Nuk Korako

Tutehounuku "Nuk" Korako JP (born 1953/1954) is a former New Zealand politician who was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2014 general election as a representative of the National Party. In mid-April 2019, Korako announced his retirement from politics, which took effect on 16 May 2019 when he left Parliament, being replaced by Paulo Garcia.[2][3]

Nuk Korako

Member of Parliament
for National List
In office
20 September 2014  16 May 2019
Succeeded byPaulo Garcia
Personal details
Born1953/1954 (age 66–67)[1]
Political partyNational
Spouse(s)Christine
Children4

Early life and family

Korako attended St Stephen's School in Bombay south of Auckland, Rangiora High School, and Lincoln College.[1] He is married to Christine, and they have four sons.[1] His father is from North Canterbury and was a freezing worker; his paternal grandfather was a wharfie.[1]

Career

Korako is a businessman in the tourism sector and a Ngāi Tahu board member.[1][4]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
20142017 51st List 50 National
20172019 52nd List 42 National

Korako supported the National Party for many years, and contributed to Bob Parker's 2007 mayoral campaign.[1]

Korako stood for Christchurch City Council in the 2013 local elections in the Banks Peninsula ward. Based on preliminary results, he was just five votes behind Andrew Turner, with 80 special votes still to be counted. On the strength that he might get declared elected, Korako attended the induction meeting, and joined the council delegation that met Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee.[5] One week after the election, Turner was declared the winner with a five votes margin.[6]

Korako was selected relatively late by the National Party over fellow contenders Lincoln Platt and Jason White, and had just 100 days for his campaign in the 2014 election.[1] He claimed to have doorknocked 300 houses per day, but Labour members disputed that, pointing out that this meant 10 hours of uninterrupted work, with just two minutes spent at each house.[1]

He contested the 2014 election against Ruth Dyson of the Labour Party, who has held the Port Hills electorate since its inception in 2008.[7] Based on preliminary counts, Dyson had a majority of 1,865 votes over Korako,[7] who entered Parliament via the National party list.

In 2016, Korako had a private member's bill drawn by ballot for debate in Parliament. The Airport Authorities (Publicising Lost Property Sales) Amendment Bill would allow airports to decide the best way to advertise lost property for sale.[8]

References

  1. Matthews, Philip (18 October 2014). "Late starter on track". The Press. p. C6. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  2. "National MP Nuk Korako says he will retire from politics in a month to make way for a new candidate". The New Zealand Herald. 15 April 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  3. "New list MP for The New Zealand National Party". Electoral Commission. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  4. "National names Christchurch candidates". 3 News. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  5. Conway, Glenn (17 October 2014). "Banks Peninsula pair wait for count". The Press. p. A9.
  6. Cairns, Lois (19 October 2014). "Turner hangs on by 5 votes". The Press. p. A16.
  7. Mathewson, Nicole; Stylianou, Georgina; Fulton, Tim (20 September 2014). "Labour's Dyson keeps Port Hills". The Press. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  8. "MPs to debate lost luggage – is this a waste of time?". Stuff.co.nz. 11 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
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