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Elizabeth Kerekere

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Elizabeth Kerekere
MP
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Green party list
Incumbent
Assumed office
17 October 2020
Personal details
Born1965 or 1966 (age 58–59)
Gisborne, New Zealand
Political partyGreen
SpouseAlofa Aiono
AwardsTakatapui Award – 2018 New Zealand LGBTI Awards
Academic background
Alma materVictoria University of Wellington
ThesisPart of the whānau: the emergence of takatāpui identity – He whāriki takatāpui (2017)
Doctoral advisorRawinia Higgins
Ocean Mercier

Elizabeth Anne Kerekere[1] (born 1965 or 1966)[2] is a New Zealand politician and LGBTQ activist and scholar.[3] Since 2020, she has been a member of parliament for the Green Party. She is the founder and chair of Tīwhanawhana Trust.[4] She identifies as takatāpui and produced the first major research on takatāpui identity with her doctoral thesis in 2017.[5][6]

Kerekere is also an artist and graduated from Eastern Institute of Technology with a bachelor in Māori visual arts (Te Toi o Ngā Rangi).[2] In 2000, in her role of Te Kairuruku, Ngā Kaupapa Māori at Dowse Art Museum she curated an exhibition called Kaumatua Anō te Ātaahua: Honouring the Gifts of our Elders.[7]

Personal life

Kerekere was born in Gisborne, New Zealand.[8] Her father, Karauria Tarao "Bison" Kerekere, was an artist and master carver.[9] He was Māori, and of the Te Whānau a Kai, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri and Ngāti Oneone iwi.[3] Elizabeth's mother Erin is Irish, from County Clare and County Tipperary.[10] Kerekere is a lesbian,[11] and is married to Alofa Aiono, whom she met in 1992.[12] The couple held their civil union in Te Papa's marae, Te Marae Rongomaraero, which Kerekere advised on the design of.[10]

Academic career

Throughout her studies at the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), Kerekere focussed on mana tūpuna (ancestors), mana wāhine (women) and mana takatāpui (the right to live and love regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity) and was the only degree graduate to have a solo exhibition.[2] After graduating from EIT, Kerekere spent the following five years researching the development of takatāpui identity in the 21st century at Victoria University of Wellington,[2] arguing that pre-colonial Māori were sexually experimental people who openly accepted gender and sexual fluidity,[13] and completing a PhD in 2017.[14][15]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2020–present 53rd List 9 Green

Kerekere stood in the Ikaroa-Rāwhiti electorate for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand in the 2017 New Zealand general election. She placed third of three candidates with 1,924 votes.[16] Her list placing of 19th was too low for her to enter parliament as a list MP.

Kerekere contested Ikaroa-Rāwhiti for the Green Party again in 2020.[17][18] Although she again did not win Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, Kerekere entered parliament ninth on the Green Party's list.[19]

On 15 March 2022, Kerekere resigned from her position as the Green Party spokesperson for Health and COVID-19 Response after she broke COVID-19 isolation rules by flying from Gisborne to Wellington despite being a household contact. She was also removed from her position on the Health Select Committee until further notice. The Green Party also notified health authorities of the breach. Kerekere apologised for her actions and stated that she would cooperate with investigators.[20][21]

References

  1. ^ "Event – New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "Life for multi-media artist Elizabeth Kerekere is very much a planned affair". EIT Hawke's Bay and Tairāwhiti. May 2013. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Dr Elizabeth Kerekere". Māori Television. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  4. ^ Kerekere, Elizabeth (2015). "Takatāpui" (PDF). Auckland: Tīwhanawhana Trust and Mental Health Foundation. ISBN 978-1-877318-91-7. Archived from the original on 21 February 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Takātapui". New Zealand LGBTI Awards. Archived from the original on 22 January 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  6. ^ Kerekere, Elizabeth (2017). "Part of The Whānau: The Emergence of Takatāpui Identity - He Whāriki Takatāpui". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ Kaumātua : anō te ātaahua = Honouring the gifts of our elders. Kerekere, Elizabeth., Twist, Nicholas., New Zealand. Te Puni Kōkiri., Lower Hutt (N.Z.). Dowse. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Te Puni Kōkiri. 2001. ISBN 1-86953-513-8. OCLC 53315308.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. ^ "Elizabeth Kerekere". Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand.
  9. ^ "Artists Infiltrate Parliament". The Big Idea. 26 November 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  10. ^ a b Coltman, Karen (3 July 2020). "Candidate's housing and poverty focus". Wairarapa Times-Age.
  11. ^ Harris, Sarah (3 October 2017). "Elizabeth Kerekere speaks on Maori LGBTQ term takatāpui". New Zealand Herald.
  12. ^ "Kerekere, Elizabeth; Mallard, Trevor". New Zealand Parliament. 10 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ Harris, Sarah (2 October 2017). "Elizabeth Kerekere speaks on Maori LGBTQ term takatāpui". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  14. ^ "About the author". Rainbow Youth & Tīwhanawhana Trust. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  15. ^ Kerekere, Elizabeth (2017). Part of The Whānau: The Emergence of Takatāpui Identity - He Whāriki Takatāpui (Doctoral thesis). Open Access Repository Victoria University of Wellington, Victoria University of Wellington. doi:10.26686/wgtn.17060225.
  16. ^ "Official Count Results – Ikaroa-Rawhiti". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  17. ^ "Ikaroa-Rāwhiti – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  18. ^ Manhire, Toby (25 May 2020). "Green Party list ranking revealed: can this group lift them over the threshold?". The Spinoff. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  19. ^ "2020 General Election and Referendums – Official Result Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  20. ^ "Green Party MP Elizabeth Kerekere breaks self-isolation rules". Radio New Zealand. 15 March 2022. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  21. ^ Small, Zane (15 March 2022). "Green Party COVID-19 spokesperson Elizabeth Kerekere's isolation breach unearthed by 'disappointed' co-leader Marama Davidson". Newshub. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
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