Heta Hingston

Heta Kenneth Hingston and educated at Horohoro Native School, Whangamarino Primary, Rotorua Boys' High School and St Stephen's College. At the age of 18 he was conscripted into the New Zealand Army, and served in Malaya as part of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment from 1957 to 1959 and again from 1961 to 1963.

Hingston later attended Victoria University of Wellington, and graduated with an LLB in 1969. While studying he worked as a legal assistant for the New Zealand Railways Department and Ministry of Works, and then later for the Ministry of Defence.

Judicial career Hingston served on the Māori Land Court from 1984 to 1999. As a Judge of the High Court of the Cook Islands, in 2004 he presided over the judicial recount of the Manihiki electorate which saw prime minister Robert Woonton lose his seat and his office. He also completed the Cook Islands' longest-running land-ownership case, which had been before the courts since 1908.

Political activities Hingston retired as a New Zealand judge in 1999. After retirement, he helped establish the Māori Party in 2004 and served as one of its co-vice presidents. He died in Rotorua on 9 August 2020.