William Wakatere Jackson (born 1961) is a New Zealand politician and former broadcaster and

Urban Māori Urban Māori are Māori people living in urban areas outside the ''rohe'' (traditional tribal lands) of their ''iwi'' (tribe) or ''hapū'' (sub-tribe). The 2013 New Zealand census showed that 84% of Māori in New Zealand lived in urban areas, 25% ...

chief executive. He was an

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

MP from 1999 to 2002, and in 2017 was elected as a Labour MP.

Early life

Jackson was born in 1961 to June Jackson and Bob Jackson. He grew up in Porirua and Mangere. In his teenage years Jackson attended Mangere College. He has worked in a number of jobs, including

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

organiser, record company executive, broadcaster,

talkback radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

host and

urban Māori Urban Māori are Māori people living in urban areas outside the ''rohe'' (traditional tribal lands) of their ''iwi'' (tribe) or ''hapū'' (sub-tribe). The 2013 New Zealand census showed that 84% of Māori in New Zealand lived in urban areas, 25% ...

advocate. He worked at Aotearoa Radio as Radio Host. He was also the manager for the ground-breaking band 'Moana and the Moahunters' throughout the 1980s and '90s.

Political life

In 1995, Jackson joined the Mana Motuhake party, a

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 ...

party which formed part of the

. In the 1996 election, he stood unsuccessfully for Parliament. In the 1999 election, however, he was elected as an Alliance

list MP A list MP is a member of parliament (MP) elected from a party list rather than from by a geographical constituency. The place in Parliament is due to the number of votes that the party won, not to votes received by the MP personally. This occurs ...

. In 2001, Jackson successfully challenged Mana Motuhake leader Sandra Lee for the leadership of the party. Jackson served as the leader of the Mana Motuhake party from 2001 to 2004 when most of the party's membership then became part of the Māori party and Mana Motuhake disestablished. When the Alliance began to collapse in 2002, Jackson sided with the faction led by

Laila Harré Laila Jane Harré (born 8 January 1966) is a New Zealand politician and trade unionist. She was the first leader of the Internet Party, and stood for Parliament in the 2014 general election through the Helensville electorate. From 1996 to 200 ...

and

Matt McCarten Matthew McCarten (born 11 February 1959) is a New Zealand political organiser and trade unionist, of Ngāpuhi descent. McCarten was active with several trade unions including the Hotel and Hospital Workers' Union, the Unite Union, and the One U ...

, and remained with the party when

Jim Anderton James Patrick Anderton (born Byrne; 21 January 1938 – 7 January 2018) was a New Zealand politician who led a succession of left-wing parties after leaving the Labour Party in 1989. Anderton's political career began when he was elected to th ...

established his breakaway group. In the 2002 election, Jackson became Deputy Leader of the Alliance under Harré's leadership, but the Alliance failed to win any seats.

Life between politics

Shortly after the 2002 election, Mana Motuhake left the Alliance and Jackson worked on setting up a new pan-tribal independent Māori party. He then supported

Tariana Turia Dame Tariana Turia (born 8 April 1944) is a New Zealand politician. She was first elected to Parliament in 1996. Turia gained considerable prominence during the foreshore and seabed controversy in 2004, and eventually broke with the Labour P ...

when she quit the Labour Party and founded the new

Māori Party 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 ...

where Jackson and McCarten played supporting roles. He currently works as a community Chief Executive with the

Manukau Manukau (), or Manukau Central, is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand, centred on the Manukau City Centre business district. It is located 23 kilometres south of the Auckland Central Business District, west of the Southern Motorway, so ...

Urban Māori Authority. He is also a broadcaster and a political commentator. * Since 2003, Jackson has run a nationwide Māori current affairs show 'Paakiwaha' on Radio Waatea. * Between 2004 and 2009 he was the host of the award-winning Eye to Eye, a weekly

Television New Zealand , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the Solom ...

political debate series with emphasis on political issues facing Māori. * In 2007 Jackson and former Labour MP

John Tamihere John Henry Tamihere (born 8 February 1959) is a New Zealand politician, media personality, and political commentator. He was member of Parliament from 1999 to 2005, including serving as a Cabinet minister in the Labour Party from August 2002 to ...

fronted a

(TVNZ) show pertaining to wider New Zealand views on Māori issues called 'The World according to Willie and JT'. * Between 2009 and 2011, he was the host of a Māori current affairs show on Māori Television called 'Willie Jackson's News Bites'. * He has been a political commentator on TVNZ's ''

Good Morning "Good morning" is a common greeting in the English language. It may also refer to: Television * ''Good Morning!!!'' (Australian show), a children's show * ''Good Morning'' (New Zealand show), a daytime talk show * ''Good Morning'' (Russian ...

