'' of the Gisborne region of New Zealand.
Hapū and marae
There are three primary ''hapū'' (subtribes) of Rongowhakaata today: Ngati Kaipoho, Ngai Tawhiri and Ngati Maru.
Ngāti Kaipoho
Ngāti Kaipoho descend f ...
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, ...
.
He was educated at
Gisborne Boys' High School where he played rugby for the 1st XV.
He then went to
Victoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand.
The university is well kno ...
, where he studied law.
He worked as a bus driver, court clerk, teacher trainee and as a bureaucrat in the Ministry of Education, Iwi Transition Agency and the Department of Health.
Rugby career
While at Victoria, Wyllie played rugby league for New Zealand Universities between 1975 and 1977. He then played representative rugby union for
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...
from 1978 to 1983 and
New Zealand Māori from 1979 to 1982.
In the off-seasons he played overseas, in Ireland, the United States, Germany and France.
His sole appearance for the
All Blacks
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...
came in 1980, when he played against the touring Fijian side, scoring a try.
The game was not recognized as a full international.
Member of Parliament
Wyllie represented
Te Tai Tonga
Te Tai Tonga is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was established for the 1996 general election, replacing Southern Maori. The current MP for Te T ...
as a member of parliament from 1996 to 1999 for the
New Zealand First Party.
He defeated 29-year parliamentary veteran
Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan
Tini "Whetu" Marama Tirikatene-Sullivan (9 January 1932 – 20 July 2011) was a New Zealand politician. She was an MP from 1967 to 1996, representing the Labour Party, and was New Zealand’s first Māori woman cabinet minister. At the time o ...
with a majority of 285 votes enabling New Zealand First to capture all five
Māori electorates
In New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially known as the Māori seats, are a special category of electorate that give reserved positions to representatives of Māori in the New Zealand Parliament. Every area in New Zealand is ...
in the 1996 election (including Te Tai Tonga). When the
Tight five led by
Tau Henare
Raymond Tau Henare (born 29 September 1960) is a former New Zealand Māori parliamentarian. In representing three different political parties in parliament—New Zealand First, Mauri Pacific and the National Party—Henare served as a Member o ...
splintered from New Zealand First and created the
Mauri Pacific
Mauri Pacific () was a short-lived political party in New Zealand. It was formed in 1998 by five former members of the New Zealand First party. It has often been described as a Māori party. Officially, Mauri Pacific was a multiculturalist par ...
party, Wyllie chose to remain loyal to the party core. During the
1999 election he sought re-election as MP for Te Tai Tonga, but chose not to stand on the party list. He was defeated by
Mahara Okeroa of the
Labour Party by 4522 votes.
During his term in Parliament, Wyllie also played for the parliamentary rugby team.
Post Parliamentary career
Protest against the sale of Young Nicks head
Following his defeat in the
1999 election Wyllie returned to Gisborne in an effort to assist
Ngai Tamanuhiri to prevent the sale of
Young Nick's Head (Te Kuri), a place of historical, and spiritual significance to local Maori. Wyllie stated that "It is the absolute jewel in the crown because Young Nick’s Head, or Te Kuri as we know it, is our equivalent to Hikurangi for Ngati Porou and Aorangi or Aoraki for Ngāi Tahu. It is our mountain, it is what identifies us as an iwi and we have some real issues about what’s going to happen to it in the future.". Ngai Tamanuhri tribal members led by Wyllie conducted a protest march and pitched their tents on the grounds of
New Zealand Parliament
The New Zealand Parliament ( mi, Pāremata Aotearoa) is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the King of New Zealand (King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by hi ...
.
He later lost his mandate as iwi spokesperson after he filed a judicial application to overturn Michael Cullen's decision to approve the sale of the landmark.
[New Zealand herald, (2002, August, 22),Sacked by iwi, Wyllie keeps up fight for site,retrieved from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=2351310] Young Nicks Head was consequently sold to American millionaire John Griffin.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyllie, Tu
1954 births
Living people
Ngāi Tāmanuhiri people
Rongowhakaata people
Ngāti Ruapani people
People educated at Gisborne Boys' High School
Māori All Blacks players
New Zealand international rugby union players
New Zealand sportsperson-politicians
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
New Zealand First MPs
New Zealand MPs for Māori electorates
Victoria University of Wellington alumni
21st-century New Zealand politicians
Halbert-Kohere family
Rugby union fly-halves
Rugby union players from the Gisborne Region