Tuariki Delamere

Tuariki John Edward Delamere (born 9 December 1951) is a former New Zealand politician and athlete.

John Edward Delamere was born in 1951 at a military hospital in Papakura, and was educated in Tauranga, attending Tauranga Boys' College.

Of Māori descent through his soldier father, his iwi affiliations include Whakatohea, Te Arawa and Te Whanau-a-Apanui.

In 1967 and 1969, he was recognised as the top Māori student in New Zealand.

He then attended Washington State University on an athletic scholarship.

Delamere obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1974.

He later obtained a Master of Business Administration from Long Island University.

Delamere served in the United States Army from 1974 to 1978.

He was an accountant stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and later joined the staff at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.

After leaving the United States, Delamere worked as chief financial officer for Polynesian Airlines.

He competed and set records in long jump and triple jump, representing New Zealand in those events in the 1974 Commonwealth Games at Christchurch.

At Washington State, he pioneered the technique of a full somersault in long jump competitions, which was later banned.

Delamere is married to Jo-Ell; they share three children and eight grandchildren.

In the early 1990s, he held a number of bureaucratic roles in New Zealand, including for the Department of Justice and Te Puni Kōkiri.

Delamere also had a sporting career.

Delamere unsuccessfully sought the National Party nomination in the West Auckland electorate in 1990.

He joined New Zealand First in 1993 but did not contest that year's general election.

He was elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives in the Te Tai Rawhiti electorate, representing the New Zealand First party, in the 1996 New Zealand general election.

Delamere entered politics in the 1996 elections, when he successfully stood as a candidate for the New Zealand First party in the Te Tai Rawhiti electorate, defeating Sir Peter Tapsell and becoming one of the group known as the Tight Five.

Immediately after being elected, he was appointed to Cabinet as part of New Zealand First's coalition deal with the National Party.

Initially, Delamere was given ministerial responsibility for the Valuation Department and the Public Trust Office; he was also associate Treasurer.

Delamere adopted the name Tuariki, his father's name, in 1997 after he was appointed as a Cabinet minister.

Tuariki means "chief of high standing".

He became Minister of Customs and Associate Minister of Health when Neil Kirton was fired in September 1997.

Delamere oversaw the restructuring of the Valuation Department into a Crown-owned company, Quotable Value New Zealand Limited, and the transfer of employees to that company and, in the case of the Valuer-General, to Land Information New Zealand.

The restructure was intended to create "improved efficiencies" and cost-savings.

As Associate Minister of Health, Delamere held responsibility for Māori health, health regulation and protection, environmental health (including the Smokefree Environments Act) and Pharmac.

An anti-smoking campaigner, Delamere declared himself "out to destroy" cigarette companies.

He announced a new requirement for health warnings on cigarette packets to be in larger text in August 1998.

He sought to ban smoking from all restaurants, schools, and public buildings and to ban displays of cigarettes in stores.

These policies would eventually be advanced by the subsequent Labour and National governments.

The National–New Zealand First coalition began to break apart in 1998.

Following the replacement sudden replacement of Te Tai Tokerau MP Tau Henare as New Zealand First deputy leader with Peter Brown, newspaper reports suggested New Zealand First's Tight Five MPs would break away to form a new Māori-led political party.

Delamere initially denied involvement, but a leaked report written by Delamere outlined the strategy to launch such a party.

Several New Zealand First ministers, including leader Winston Peters, walked out of a Cabinet meeting after disagreeing with the Government's policy to sell shares in Wellington Airport.

Peters was ultimately sacked from the Cabinet by the prime minister, Jenny Shipley.

Despite reports that Delamere was intending a leadership challenge against Peters, Delamere resigned from New Zealand First on 18 August, opting to stay as an independent MP supporting the government.

Describing his split from Peters, he said, "I have been lucky and privileged to be here and that's all thanks to Winston, I acknowledge that, but at the end of the day, he doesn't own my soul."

He was later a member of the Te Tawharau party, before losing his seat in 1999.

Delamere served in the Fourth National Government, including as Minister of Customs, Minister for Pacific Island Affairs, and Minister of Immigration.