49 Facts About Hekia Parata

Patricia Hekia Parata was born on 1 November 1958 and is a former New Zealand public servant, diplomat, and politician.

Hekia Parata served as the Minister of Education in the Fifth National Government.

Hekia Parata was one of ten children to her mother, Hiria Te Kiekie Reedy of Ngati Porou.

Hekia Parata served in the Maori Battalion and was a teacher and then principal at Ngata Memorial College in Ruatoria.

Hekia Parata attended the University of Waikato, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Maori studies.

Hekia Parata's thesis, entitled, "Te kiri ka tokia e te anu: ko etahi ahuatanga ki nga kainga o Hiruharama me Te Horo," explored the role of women and the wharemate on marae and was written in te reo Maori.

Bilingual in Maori and English, Parata moved between the English- and Maori-speaking communities of students and was known as "Hekia" by Maori students and "Trish" by English speakers.

Hekia Parata was elected president of the Waikato University Students' Association in 1980, the first Maori woman to hold the role.

Hekia Parata received a distinguished alumni award from the university in 2011.

Hekia Parata has stated that was unable to join the pitch invasion due to a plaster cast from the hip following surgery for a netball injury.

Hekia Parata was a youth representative at the first Hui Taumata held in 1984.

In 2011, while a Member of Parliament, Hekia Parata was a senior executive fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Hekia Parata started working in the state sector in 1983, first with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs working on the Latin American and Caribbean desk.

Hekia Parata's contributions included developing the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi as a public policy tool, Tomorrow's Schools and restructuring the former Department of Maori Affairs into two agencies: the Ministry of Maori Affairs and the Iwi Transition Agency.

Hekia Parata next worked at the New Zealand Housing Corporation before her final public service role, as deputy chief executive of Te Puni Kokiri, the new Ministry for Maori Development.

In 1997, Hekia Parata was appointed by Prime Minister Jim Bolger as a member of the Towards 2000 Taskforce, to "advise the Government on the appropriate "vision", events for the [millennium] celebrations and national projects of lasting public benefit".

Hekia Parata served on the boards of NZ On Air and the Ngai Tahu Development Corporation.

In 2001, Hekia Parata was appointed to the Maori Television Service Board.

Hekia Parata resigned within two months, reportedly blaming a "lack of funding" for the new Maori TV channel.

Hekia Parata's name was connected to an investigation by the State Services Commissioner Don Hunn into the improper use of public funds in the purchase of two vehicles for her partner Wira Gardiner in 1995.

Hekia Parata's name was on the purchase orders issued by the Ministry, although it eventually became known that the cars were paid by and for Mr Gardiner at the time of purchase.

Hekia Parata joined the National Party in August 2001 and was selected as the National Party candidate for the Wellington Central electorate that December for the 2002 general election.

Hekia Parata wrote a chapter describing her experience as the candidate in New Zealand Votes: the General Election of 2002, a review of the election.

Hekia Parata argued for the protection of indigenous Maori culture.

In spite of the electorate result, Hekia Parata was elected to Parliament as a list MP, having been ranked 36 on the National Party list.

Hekia Parata was deputy chair of the social services committee.

Hekia Parata was the sole candidate for the National Party, winning the nomination without contest.

Hekia Parata was appointed Minister for Women's Affairs and Ethnic Affairs, and associate minister for energy and resources, ACC, and the community and voluntary sector.

In February 2011, Hekia Parata became the acting Minister of Energy and Resources, relieving Gerry Brownlee to concentrate on his role as Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

Hekia Parata recontested the Mana electorate in 2011 and 2014, losing to Faafoi both times.

Hekia Parata was Minister of Education for five-and-a-half years in the second and third terms of the Fifth National Government.

Hekia Parata was Minister for Pacific Island Affairs from 2011 to 2014.

Hekia Parata announced she would retire in October 2016 and continued in the Cabinet until 2 May 2017, leaving Parliament at the September 2017 general election.

Hekia Parata was appointed as Minister of Education following the 2011 general election, succeeding Anne Tolley.

Hekia Parata was expected to implement the National Government's plans to improve the quality of teaching and shake up the sector, but got into difficulty almost immediately.

Hekia Parata introduced proposals to increase class sizes, leading to claims that it would cause some intermediate schools to lose up to nine teachers.

Hekia Parata had to negotiate the introduction of charter schools as part of National's confidence-and-supply agreements with John Banks and David Seymour, which was opposed by much of the existing education sector.

In February 2013, Hekia Parata confirmed the Government would close seven Christchurch schools due to falling roll numbers and earthquake damage, in addition to two that had already closed voluntarily.

Hekia Parata oversaw the introduction of the controversial Novopay payroll system which cost $30 million and was supposed to streamline payments to teachers and school staff.

Along the way, Hekia Parata fell out with newly recruited education secretary Lesley Longstone, who was forced to resign over the debacle.

New Zealand Herald commentator Audrey Young wrote, "Hekia Parata came in with high expectations about how to lift student achievement, but an unrealistic view of what the Ministry of Education was capable of doing".

Hekia Parata was criticised for a reliance on jargon and obfuscation.

However, Prime Minister John Key removed responsibility for managing the Novopay system from Hekia Parata, giving that job to Steven Joyce.

In October 2016, Hekia Parata announced that she would not seek reelection at the 2017 election and would retire from politics.

Hekia Parata began the work to replace the socioeconomic decile school funding system with an equity index involving predictive risk modelling, which was completed under the Sixth Labour Government.

Hekia Parata resigned as Minister of Education on 2 May 2017 ahead of her retirement and was succeeded by Nikki Kaye.

Hekia Parata was appointed by the subsequent Labour Government to two inquiries.

Hekia Parata was married to former professional soldier, senior public servant and author Wira Gardiner.

Since Wira received his knighthood in 2008, Hekia Parata has been able to use the official style Lady Gardiner, however she rarely does so.