'', ''

Breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night.Anderson, Heather Arndt (2013)''Breakfast: A History'' AltaMira Press. Various "typical" or "t ...

'' and late night shows, and has been the political commentator for TVNZ's ''Marae'' show since 2012. He has also commentated TVNZ's election coverage in , , and 2014. * Jackson also co-hosted with Tamihere a national, award-winning talkback show, Willie & JT, on

Radio Live Radio Live (stylised as Radio LIVE) was a nationwide Auckland-based New Zealand talkback, news and sport radio network owned and operated by MediaWorks New Zealand. It was formed by the 2005 split of talk and racing network Radio Pacific i ...

each weekday afternoon between 2006 and 2013. This show was controversially stopped in November 2013 over the Roast Busters scandal. * In February 2014, Jackson started a new daily national talkback show on Radio Live with former TVNZ personality,

Alison Mau Alison Mau () (born 14 February 1965), known professionally as Ali Mau, is an Australian-born New Zealand journalist and broadcaster. She is a former television news anchor, former co-host of the TVNZ current affairs show '' Seven Sharp'', form ...

. * Jackson is the chairman for the National Urban Māori Authority (Urban Māori Authorities that are nationwide); the chairman for the 21 Iwi Māori Radio Stations (Te Whakaruruhau ō Ngā Reo Irirangi Māori); and is the chairman for the Māori Television Electoral College (Te Pūtahi Paoho). Despite the controversy that arose out of the Roast Busters scandal, Jackson and Tamihere won the prestigious North Island

Whānau Ora Whānau Ora (Māori for "family health") is a major contemporary indigenous health initiative in New Zealand, driven by Māori cultural values. Its core goal is to empower communities and extended families () to support families within the comm ...

contract in 2014 with their National Urban Māori Authority. It is the biggest independent contract that has been allocated to Māori (over $14 million per annum). Their work in the communities of

South Auckland South Auckland is an imprecisely defined urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, with a young population, a relatively large Polynesian and Māori demographic, and lower incomes than other parts of Auckland. The name ''South Auckland'', though not ...

and West Auckland with Māori was seen as the primary reason for them winning the contract according to Whānau Ora Minister,

. Politically, Jackson is seen as someone who supports and advises Māori candidates right across the political spectrum. He has been a vocal supporter of Tariana Turia (from the Māori Party),

Pita Sharples Sir Pita Russell Sharples (born Peter Russell Sharples, 20 July 1941) is a New Zealand Māori academic and politician, who was a co-leader of the Māori Party from 2004 to 2013, and a minister outside Cabinet in the National Party-led governme ...

(from the Māori Party), Rangi McLean (from the Māori Party),

Claudette Hauiti Claudette Hauiti (born 8 May 1961) is a New Zealand journalist, broadcaster and political commentator. She was the producer of the award winning programme ''Children of the Revolution.'' Hauiti was a New Zealand politician and member of the Hous ...

(from the National Party),

Winston Peters Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician serving as the leader of New Zealand First since its foundation in 1993. Peters served as the 13th deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 1996 to 1998 and 2017 to 2020, ...

(from

New Zealand First New Zealand First ( mi, Aotearoa Tuatahi), commonly abbreviated to NZ First, is a nationalist and populist political party in New Zealand. The party formed in July 1993 following the resignation on 19 March 1993 of its leader and founder, Winst ...

Return to Parliament

Jackson had considered standing for the

Mana Movement The Mana Movement, formerly known as the Mana Party, is a former political party in New Zealand. The party was led by Hone Harawira who formed it in April 2011 following his resignation from the Māori Party. Harawira won the by-election in Te T ...

Tāmaki Makaurau Tāmaki Makaurau is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was first formed for the . The electorate covers the Auckland area and was first held by Labour ...

at the 2011 election, but declined to run. His return to politics instead came in 2017 and with the Labour Party. Jackson stood down from his high-profile talkback show on

where he had been host for 10 years and from his political commentary role on

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...

