Hekia Parata
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The Honourable Hekia Parata MP |
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|---|---|
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| 45th Minister of Education | |
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Assumed office 12 December 2011 |
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| Prime Minister |
John Key Bill English |
| Preceded by | Anne Tolley |
| Minister of Ethnic Affairs | |
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In office 2010–2011 |
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| Prime Minister | John Key |
| Preceded by | Pansy Wong |
| Succeeded by | Judith Collins |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for National Party List |
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Assumed office 2008 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 November 1958 |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Political party | National Party |
| Spouse(s) | Sir Wira Gardiner |
| Relations |
Arnold Reedy (grandfather) Tame Parata (great-great-grandfather) |
| Residence | Wellington |
| Alma mater | University of Waikato |
| Occupation | Public servant, politician |
Patricia Hekia Parata (born 1 November 1958) is a New Zealand politician and member of the New Zealand House of Representatives, having been elected to parliament in the 2008 general election. She is a member of the New Zealand National Party and serves as the Minister of Education in the Fifth National Government.
Born and raised in Ruatoria, Parata shares Scottish, Irish, English, Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Porou ancestry. She was one of eight children to her mother, Hīria Te Kiekie Reedy of Ngāti Porou. Her maternal grandfather was Arnold Reedy. Her father, Ron Parata, was of Ngāi Tahu descent and was raised in Puketeraki, near Dunedin. He served in the Māori Battalion and was a teacher and then principal at Ngata Memorial College in Ruatoria. Tame Parata, a Member of Parliament from 1885 to 1911, was Hekia Parata's great-great-grandfather. One of Parata's sisters, Nori Parata, is Principal at Tolaga Bay Area School. Another sister, Apryll Parata, is a Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Education (although was first employed in this role prior to Hekia Parata's appointment as Minister of Education).
Parata attended the University of Waikato, where she graduated with a Master of Arts degree. While at Waikato, she served as President of the Waikato Student Union in 1980. During the Springbok rugby tour of 1981 Parata took an active part in protests against the tour, including the protest at Rugby Park in Hamilton, which ended in a pitch invasion that stopped the match. She has stated that was unable to join the pitch invasion due to a plaster cast from the hip following surgery for a netball injury. Parata was a Youth Representative at the first Hui Taumata held in 1984.
Parata joined the National Party in August 2001. Parata was a Senior Executive Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Parata worked in the state sector, eventually becoming Deputy Chief Executive of Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Maori Development. She also served on the boards of NZ On Air (a broadcasting funding authority) and the Ngai Tahu Development Corporation. Later, she moved into the private sector, establishing the consultancy firm Gardiner and Parata Ltd.
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