29 Facts About Tamatha Paul

Tamatha-Kaye Erin Paul was born on 1997 and is a New Zealand activist and politician who is a Member of Parliament for Wellington Central.

Tamatha Paul joined the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand ahead of the 2022 local elections.

Tamatha Paul was born in South Auckland in 1997 and lived in Christchurch until moving at age eight with her family to Tokoroa.

Tamatha Paul is of Maori and European descent, with her father of Waikato Tainui and Ngati Awa origin, while her mother is of English, Scottish and Spanish genealogy.

Tamatha Paul attended school in Tokoroa and was dux of Tokoroa High School in 2015.

At age 12, Tamatha Paul was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease lupus, the youngest person in the Waikato region to be diagnosed with it.

Tamatha Paul received a $30,000 First in Family scholarship from Victoria University of Wellington, and in 2018, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in international relations and political science.

Tamatha Paul received the Andrea Brander Accommodation Scholarship, the James MacIntosh Scholarship for achievement, and was on the Dean's List for Academic Excellence.

Tamatha Paul graduated with a Master of Resource and Environmental Planning from Massey University in 2022.

In 2016, Tamatha Paul was elected as Equity Officer of the Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association, and in 2017, she was elected Engagement Vice-President.

Tamatha Paul was the second Maori and first female Maori to be elected to the role.

Tamatha Paul campaigned on issues such as environmental policy, representation for minority and youth communities, and an aspiration for a living wage policy.

Tamatha Paul was inspired to run after she clashed with councillors over a plan to introduce a liquor ban in Kelburn Park, a popular drinking spot for students in Wellington.

Tamatha Paul argued that by introducing this ban, students would be pushed to drink in other, more unsafe areas.

Tamatha Paul was elected by significant margins in both her terms as councillor.

In 2019, Tamatha Paul won her seat with 2,770 votes, just 500 votes shy of the top-voted councillor of the ward, Iona Pannett.

However, in 2022, Tamatha Paul overtook Pannett and won the ward with a significant 5,206 votes, a number of votes which could elect 2.5 councillors.

In 2023, Tamatha Paul announced she was seeking party selection for the parliamentary electorate of Wellington Central after both incumbent MP Grant Robertson and Green co-leader and previous party candidate James Shaw announced they would not run for the electorate in 2023.

Tamatha Paul won selection and became the Green candidate for Wellington Central, an electorate largely recognised as a Labour 'safe seat'.

On 30 October, Tamatha Paul resigned her seat on the Wellington City Council effective on 10 November 2023 and was sworn into Parliament on the 5th December 2023.

Tamatha Paul is the Green Party's Justice, Housing, Police, Courts, Corrections, Youth, and Wellington Issues spokesperson.

Tamatha Paul led the WCC Housing Action Plan, a plan which prioritised: Planning for Growth, Consenting Improvements, Mana whenua and Maori housing, Homelessness, Social and public housing, Affordable housing and Private rental housing.

On 10 November 2020, Tamatha Paul voted in favour to sell 0.3 hectares of land and lease a further 0.6 hectares in Shelley Bay to The Wellington Company for housing development along with Wellington City councillors Day, Diane Calvert, Jenny Condie, Fleur Fitzsimons, Laurie Foon, Rebecca Matthews, Teri O'Neill, and Nicola Young.

In 2022, as councillor and Let's Get Wellington Moving Governance member, Tamatha Paul secured an additional $100m over the next ten years for Wellington's bike network.

Tamatha Paul stated that this plan would make cycling safer and encourage non-traditional cyclists such as children, women, and gender diverse people to bike around the city.

Tamatha Paul came out in support of the museum keeping the panel up, and stated that the defacing is more than art and deeper than protest, and she wholeheartedly supports the actions of the group.

Tamatha Paul said that Maori were disproportionately imprisoned at a higher rate compared with other ethnic groups in New Zealand.

On 26 March 2025, Tamatha Paul defended remarks that she made at an event at University of Canterbury stating "police beat patrols" made ethnic minority communities feel uncomfortable.

Tamatha Paul argued that Police were not trained to deal with people in distress and drug psychosis, arguing that specialist help was needed in those situations.