Pita Paraone facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Pita Paraone
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| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for New Zealand First party list |
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| In office 22 July 2002 – 8 November 2008 |
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| In office 21 September 2014 – 23 September 2017 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Rewiti Pomare Kingi Paraone
30 November 1945 Kawakawa, New Zealand |
| Died | 26 August 2019 (aged 73) Auckland, New Zealand |
| Political party | New Zealand First |
Rewiti Pomare Kingi "Pita" Paraone was an important New Zealand politician. He was a member of the New Zealand First political party. He also led the Waitangi National Trust Board, which looks after the historic Waitangi Treaty Grounds. He passed away on 26 August 2019.
Early Life and Education
Pita Paraone was born on 30 November 1945 in a town called Kawakawa in New Zealand's Northland Region. He went to school at Motatau District High School and Bay of Islands College. He studied business at the University of Auckland and social work at Victoria University of Wellington. He also attended a college in England called Henley Management College.
Before becoming a politician, Pita Paraone worked for many years in public service. This means he worked for the government to help people. He was a regional director for Te Puni Kōkiri, which is a government group that helps Māori people. In 1997, he was given an award called the "Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit" for his work helping Māori and the community.
Pita Paraone was married and had three children.
Political Career
Before he became a Member of Parliament (MP), Paraone was part of the New Zealand First party's board from 1999 to 2002.
He tried to become an MP in the 1999 New Zealand general election, but he was not successful. He was first elected to Parliament in the 2002 New Zealand general election. He became a list MP, which means he was elected from a special list of candidates, not from a specific local area.
In the 2008 New Zealand general election, his party, New Zealand First, did not win enough votes to have any MPs in Parliament, so Pita Paraone was not re-elected at that time.
In December 2009, he became the Chairman of the Waitangi National Trust Board. He had been a member of this board since 1997. The Waitangi National Trust looks after the important Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed.
In 2014, Pita Paraone was re-elected as a New Zealand First list MP. He became his party's spokesperson for important topics like Māori Affairs, issues related to the Treaty of Waitangi, and Pacific Island Affairs.
In the 2017 New Zealand general election, he was not re-elected to Parliament. However, he encouraged his party to work with the Labour Party to form the Sixth Labour Government of New Zealand. In November 2018, he was appointed to lead the Local Government Commission, a role he held until his death.
Death
Pita Paraone passed away in Auckland on 26 August 2019. He had undergone heart surgery a few weeks before and did not recover. Winston Peters, who was the Deputy Prime Minister at the time, said he was very sad about Paraone's death.
