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Nuk Korako
JP
Member of Parliament
for National List
In office
20 September 2014 – 16 May 2019
Succeeded byPaulo Garcia
Personal details
Born1954 (age 69–70)
Kaiapoi, New Zealand
Political partyNational
SpouseChristine
Children4

Tutehounuku "Nuk" Korako JP (/nʊk/ NUUK;[1] born 1954)[2] is a New Zealand politician and member of Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury). He was previously a list Member of Parliament, representing the National Party, from 2014 to 2019.

Early life and family

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Korako is of the Ngāi Tahu iwi. His father is from North Canterbury and was a freezing worker; his paternal grandfather was a wharfie.[3] His mother is from Te Rāpaki-o-Te Rakiwhakaputa in Banks Peninsula.

Korako was educated at St Stephen's School in Bombay south of Auckland, Rangiora High School, and Lincoln College.[3] He is married to Christine, and they have four sons.[3]

Career

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Korako is a businessman in the tourism sector and a Ngāi Tahu board member.[3][4]

Political career

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New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2014–2017 51st List 50 National
2017–2019 52nd List 42 National

Korako supported the National Party for many years, and contributed to Bob Parker's 2007 mayoral campaign.[3]

Korako stood for Christchurch City Council in the 2013 local elections in the Banks Peninsula ward. Based on preliminary results, he was just five votes behind Andrew Turner, with 80 special votes still to be counted. On the strength that he might get declared elected, Korako attended the induction meeting, and joined the council delegation that met Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee.[5] One week after the election, Turner was declared the winner with a five votes margin.[6]

Korako contested Port Hills for National in the 2014 election. He was selected as the National candidate over fellow contenders Lincoln Platt and Jason White, and had been asked to stand by former Banks Peninsula MP and current Speaker of the House David Carter.[3] The electorate was won by the incumbent Ruth Dyson of the Labour Party, but National polled well enough that Korako entered Parliament via the National party list.[7] He chaired the Māori Affairs Committee in his first term.

In 2016, Korako had a private member's bill drawn by ballot for debate in Parliament. The Airport Authorities (Publicising Lost Property Sales) Amendment Bill would allow airports to decide the best way to advertise lost property for sale.[8] The Bill was criticised by Labour, New Zealand First and ACT for being a minor law change that could have been achieved through other legislative means.[9][10] The Government eventually progressed Korako's sought amendments through a Statutes Amendment Bill, rather than a standalone law change.[11]

Korako was re-elected as a list MP in the 2017 election, having failed to unseat Dyson for a second time. National was in Opposition from the election; Korako served as the party's spokesperson for Māori Affairs and Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations from November 2017 to May 2019, when he retired.

In mid-April 2019, Korako announced his retirement from politics,[12] which took effect on 16 May 2019. He was succeeded by Paulo Garcia.[13][14]

After the 2022 local elections, Korako was appointed as a Ngāi Tahu representative on Environment Canterbury.[15][16]

Political views

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Korako held generally conservative positions. He voted against cannabis reform and euthanasia reform as a Member of Parliament.[17]

References

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  1. ^ "22.10.14 – Address in Reply Debate – Maiden Speech – Nuk Korako – Part 37". Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  2. ^ James, Colin (2017). National at 80: The Story of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: David Bateman Ltd. ISBN 9781869539818.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Matthews, Philip (18 October 2014). "Late starter on track". The Press. p. C6. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  4. ^ "National names Christchurch candidates". 3 News. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  5. ^ Conway, Glenn (17 October 2014). "Banks Peninsula pair wait for count". The Press. p. A9.
  6. ^ Cairns, Lois (19 October 2014). "Turner hangs on by 5 votes". The Press. p. A16.
  7. ^ Mathewson, Nicole; Stylianou, Georgina; Fulton, Tim (20 September 2014). "Labour's Dyson keeps Port Hills". The Press. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  8. ^ "MPs to debate lost luggage – is this a waste of time?". Stuff.co.nz. 11 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  9. ^ "MP bagged over lost luggage bill". RNZ. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  10. ^ McSweeney, Philip (16 August 2016). "Nuk Korako defends 'lost luggage' bill, but opposition vocal in their ire". Stuff. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Statutes Amendment Bill 2015 (Supplementary Order Papers Nos 191, 207 and 227): Bills Digest No 2417 – New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  12. ^ Kirk, Stacey (14 April 2019). "National MP Nuk Korako announces retirement from Parliament". Stuff. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  13. ^ "National MP Nuk Korako says he will retire from politics in a month to make way for a new candidate". The New Zealand Herald. 15 April 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  14. ^ "New list MP for The New Zealand National Party". Electoral Commission. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  15. ^ Gifford, Adam (9 October 2022). "Nuk Korako back for Environment Canterbury role". Waatea News: Māori Radio Station. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  16. ^ Harvie, Will (27 October 2022). "ECan leader picked by name drawn from tin opposed to regional stadium rate". Stuff. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  17. ^ "Voting records for Tutehounuku (Nuk) Korako". voted.nz. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
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