# Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke

Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke (born 2002) is a New Zealand politician, representing Te Pāti Māori as a Member of Parliament since the 2023 New Zealand general election. She is the youngest MP since James Stuart-Wortley.

## Early life and family

Maipi-Clarke has ancestry in Waikato, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou, Te Āti Awa, and Ngāi Tahu. The broadcaster Potaka Maipi is her father. She is the grand-niece of Māori language activist Hana Te Hemara. Taitimu Maipi, whose activism contributed to the removal of the Captain Hamilton statue in 2020, is her grandfather. Wi Katene, the first Māori MP to be appointed to the Executive Council, was her great-great-great-great-grandfather.
Maipi-Clarke received her education at Te Wharekura o Rākaumangamanga in Huntly. Aged 17, she published a book Maahina about maramataka – the Māori lunar calendar. She was inspired by Rangi Mātāmua to research the topic when he lectured about Matariki. In 2023, she gave a training course to the New Zealand Warriors about maramataka and Matariki.

## Political career
### 2023 general election

During Te Wiki o te Reo Māori in September 2022, Maipi-Clarke gave a speech on the steps of Parliament House. Several political parties approached Maipi-Clarke afterwards, asking her to consider joining them.
Both Maipi-Clarke and her father were under consideration by Te Pāti Māori as candidates for the Hauraki-Waikato electorate. In the end, the party wanted a "youthful perspective" and she was selected to contest the electorate at the 2023 election. She was 4th on the 2023 party list.
During the campaign, five reports of concern were made to police by Te Pāti Māori over several incidents relating to Maipi-Clarke, which included a stolen election hoarding, suspicious vehicle, and an alleged burglary. The party described the incidents as politically-motivated attacks and a home invasion. An elderly man alleged to be a well-known National Party campaigner was also issued a trespass notice in one instance.
Police said the incidents reported did not appear to be racially motivated, or coordinated, adding it was unable to establish any criminality. Maipi-Clarke described one of the incidents as a "ram raid", which she later clarified in an interview meant her privacy had been ram-raided.

### First term, 2023–present

In the 2023 general election held on 14 October, Maipi-Clarke unseated incumbent Labour MP Nanaia Mahuta by a margin of 2,911 votes. Elected at 21 years old, Maipi-Clarke became the second youngest member of Parliament in New Zealand, and the youngest in 170 years; the only younger MP was James Stuart-Wortley, who lied about his age and was elected at age 20 in the country's first general election in 1853.
By mid-December 2023, Maipi-Clarke had joined Parliament's Māori affairs select committee. She also became Te Pāti Māori's Māori development, rangatahi (young people), Māori language, Kai (food) sovereignty, agriculture, conservation, sports and recreation, food safety, biosecurity and customs spokesperson.
In mid-September 2024, Maipi-Clarke became one of the four recipients of the 2024 One Young World Politician of the Year Award. The organisation awarded her the award on the basis that "her involvement in the political realm allowed young Māori and the younger generation to have a voice within New Zealand's democracy".
On 14 November 2024, Maipi-Clarke protested the Treaty Principles Bill in New Zealand's parliament. If passed, the bill would define principles of the treaty between Māori and The Crown. Māori groups and critics of the bill have argued that the bill would disrupt established interpretations of the treaty and undermine traditional Māori rights. Maipi-Clarke tore up a copy of the bill during its first reading in Parliament, while leading the haka "Ka Mate". Following this, the Speaker, Gerry Brownlee, suspended Parliament for 20 minutes as well as naming Maipi-Clarke for her actions, suspending her from Parliament for 24 hours. Video of the haka received hundreds of millions of views online. On 10 December 2024, Brownlee referred Maipi-Clarke along with Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, and Labour MP Peeni Henare to the Privileges Committee for their involvement in the haka during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill.

## Views and positions

During her maiden speech in December 2023, Maipi-Clarke criticised the National-led coalition government, claiming that it had "attacked my whole world from every corner". She identified health, the environment, water, land, natural resources and children as key areas of disagreement with the government.
Maipi-Clarke has supported lowering the voting age to 16 years.

## Awards

In December 2024, Maipi-Clarke was included on the BBC's 100 Women list.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Sources state that she was 20 in August 2023, and 21 in September 2023.