Tuariki Delamere

The Honourable Tuariki Delamere MP
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Te Tai Hauāuru
In office 1996–1999
Preceded by	New constituency
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	9 December 1951 Papakura, New Zealand
Political party	Te Tawharau
Other political affiliations	New Zealand First

Tuariki John Delamere (born 9 December 1951) is a former New Zealand politician. He served as an MP from 1996 to 1999, and was a member of Cabinet for the duration of his term.

Delamere was born in 1951 at a military hospital in Papakura, and was educated in Tauranga. 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. He obtained a BA in 1974. He later obtained an MBA from Long Island University. For a time, Delamere served in the United States Army, being stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He later joined the staff of the West Point. After leaving the United States, Delamere worked as chief financial officer for Polynesian Airlines. He also held a number of bureaucratic roles. Delamere has also been successful in sporting events; setting records in long jump and triple jump, and representing New Zealand in those events in the 1974 Commonwealth Games at Christchurch.

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. Among the roles he held during his ministerial career were those of Minister of Immigration, Minister of Pacific Island Affairs, Associate Minister of Finance, and Associate Minister of Health.

...
Wikipedia