Tāmati Coffey

Tamati Gerald Coffey (born 19 September 1979) is a list Member of the New Zealand Parliament for the New Zealand Labour Party. Prior to entering Parliament, he was most notably an award-winning broadcaster fronting many shows over a decade, for Television New Zealand. He was also a successful small business hospitality owner in his hometown of Rotorua for 7 years, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, before selling in 2022. He is also a father, having had a baby through gestational surrogacy with his partner.

Early life

Born in Lower Hutt and educated at Onslow College, Coffey is of Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Whakaue, Tūhourangi and Ngāti Tūwharetoa descent. He completed an honours degree in political science at the University of Auckland in 2003.

Political career

Electoral history, 2014–2020

On 29 March 2014, Coffey was selected as the Labour Party's candidate for the electorate at the 2014 New Zealand general election. He was also placed 30th on the Labour list. He lost the seat to National's Todd McClay, and was not high enough on the list to get a seat in Parliament. During the campaign Coffey had been used for the Public Broadcasting of the Opening Addresses where he held a staged interview with David Cunliffe. In 2016 he was selected as Labour's candidate for the Waiariki electorate, then held by Māori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell. Coffey was ranked 35th on Labour's party list for the election.

During the 2017 New Zealand general election, Coffey won Waiariki for the Labour Party against incumbent Te Ururoa Flavell by a margin of 1,321 votes. With his win, Labour secured all 7 Māori electorates.

During the 2020 New Zealand general election held on 17 October, Coffey narrowly lost the Waiariki electorate to Māori Party candidate Rawiri Waititi based on preliminary results. Coffey did not concede until the release of the final results on 6 November. The final results confirmed that Coffey had lost to Waititi by a margin of 836 votes. Despite this loss, Coffey was re-elected to Parliament on the Labour Party list.

Rotorua District Council (Representations Arrangements) Bill

In April 2022, Coffey introduced the Rotorua District Council (Representation Arrangements) Bill that sought to introduce three Māori wards to the Rotorua Lakes Council. Due to the Local Electoral Act 2001, the Council had not been able to establish a governing arrangement that would include adequate Māori representation without a law change. His Rotorua electoral bill passed its first reading on 6 April 2022 and was referred to the Māori Affairs Committee. While the Labour, Green and Māori parties supported the bill, the opposition National and ACT parties opposed it.

In late April 2022, the Attorney General David Parker express concerned that the proposed Rotorua electoral bill discriminated against general roll voters by allocating more seats to Māori ward voters disproportionate to their share of the local population. At the time, Rotorua's general roll had 55,600 voters while its Māori roll had 21,700 voters. In response, Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson and Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson withdrew their support for Coffey's bill. The National Party's justice spokesperson Paul Goldsmith claimed that the bill breached the principle of "equal suffrage" by giving Maori electoral roll votes twice the value of general roll votes. By contrast, Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi defended Coffey's Rotorua Bill, claiming that it accorded equal representation to Māori. In late April 2022, Coffey and the Rotorua Lakes Council agreed to "pause" the bill's select committee process in order to address the legal issues raised by the Attorney General.

Television career

''Seven Sharp''

Coffey was a fill-in presenter for current affairs programme ''Seven Sharp'' in late 2013 following Greg Boyed's departure from the show.

''New Zealand's Got Talent''

Coffey was the host of ''New Zealand's Got Talent'' in 2012 and 2013.

''Intrepid Journeys''

As part of series seven of the TVNZ show ''Intrepid Journeys'', Coffey travelled to Oman on the Arabian Peninsula for three weeks. The episode screened on 20 January 2011 on TV One. Coffey is seen engaging in activities including mountain climbing, turtle nesting, dhow fishing cruises and souk shopping.

''Breakfast''

In September 2007 Coffey left ''What Now'' and moved to TVNZ's early morning show ''Breakfast'' where he was the show's weatherman and roving reporter. He presented the show alongside Petra Bagust, Peter Williams, Rawdon Christie, Nadine Chalmers-Ross and Corin Dann. Coffey left ''Breakfast'' in December 2012 and was replaced in the role by Sam Wallace.

''Dancing With the Stars''

Coffey was a contestant on season five of the New Zealand version of ''Dancing with the Stars'' in 2009. Partnered with Samantha Hitchcock, Coffey won the series final on 21 April 2009. Coffey's charity was Rainbow Youth, an organisation that supports gay youth.

''What Now''

Coffey joined the ''What Now'' team in 2004. During his time on the show, Coffey also played character roles most notably, "Whitney" in the "What Now Cheerleaders" and "New Zild's Next Top Model". He mainly traveled around New Zealand in a car called "The Spyrider", to many different towns where weekly, he would film live with the locals and experience what their town had to offer. He hosted the show alongside co-hosts Virginie Le Brun, DJ Vinyl Richie, Serena Cooper and Charlie Panapa.

Personal life

After winning ''Dancing With The Stars'' in 2009, Coffey came out as gay during an interview with ''Woman's Weekly'' and said that he lives with his long-term boyfriend, Tim Smith, a former music teacher from northern England. The couple announced their engagement on 16 February 2011 and wed in a civil union on 29 December 2011. His partner was hit by a falling ceiling fan in Christmas 2017. In July 2019, they welcomed their first son Tūtānekai Smith-Coffey who was born via a surrogate. However the couple can't legally claim Tūtānekai is theirs until an adoption process is carried out between them and their surrogate mother.

Following the 2014 election Coffey elected not to seek a new broadcasting role, instead going into business opening a bar in Rotorua with his partner Tim. Their bar is designed to give Rotorua the atmosphere of Ponsonby, Auckland, the name of the bar being ''Ponsonby Road''.

In 2016, Coffey was elected to the Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust with the highest number of votes; he currently holds the position of Deputy Chair within the trust's board.

Filmography

*'' Sparkle Friends'' (2006–11)
*''What Now''
*''Surprises!''
*''2 Kids Own Awards''
*''Whitebait-TV''
*''Breakfast'' (weather presenter)
*''Intrepid Journeys''
*''New Zealand's Got Talent''
*''Neighbourhood''
*''Moving Out With Tamati''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coffey, Tamati
1979 births
Living people
Dancing with the Stars (New Zealand TV series) winners
New Zealand television presenters
People educated at Onslow College
University of Auckland alumni
New Zealand Labour Party MPs
LGBT members of the Parliament of New Zealand
Gay politicians
People from Lower Hutt
Māori politicians
Ngāti Porou people
Ngāti Awa people
Tuhourangi people
Ngāti Whakaue people
Ngāti Tūwharetoa people
Unsuccessful candidates in the 2014 New Zealand general election
Candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election
New Zealand MPs for Māori electorates
Candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election