Tau Henare

Henare's great-grandfather, Taurekareka (Tau) Hēnare, served in Parliament from 1914 to 1938 alongside notable Māori politicians such as Āpirana Ngata, James Carroll and Māui Pōmare.

Henare's great-uncle was Māori Battalion leader and politician Sir James Henare, who was once considered a candidate to be Governor-General and served as a revered guide and mentor to a young Tau.

Henare himself was the brother-in-law to New Zealand Māori politician Tuku Morgan through Henare's marriage to the sister of Morgan's wife.

As a young boy growing up in Ōtara, Henare had a contrasting childhood.

On one hand, he was told almost before he could walk that his future would be politics, which at times requires statesman-like skills to deal with others.

On the other, Ōtara was "a place where you learn how to survive," and it required Henare to learn "to be strong, stand up and not take a backward step."

Raymond Tau Henare (born 29 September 1960) is a former New Zealand Māori parliamentarian.

Henare was born in Ōtara, New Zealand, the son of a 37-year railwayman, on 29 September 1960.

Known by his middle name "Tau," Henare's tribal roots are Ngāpuhi and what he characterises as "all the North".

His involvement in politics can be traced to his family's involvement in politics.

Looking back on his 1960s childhood in 1996, Henare summed it up as one that "taught me to be proud of who I am."

After his schooling ended in 1978, Henare worked at a variety of positions, including wool cleaner and wool classer, where he was responsible for separating sheep's wool, organiser for the Northern Clerical Workers' Union under activist and trade unionist Syd Jackson, community worker, adviser to the Waitakere City Council, and Department of Internal Affairs adviser.

During this period, Henare was unemployed for two years.

It also later contributed to what he describes as "youthful exuberance" that lead to a 1980s reputation for being a stirrer and a radical.

In Ōtara, Henare attended Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate.

During Year 11 (Form 5) when he was 16, he attained the School Certificate, a former New Zealand secondary school qualification for high school students to progress to Year 12.

However, Henare was unsuccessful on his New Zealand University Entrance.

Also, at the age of 25, Henare was arrested for breaking through a police line and laying a wreath for the Māori Battalion during a royal visit on Anzac Day in 1985.

In addition to being influenced by his upbringing and pre-Member of Parliament work, Henare was influenced during his 20s by Māori culture:"'I mostly remember how Māori culture comforted me and distracted me, the exhilaration of rowing a waka down the Waikato River with 100 others, the voluntary work at the local marae. Hitching to hui across the country and picking up the language along the way, meeting relations for the first time, changing our names.'"

In representing three different political parties in parliament—New Zealand First, Mauri Pacific and the National Party—Henare served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1993 to 1999 and from 2005 to 2014.

In connection with Winston Peters (himself Māori) establishing the New Zealand First party in July 1993, Henare changed the focus of his activities to politics for the 6 November 1993 election.

Henare first won election to Parliament in the 1993 election as the New Zealand First candidate for the Northern Maori electorate, a surprising result given Labour's traditional dominance in the Māori electorates.

In defeating incumbent Labour Party member Bruce Gregory, Henare became New Zealand First's second MP, joining Peters in the House.

As such, Henare became New Zealand First's deputy leader.

His election helped counter the perception that New Zealand First was merely an extension of Peters.

In December 1994, Northern Maori member of parliament Henare supported Māori tribe's paramount chief Sir Hepi Te Heuheu in Heuheu's refusal to attend a meeting with then Prime Minister Jim Bolger for a roundtable discussion on government proposals to settle Māori claims, reasoning that the government's handling of Maori claims indicated a lack of understanding of the gravity of the issues involved and the meeting would be a public relations exercise.

Two months later in February 1995, Henare supported a push to have the United Nations oversee a fiscal envelope negotiation process.

by which a monetary cap of $1 billion would be placed in a "fiscal envelope" for use in settling all Treaty of Waitangi grievances.

Henare felt that United Nations scrutiny would ensure justice in the face of past treaty breaches and that the Government's forceful approach did not create future resentment.

In the 1996 election, conducted under the new MMP electoral system, New Zealand First gained fifteen further MPs, and also made a clean sweep of the five Māori electorates.

As deputy leader, Henare was second on New Zealand First's party list behind Peters.

He easily won re-election in his electorate, which had been renamed Te Tai Tokerau.

When New Zealand First went into coalition with National, allowing a third term of the fourth National government, Henare joined the Cabinet, with his most prominent ministry that of Māori Affairs.

He and the four other New Zealand First Māori MPs — Tuku Morgan, Rana Waitai, Tu Wyllie and Tuariki Delamere — became known as the Tight Five, an allusion to the five tight forwards in a rugby union team.

National and New Zealand First initially worked very well together, but relations became more strained after Jenny Shipley ousted Jim Bolger as National leader and Prime Minister in 1997.

In August 1998, the coalition started to become unstable, and internal tensions arose within New Zealand First itself.

When Shipley sacked Peters from Cabinet on 14 August 1998, Peters pulled New Zealand First out of the coalition.

However, Henare and several other New Zealand First MPs left the party to sit as independents.

They offered their support to National, allowing the government to maintain a slim majority.

It later emerged that before departing, Henare had mounted an unsuccessful challenge to Peters.