{"id":618566,"date":"2026-10-02T15:30:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T15:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/618566\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T15:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T15:30:13","slug":"mps-fondly-recall-being-booted-out-by-adrian-rurawhe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/618566\/","title":{"rendered":"MPs fondly recall being \u2018booted out\u2019 by Adrian Rurawhe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Being booted out by former Speaker of the House of Representatives Adrian Rurawhe has now become a fond memory for several MPs who attended his tangi today at Whangaehu Marae, Whanganui.<\/p>\n

Rurawhe died from a recent illness<\/a>, his wh\u0101nau announced yesterday.<\/p>\n

He had retired from politics earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Rurawhe was Speaker in the last Labour Government\u2019s second term and was an MP in the Te Tai Hau\u0101uru electorate since 2014.<\/p>\n

Over the course of his parliamentary career, he held several senior roles including Speaker of the House of Representatives from August 2022 to December 2023.<\/p>\n

A Parliamentary delegation, led by current Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee, today saw representatives from across the political spectrum attend to pay their respects to their former colleague.<\/p>\n

Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins said Rurawhe was a \u201cvery loved\u201d member of the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re all still dealing with the fact that he’s gone so quickly after leaving Parliament. We were really sad to see him leave Parliament and to see him leave life so quickly is a real tragedy. He had still more to give and clearly his body didn’t agree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labour leader Chris Hipkins described him as “one of the finest people ever to” be an MP. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Labour MP Willie Jackson said that Rurawhe had a \u201cgreat calmness\u201d that could be considered underrated.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when it came to the crunch, well, if you played up you get booted out, which he did with me! So he showed no favour which is why he was so good. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was a bit shocked, actually, at the time, but I think I deserved it so that’s the type of bloke he was, underrated but very, very strong, so we just remember him fondly. He’s such a huge loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Parliamentary<\/p>\n

Parliamentary delegation gather at Whangaehu Marae, Whanganui. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said that while Rurawhe was a humble and gentle man, he was staunch too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fondly think about him kicking me out of the House when I transgressed the rules, and that feels like an even bigger honour today. But we’re here to uphold the wh\u0101nau, the Labour Party in their time of grief, and his mana.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davidson, who was on the M\u0101ori Affairs select committee with Rurawhe, remembered a time they returned from a regional hearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne night, when we were having to come back from a select committee, and he drove me all the way home, and that’s one of the most beautiful memories I have is him and I, all of those hours of connecting.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said he talked mostly about his love for his region and Te Taihau\u0101uru.<\/p>\n

\"Marama<\/p>\n

Marama Davidson pays her respects to Adrian Rurawhe. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe talked to me about the campaigns to consistently win the electorate. He talked to me about his wh\u0101nau-led campaigns of his sisters and his wh\u0101nau and his nieces and nephews all just pitching in. Those memories are even fonder for me today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said Rurawhe was the first to suspend him for 24 hours, which he can laugh about now.<\/p>\n

\"Te<\/p>\n

Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori co-leader Rawiri Waititi. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s only appropriate that we come here and mourn a rangatira. Somebody who has held the second highest democratic post in this country, second only to the Governor-General. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re very proud of that moment, as Adrian stepped in to that and, I think, made it his own. He was able to bring tikanga and the standing orders together. This is a sad day for te iwi M\u0101ori, this is a sad day for his people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another former Speaker of the House and former Labour Party MP Trevor Mallard joined the delegation today. He said Rurawhe was an important part of his team during his tenure as Speaker.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut more importantly, he was part of the Labour family, someone with incredible integrity, directness, but still so gentle. He was a wonderful man.\u201d<\/p>\n

He recalled how, as an Assistant Speaker, Rurawhe had such authority that he would simply look badly behaved MPs in the eye and they \u201csettled down\u201d.<\/p>\n

A final service will be held tomorrow before Rurawhe is laid to rest at Ng\u0101 Puketuurua, R\u0101tana P\u0101.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Being booted out by former Speaker of the House of Representatives Adrian Rurawhe has now become a fond…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12553,4432,111,43,139,69,135,10872],"class_list":["post-618566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-iwi-hapu","tag-maori-issues","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-politics","tag-torangapu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}