33 Facts About Harete Hipango

Harete Makere Hipango was born on 1964 or 1965 and is a New Zealand politician.

Harete Hipango was a member of parliament in the House of Representatives for the National Party and sat on the Maori Affairs Committee.

Harete Hipango failed to be re-elected at the 2023 election.

Harete Hipango was baptised a Catholic, and still identifies as a Christian.

Harete Hipango went to Queen's Park School, convent school at St Mary's Primary, St Joseph's Intermediate and Sacred Heart College.

Harete Hipango's iwi are Te Ati Haunui-a-Paparangi, Ngati Apa, Nga Rauru Kitahi, Ngati Tamakopiri, and Ngati Whitikaupeka.

Harete Hipango is the great-great granddaughter of Hoani Wiremu Hipango, and the great granddaughter of Waata Hipango who gifted land to the people of Whanganui, which is known as Hipango Park.

Harete Hipango graduated from University of Auckland in 1991, with a Bachelor of Laws, and practised as a lawyer in Whanganui for more than 25 years.

Harete Hipango was involved in the 1995 Pakaitore occupation as a lawyer, and in 2004 participated in the march against the Foreshore and Seabed legislation.

Harete Hipango was a member of the Whanganui District Health Board.

In 2011, Harete Hipango was appointed as an additional member of the Legal Aid Tribunal.

Harete Hipango was selected by the New Zealand National Party to contest the Whanganui electorate at the 2017 general election, after the retirement of incumbent MP Chester Borrows.

Harete Hipango won the electorate seat with 16,751 votes, compared to Labour candidate Steph Lewis garnering 15,045 votes.

Harete Hipango received considerable media attention when she said that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was being morally inconsistent by voting to decriminalise abortion while speaking out on child mortality rates.

Harete Hipango stated that the act allowed for full-term abortions, which was criticised by many as being factually incorrect, as under the legislation two health practitioners must sign off any abortion after 20 weeks.

Harete Hipango herself said in 2021 that it was very lonely during her time as an MP and Maori woman in the National Party caucus and that the party still undervalues the Maori voice.

Harete Hipango helped unseat leader Simon Bridges in a leadership challenge of May 2020 in which Todd Muller took leadership.

Some among the National Party felt that National MPs who supported Judith Collins, which included Harete Hipango, supported Muller's bid as a step towards leadership by Collins, and Collins would become the leader of the party in July 2020.

At the 2020 general election, Harete Hipango was defeated in Whanganui by Labour's Steph Lewis by a margin of 8,191 votes in a massive swing towards Labour.

Harete Hipango was ranked 21st on National's party list, but this was not high enough to receive a seat at the election.

Harete Hipango was National's highest-ranked list candidate who did not enter parliament after the 2020 election.

In September 2020, ahead of the election, Harete Hipango posted an image on Facebook of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern overlaid with the text of a quote falsely attributed to Ardern.

Harete Hipango took on Smith's electoral reform and research and science portfolios, as well as the portfolio of Maori tourism that she had held previously, but other policy work for the party previously undertaken by Smith was taken on by a more senior MP.

Harete Hipango was appointed to represent National on the Maori Affairs Committee.

In June 2021, the New Zealand Herald alleged that Harete Hipango had purchased items of furniture and a television with Parliamentary Service funds, but had the items delivered to her home rather than used in her electorate office.

On 3 November 2021, Harete Hipango appeared at a protest against COVID-19 vaccination at a vaccination clinic in Whanganui.

When Harete Hipango was seen by a Newshub reporter, she said that she was there to support her community, but shortly afterwards she left.

Harete Hipango later said that she had thought it was a protest about another issue.

On 8 January 2022, Harete Hipango again appeared at a rally in Whanganui against COVID-19 vaccination and lockdowns.

Harete Hipango posted an image of herself at the rally to social media, alongside a post criticising the label 'anti-vaxer' and 'misinformer'.

Harete Hipango later deleted the post, and National Party leader Christopher Luxon released a statement saying the views of Voices for Freedom do not align with the National Party.

On 27 January 2022, Harete Hipango acknowledged that she had asked a member of her staff to edit her Wikipedia biography to remove any mention of negative or controversial issues that Harete Hipango was involved in, including her attendance at anti-vaccination rallies.

Harete Hipango had been ranked 31st on National's list, which was not high enough to keep her in Parliament.