Koro Wētere

Biography Early life and family Born at Oparure, near Te Kūiti, on 22 June 1935, Wētere was the son of Weo Maruatara Wētere and Te Aorangi Wētere (née Eketone), and affiliated to the Ngāti Maniapoto iwi. He was educated at Te Kūiti High School and Massey University, Three years later he was given the Maori Affairs and Lands portfolios instead.

Cabinet minister Wētere became Minister of Māori Affairs when the Labour Party won the 1984 election, serving in that role until 1990. He also served as Minister of Lands, Minister of Forestry, and the Minister in charge of the Valuation Department between 1984 and 1987, and the Minister in charge of the Iwi Transition Agency between 1989 and 1990. Wētere was the subject of strong attacks over the issue by National Party MP Winston Peters- who refused to acknowledge the CIA connections of his sources- but denied any wrongdoing. In 1990 Wētere refused to translate his addresses to parliament into English, having given them in Māori. This was one of a number of steps which pushed the issue of the use of Māori in public life during this time. There are now arrangements for simultaneous interpretation between English and Māori in Parliament.

When Labour lost power in the 1990 election, Wētere returned to opposition for two terms before retiring from politics. He was Shadow Minister of Maori Affairs from 1990 to 1996 under Mike Moore and later Helen Clark. Never a supporter of Clark, Wētere was one of several frontbenchers who was part of a delegation met with Clark in her office prior to a caucus meeting in 1996 persuading her to stand down and informing her (in a ruse) that they had the numbers to oust her as leader (in favour of Phil Goff) if she refused. Clark defied Goff and his supporters, and ultimately remained leader.

Death Wētere died in Te Kūiti on 23 June 2018, one day after his 83rd birthday.

Honours Wētere was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977, and the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. In the 1996 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the Māori people.

The University of Waikato awarded Wētere an honorary doctorate for his contributions to the well-being and the advancement of Māori affairs in New Zealand in 1999, and a lifetime achievement award, Te Tohu Whakamaharatanga ki Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu, in 2008.