Annette Te Imaima Sykes (born ) is a New Zealand activist and lawyer who advocates for the rights of Māori tribes to be

self-governing Self-governance, self-government, self-sovereignty or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any ...

. She was ranked third on the joint Internet Mana list for the

2014 New Zealand general election The 2014 New Zealand general election took place on Saturday 20 September 2014 to determine the membership of the 51st New Zealand Parliament. Voters elected 121 members to the New Zealand House of Representatives, House of Representatives, wi ...

Biography

Sykes is of Ngāti Pikiao and Ngāti Makino descent, two of the confederated tribes of

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori people, Māori iwi and hapū (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the ''Arawa (canoe), Arawa'' migration canoe (''waka''). The tribes are based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plent ...

waka. Sykes' father Cecil Francis 'Jack' Sykes was a pakeha of British descent. She is a graduate of

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

and has been practising as a lawyer since 1984. She has her own law firm Annette Sykes & Co. Ltd. She is a

human rights lawyer International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law is primarily made up of treaties, ag ...

specialising in the rights of

indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

to promote their own systems of law. She specialises in

Waitangi Tribunal The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on c ...

claims but has also practised in criminal and family courts across New Zealand. Sykes is an advocate for Māori independence and a nuclear free, genetic engineering free independent Pacific. She was a

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 ...

member but became a prominent member of the Mana Party in 2011. She was listed second on the Mana Party list for the 2011 election, as well as standing unsuccessfully in the Waiariki electorate. She contested Waiariki for the Mana Party again in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, and was third on the combined

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

MANA list, but was not elected. She did not contest the 2017 election. Sykes represented 17 people arrested in the 2007 New Zealand police raids, including high-profile activist Tame Iti. Most of her clients were cleared of all charges, and an independent report found that many aspects of the raid were "unlawful, unjustified and unreasonable". Sykes has received death threats and bullets in her letterbox in retaliation for her work on Māori independence. She has also been an outspoken supporter of controversial figures in Māori politics such as

Titewhai Harawira Titewhai Te Hoia Hinewhare Harawira (1932 – 25 January 2023) was a New Zealand Māori activist. Born in Whakapara and descended from Ngāpuhi chiefs, Harawira was an outspoken political commentator and a civil rights campaigner beginning w ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sykes, Annette 1961 births Living people 20th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand Māori lawyers Ngāti Pikiao people People from Rotorua Māori activists University of Auckland alumni Te Pāti Māori politicians Mana Movement politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 2011 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2014 New Zealand general election New Zealand Māori women lawyers 21st-century New Zealand lawyers 21st-century New Zealand women lawyers