1. Metiria Turei was a Member of Parliament from 2002 to 2017 and the female co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand from 2009 to 2017.
31 Facts About Metiria Turei
1. 2.
Metiria Turei was the Green Party spokesperson on Inequality, Justice, and Building and Housing.
3.
Metiria Turei resigned as co-leader of the Green Party and a list candidate immediately prior to the 2017 general election and retired from politics.
4.
Metiria Turei grew up in a working-class Maori family in Palmerston North in the North Island.
5.
Metiria Turei is of Ngati Kahungunu and Ati Hau nui a Paparangi descent.
6.
Metiria Turei failed her high school examinations and in 1987 she worked her first job as a kitchen-hand at the Hard Rock Cafe in Palmerston North working the late shift.
7.
Between 1989 and 1991, Metiria Turei was the Tumuaki of Te Iwi Maori Rawakore o Aotearoa and involved with Te Roopu Rawakore o Aotearoa.
8.
Metiria Turei was a founding member of the Random Trollops performance art troupe.
9.
Metiria Turei studied law at the University of Auckland and later worked as a commercial lawyer at Simpson Grierson.
10.
Metiria Turei was a candidate for the McGillicuddy Serious Party in the 1993 election, for the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party in the 1996 election and for McGillicuddy Serious again in the 1999 election.
11.
Metiria Turei, standing in Tamaki Makaurau, was ranked 8th on the Green Party's party list, and so entered Parliament as a list MP.
12.
When she was elected, Metiria Turei left her job as a corporate lawyer for Simpson Grierson to become a Member of Parliament.
13.
Metiria Turei retained her place in Parliament ranked 6th on the Greens' list in the 2005 election when she stood in Te Tai Tonga.
14.
On 30 May 2009 Metiria Turei was elected as the fourth co-leader of the Green Party.
15.
Metiria Turei was elected ahead of veteran MP Sue Bradford.
16.
In September 2009 Metiria Turei led the Green campaign opposing the government's plans to allow mining in New Zealand's national parks.
17.
Metiria Turei refused to apologise and reiterated that the Greens were still committed to negotiating a coalition deal with NZ First following the election.
18.
On 16 July 2017, during the launch of the Green Party's 2017 election campaign, Metiria Turei admitted to benefit fraud over a period of three years in the early 1990s, stating that she had not disclosed to Work and Income New Zealand that she was accepting rent from flatmates.
19.
Metiria Turei justified her action on the grounds that she and her young daughter depended on the Domestic Purposes Benefit to survive.
20.
Metiria Turei's disclosure attracted polarising responses from other politicians, the New Zealand media, and blogosphere, and criticism from Social Development Minister Anne Tolley, Labour Party leader Andrew Little, and media commentators Barry Soper and Patrick Gower.
21.
Metiria Turei advocated an amnesty on beneficiaries, while acknowledging that she had not been aware of an amnesty instituted during the 1990s.
22.
On 26 July 2017, Metiria Turei announced that she would be meeting with the Ministry of Social Development's investigative unit to calculate how much she would pay back in compensation.
23.
Metiria Turei denied living with the father, which would have disqualified her eligibility for the domestic purposes benefit.
24.
Metiria Turei stated that she had enrolled at that address in order to vote for a friend; such conduct constitutes an offence under the Electoral Act.
25.
On 7 August 2017, Green Party MPs David Clendon and Kennedy Graham announced that they were planning to resign as Green Party candidates for the 2017 election, due to the fraud revelations and Metiria Turei's handling of the resulting situation.
26.
Metiria Turei was defeated by Labour's candidate Rino Tirikatene and retired from politics.
27.
In October 2018, Metiria Turei gave her first interview since leaving politics.
28.
Metiria Turei is currently a lecturer in law at the University of Otago.
29.
Metiria Turei has a daughter, Piupiu Turei, and is married to Warwick Stanton.
30.
Metiria Turei is a performing arts enthusiast and participated in a performing group called Random Trollops and medieval reenactments at her Blueskin Bay home.
31.
Metiria Turei wore Adrienne Winkelmann jackets, which elicited criticism from several National Party MPs including Judith Collins.