Tukoroirangi "Tuku" Morgan (born 7 October 1957) is a New Zealand

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 ...

politician and former broadcaster.

Early life and family

Born in Auckland on 7 October 1957, Morgan affiliates to the Tainui iwi confederation. He was educated at St Stephen's School, Bombay from 1970 to 1971, and

Huntly College " The truth shall set you free" , established = 1953 , principal = Barbara Cavanagh , address = Bridge Street,Huntly,New Zealand , coordinates = , type = State, Co-educational, Secondary Years 9-13 , roll = () , decil ...

from 1971 to 1976. He then gained a Diploma of Teaching, and taught English and Māori studies at Huntly College from 1980 to 1982, and Birkdale College (1982). His brother-in-law is Tau Henare.

Broadcasting

Morgan worked as news and current affairs reporter at both Television New Zealand and

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso *Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala *Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by EPTV ...

. He was also head of sport, youth and current affairs programmes at the short-lived

Aotearoa Television Network The Aotearoa Television Network (ATN) was the first, yet unsuccessful television station operating in the Māori language. What would eventually become ATN started out in early 1996, when Te Māngai Pāho started looking for tenders for a trial s ...

Member of Parliament

Morgan was first elected to Parliament in the 1996 election as the New Zealand First MP for Te Tai Hauāuru. New Zealand First captured all five Māori electorates in the 1996 election (including Te Tai Hauāuru) - Morgan and the other four Māori MPs became known as the

Tight Five The Tight Five was a nickname given to the five Māori MPs elected to the New Zealand Parliament in 1996 from the centrist/populist New Zealand First party. Formation New Zealand First had been founded in 1993 by Winston Peters, a former N ...

. During his term in Parliament he was involved in a number of controversies. One scandal in 1997 revolved around his spending NZ$4000 of Aotearoa Television funds on clothes including a pair of $89 underpants. Morgan resigned from New Zealand First on 18 August 1998, becoming an independent MP. He later joined the newly formed Mauri Pacific. In the 1999 election, Morgan was ranked second on Mauri Pacific's

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

, and contested the Te Tai Hauāuru seat again, but was not returned to Parliament. He then returned to television and film production.

Life after parliament

He was chair of Te Arataura, the Waikato-Tainui executive board, from 2006 until 2012, except for a period in 2004 when he was removed from office because of a criminal conviction for obstructing police during a protest march in the 1980s. He is a director of Auckland Council Property, a council-controlled organisation of the

Auckland Council Auckland Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau) is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is ...

. In 2015 he became the Māori Party's co-chair of the Hauraki-Waikato electorate. In July 2016 he was elected as president of the Māori Party. In December 2017 he announced his resignation and called for the party's co-leaders to follow suit after the Māori Party gained just 1.1 percent of the party vote at the 2017 General election and all seven of its Māori electorate candidates were beaten by Labour. In August 2018, he published an open letter to the

Māori King 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 ...

Tūheitia Paki Tūheitia Potatau Te Wherowhero VII (born Tūheitia Paki; 21 April 1955), crowned as Kīngi Tūheitia, is the Māori King. He is the eldest son of the previous Māori monarch, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, and was announced as her successo ...

, whose advisor he had previously been, detailing a number of criticisms of Paki's behaving, including his continued support and employment of

Rangi Whakaruru Rangi may refer to: Names * Rangi, the primal sky father in Māori mythology *Rangi Chase, New Zealand rugby league footballer *Rangi Mātāmua, New Zealand Māori astronomer and indigenous studies academic * Rangi Topeora (died 1865-1873?), New Ze ...

as chief of staff.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Tukoroirangi 1957 births Living people New Zealand First MPs New Zealand television producers Mauri Pacific MPs Independent MPs of New Zealand New Zealand MPs for Māori electorates Waikato Tainui people Māori politicians Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Unsuccessful candidates in the 1999 New Zealand general election Māori Party politicians 21st-century New Zealand politicians