34 Facts About Tuariki Delamere

Tuariki John Edward Delamere was born on 9 December 1951 and is a former New Zealand politician and athlete.

Tuariki Delamere was elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives in the Te Tai Rawhiti electorate, representing the New Zealand First party, in the 1996 New Zealand general election.

Tuariki Delamere was later a member of the Te Tawharau party, before losing his seat in 1999.

John Edward Tuariki Delamere was born in 1951 at a military hospital in Papakura, and was educated in Tauranga, attending Tauranga Boys' College.

Tuariki Delamere then attended Washington State University on an athletic scholarship.

Tuariki Delamere later obtained a Master of Business Administration from Long Island University.

Tuariki Delamere served in the United States Army from 1974 to 1978.

Tuariki Delamere was an accountant stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and later joined the staff at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.

Tuariki Delamere competed and set records in long jump and triple jump, representing New Zealand in those events in the 1974 Commonwealth Games at Christchurch.

Tuariki Delamere is married to Jo-Ell; they share three children and eight grandchildren.

Tuariki Delamere unsuccessfully sought the National Party nomination in the West Auckland electorate in 1990.

Tuariki Delamere joined New Zealand First in 1993 but did not contest that year's general election.

Tuariki Delamere entered politics in the 1996 elections, when he successfully stood as a candidate for the New Zealand First party in the Te Tai Rawhiti electorate, defeating Sir Peter Tapsell and becoming one of the group known as the Tight Five.

Tuariki Delamere became Minister of Customs and Associate Minister of Health when Neil Kirton was fired in September 1997.

Tuariki Delamere oversaw the restructuring of the Valuation Department into a Crown-owned company, Quotable Value New Zealand Limited, and the transfer of employees to that company and, in the case of the Valuer-General, to Land Information New Zealand.

An anti-smoking campaigner, Tuariki Delamere declared himself "out to destroy" cigarette companies.

Tuariki Delamere announced a new requirement for health warnings on cigarette packets to be in larger text in August 1998.

Tuariki Delamere sought to ban smoking from all restaurants, schools, and public buildings and to ban displays of cigarettes in stores.

Tuariki Delamere initially denied involvement, but a leaked report written by Tuariki Delamere outlined the strategy to launch such a party.

In Shipley's 31 August 1998 ministerial reshuffle, Tuariki Delamere was removed from the Cabinet but continued as an associate minister in the finance and health portfolios; he was additionally appointed Minister of Immigration and Minister for Pacific Island Affairs.

Tuariki Delamere was fired from the immigration portfolio in late 1999 after a scandal regarding the application of immigration rules.

Specifically, it emerged that Tuariki Delamere had approved permanent residency for a group of Chinese businessmen provided they invested generously in various Maori development schemes.

Tuariki Delamere was widely criticised for using his authority to ensure that money was given to certain groups.

Tuariki Delamere himself claimed that his actions were a perfectly reasonable method of addressing Maori development needs.

Shortly before the 1999 election, Tuariki Delamere joined the small Maori Te Tawharau party, giving it its first representation in Parliament.

Tuariki Delamere had previously declined to join the Mauri Pacific party, established by five other former New Zealand First MPs, including three of the Tight Five.

Shortly prior to the election, Tuariki Delamere announced that Te Tawharau would support only a Labour Party government on confidence and supply if it won seats in the new Parliament.

Tuariki Delamere was placed second on the party list of the Mana Maori Movement, which Te Tawharau was affiliated with, but the party did not win any seats.

In 2000 Tuariki Delamere rejoined the New Zealand National Party, the party he had started his political career with.

In March and November 2005, Tuariki Delamere appeared in court on charges of fraud.

In late May 2023, Tuariki Delamere represented a Chinese overstayer known as "Chen".

Tuariki Delamere complained about Chen's treatment to the Police, Independent Police Conduct Authority and MBIE.

Tuariki Delamere criticised Immigration New Zealand for continuing with dawn raids despite the New Zealand Government's apology for dawn raids targeting Pasifika overstayers during the 1970s.

In July 2020, more than twenty years after Tuariki Delamere last stood for office, he joined The Opportunities Party and served as its immigration spokesperson and candidate for Auckland Central in the 2020 election.