Former Labour minister Rino Tirikatene joins NZ First

Rino Tirikatene, a former Labour minister, is now a New Zealand First member.

It comes as former Labour minister Dover Samuels is attending NZ First’s convention for the first time.

NZ First leader Winston Peters is set to open the annual convention in South Auckland this morning, with more than 350 party delegates expected to attend in what would be a record attendance for the party.

Tirikatane, whose whānau is synonymous with South Island politics, is listed as an NZ First delegate for the lower North Island.

It’s understood he’s unlikely to be standing in an electorate for NZ First in the upcoming election.

Tirikatene’s grandfather, Sir Eruera Tirikatene, held one of the four original Māori electorates – Southern Māori – from 1932 until he died in 1967. He was succeeded by his daughter, Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan, who held the seat until 1996, when its name changed to Te Tai Tonga.

Tirikatene first entered Parliament after the 2011 election, winning Te Tai Tonga, which covers the South Island, parts of Wellington and the Chatham Islands.

Tirikatene held the seat for four terms before losing by more than 2000 votes to then-Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris, who is now an independent after splitting from his own party.

In the 2017 term, Tirikatene was the Māori Affairs select committee chairman.

In 2020, under then-Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern, Tirikatene was made a Parliamentary under-secretary to the then-Oceans and Fisheries Minister David Parker and then-Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor.

When Chris Hipkins took over from Ardern after she retired in 2023, Tirikatene was made a minister outside of Cabinet in a reshuffle, becoming the Courts Minister and State for Trade and Export Growth Minister.

Tirikatene announced his retirement in January 2024.

Samuels, another former Labour minister, is understood to be attending NZ First’s convention for the first time as a party delegate.

Samuels entered Parliament in 1996 as a list MP for Labour before winning the northern Māori electorate, Te Tai Tokerau, in 1999 and holding it in the 2002 election. He lost the seat to the Māori Party’s Hone Harawira in 2005 but was retained on the list. Samuels did not contest the electorate in 2008.

It comes as a series of high-profile former politicians join NZ First as the party’s public support climbs.

This year, NZ First has announced its candidates will include former Labour Cabinet minister Stuart Nash, former National Cabinet minister Alfred Ngaro, former All Blacks captain Taine Randell and former National MPs Michael Laws and Harete Hipango.

Peters is set to open the convention with a brief speech at 9am.

Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.