's ''

Marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

'' television series to be a list candidate and Māori campaign director for the party, at the request of then-leader Andrew Little. Labour polled well at the 2017 general election. Jackson was elected as a Labour Party list candidate and the party won all seven

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 ...

. Following the election, Jackson resigned from his position as chief executive of the Manukau Urban Maori Authority, chairman of Te Whakaruruhau o Nga Reo Irirangi Māori, the Māori radio network and chairman of the National Urban Maori Authority. Following post-election negotiations between Labour,

and the

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

s and the formation of a

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

, Jackson was appointed the Minister of Employment and Associate Minister for Māori Development (outside Cabinet). During the 2020 general election, Jackson was re-elected to Parliament on the Labour Party list. In early November 2020, he was elevated to the Cabinet as

Minister for Māori Development Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

and given the associate portfolios for the

Accident Compensation Corporation The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) ( mi, Te Kaporeihana Āwhina Hunga Whara) is the New Zealand Crown entity responsible for administering the country's no-fault accidental injury compensation scheme, commonly referred to as the ACC sch ...

(ACC) and justice. In late November 2021, Jackson apologised to the

Moriori The Moriori are the native Polynesian people of the Chatham Islands (''Rēkohu'' in Moriori; ' in Māori), New Zealand. Moriori originated from Māori settlers from the New Zealand mainland around 1500 CE. This was near the time of th ...

on behalf of

Ngāti Tama Ngāti Tama is a historic Māori iwi of present-day New Zealand which whakapapas back to Tama Ariki, the chief navigator on the Tokomaru waka. The iwi of Ngati Tama is located in north Taranaki around Poutama. The Mōhakatino river marks the ...

and

Ngāti Mutunga Ngāti Mutunga is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand, whose original tribal lands were in north Taranaki. They migrated from Taranaki, first to Wellington (with Ngāti Toa and other Taranaki Hāpu), and then to the Chatham Islands (along wit ...

for his ancestors' role in the Moriori genocide. This apology accompanied the passage of the Moriori Claims Settlements Bill, which formalised the New Zealand Government's financial compensation settlement to the Moriori within the framework of the

Treaty of 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 ...

apologised. In early December 2021, Jackson was ejected from the New Zealand Parliament debating chamber for refusing to apologise after National Party MP

Maureen Pugh Maureen Helena Pugh (born 1958) is a New Zealand politician who is a Member of Parliament for the National Party. She has twice appeared to have won a list seat based on preliminary results, then missed out on a seat when the final results cam ...

had objected to him calling the ACT party "right-wing fascists." Jackson had made these remarks during a debate on a bill to include two

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim), Mount Mahanga and Kahurangi Poi ...

representatives on the

Canterbury Regional Council 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 str ...

after the 2022 New Zealand local elections. In a June 2022 reshuffle, Jackson was also appointed

Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media __NOTOC__ The Minister of Broadcasting and Media is a minister in the government of New Zealand with responsibility for the government's broadcasting and media policies, including the diversity and accessibility of broadcast content, broadcas ...

. As Broadcasting Minister, Jackson introduced draft legislation to merge the public broadcasters

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and c ...

and

into a new non-profit autonomous Crown entity called

Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media (ANZPM) was a proposed public media entity consisting of the New Zealand public broadcasters Radio New Zealand (RNZ) and TVNZ. After exploring the merger of the two media entities in February 2020, the New Zealan ...

(ANZPM), which is expected to come into existence in March 2023.

Notable relatives

Willie Jackson is the son of Bob Jackson and Dame June Jackson, one of New Zealand's longest serving parole board members. His uncles are activist Syd Jackson and lawyer

Moana Jackson Moana Jackson (10 October 1945 – 31 March 2022) was a New Zealand lawyer specialising in constitutional law, the Treaty of Waitangi and international indigenous issues. Jackson was of Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Porou descent. He was an a ...

. His grandfather is All Black Everard Jackson. Jackson's ex-wife is singer Moana Maniapoto. His son is award winning journalist Hikurangi Jackson.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Willie 1961 births Alliance (New Zealand political party) MPs Leaders of political parties in New Zealand Living people New Zealand television presenters Māori MPs New Zealand list MPs Mana Motuhake politicians New Zealand Māori broadcasters Unsuccessful candidates in the 1996 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2002 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Radio Live 21st-century New Zealand politicians New Zealand Labour Party MPs Candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election Candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election People from Māngere

Willie Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scree ...