Kelly Hodel/stuff
Twenty-year-old Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke will go up against Labour incumbent Nanaia Mahuta come October 14.
The granddaughter of the Ngā Tamatoa activist who vandalised a Hamilton statue is set to stand against Nanaia Mahuta for the Hauraki-Waikato seat.
Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, 20, will challenge the long-time Labour incumbent and current foreign affairs minister as the Te Pāti Māori candidate for Hauraki-Waikato, her father, Potaka Maipi, confirmed.
Her candidacy was expected to be announced on Thursday.
Mahuta has strong ties within the electorate and is a descendant of the Kiingitanga movement. She has comfortably held the seat – previously Te Tai Hauāuru – since 1996.
Politics, however, runs in the family for Maipi-Clarke.
She is the granddaughter of Taitimu Maipi, the Ngā Tamatoa member who took to the Captain Hamilton statue in its namesake city with a hammer and red paint in 2018, challenging its colonial legacy and Hamilton’s role in the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s.
ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff
Long-time Labour incumbent and current foreign affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has held the seat since 1996.
Hamilton was killed at the Battle of Gate Pā and never visited the city that bears his name. The statue was paid for by the Gallagher family and installed without public consultation.
Maipi is also the the grand-niece of a pioneer of the Māori language movement: Hana Te Hemara, who delivered the Māori language petition on the steps of Parliament in 1972.
Maipi-Clarke’s father, Māori broadcaster Potaka Maipi, had also been tipped as an early pick for the seat but ultimately “it was always going to be Hana”.
“She’s always said that rangatahi are underestimated so that’s her big thing,” Maipi said.
“It’s a daunting prospect for her going up against Nanaia… At the end of the day wherever she stands it is a rangatahi stand, that’s her battle.”
Maipi said his daughter had been approached by more than one political party since she delivered a rousing speech in Parliament last September during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.
CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF
Maipi-Clarke is the granddaughter of Taitumu Maipi, the Ngā Tamatoa member who took to the Captain Hamilton statue in 2018.
“She’s had a strong Māori upbringing but she’s taken it to another level, it’s a big part of her life,” Maipi said, but the “battle” for the seat would be a tough one.
“I know she can do the job…but let’s be real, politics is a whole other game.
“Parliament was a little bit daunting… We’re not surprised she was asked and there were times that she was even re-asked.”
But her whānau were backing her all the way to October 14.
“Is she political? Absolutely. Does she have it in her? Absolutely.”
Maipi-Clarke has been approached for comment.
Discussion about this post