Tāmati Coffey

Tamati Gerald Coffey (born 19 September 1979) is a list Member of the New Zealand Parliament for the New Zealand Labour Party.[2] Prior to entering Parliament, he was most notably an award-winning broadcaster fronting many shows over a decade, for Television New Zealand.[3] He is also a small business hospitality owner[4] in his hometown of Rotorua. He is also a father, having had a baby through gestational surrogacy with his partner.[5]

Tamati Coffey

MP
Tāmati Coffey in 2020
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Labour party list
Assumed office
17 October 2020
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Waiariki
In office
23 September 2017 – 17 October 2020
Preceded byTe Ururoa Flavell
Succeeded byRawiri Waititi
Majority1,719
Personal details
Born
Tamati Gerald Coffey[1]

(1979-09-19) 19 September 1979[1]
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Political partyLabour
Spouse(s)Tim Smith
Children1
OccupationPolitician, broadcaster

Early life

Born in Lower Hutt and educated at Onslow College,[6] Coffey is of Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Whakaue, Tūhourangi and Ngāti Tūwharetoa descent.[7] He completed an honours degree in political science at the University of Auckland in 2003.[8]

Political career
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2017–2020 52nd Waiariki 35 Labour
2020–present 53rd List 37 Labour
Coffey (far right) campaigning with Labour MPs on behalf of Michael Wood for the 2016 Mount Roskill by-election
Coffey delivering his maiden speech in Parliament, 8 November 2017

On 29 March 2014, Coffey was selected as the Labour Party's candidate for the Rotorua electorate at the 2014 New Zealand general election.[9] He was also placed 30th on the Labour list.[10] He lost the seat to National's Todd McClay, and was not high enough on the list to get a seat in Parliament. During the campaign Coffey had been used for the Public Broadcasting of the Opening Addresses where he held a staged interview with David Cunliffe. In 2016 he was selected as Labour's candidate for the Waiariki electorate, then held by Māori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell. Coffey was ranked 35th on Labour's party list for the election.[11]

During the 2017 New Zealand general election, Coffey won Waiariki for the Labour Party against incumbent Te Ururoa Flavell by a margin of 1,321 votes. With his win, Labour secured all 7 Māori electorates.[12]

During the 2020 New Zealand general election held on 17 October, Coffey narrowly lost the Waiariki electorate to Māori Party candidate Rawiri Waititi based on preliminary results.[13] Coffey did not concede until the release of the final results on 6 November.[14][15] The final results confirmed that Coffey had lost to Waititi by a margin of 836 votes.[16] Despite this loss, Coffey was re-elected to Parliament on the Labour Party list.[17]

Television career

Seven Sharp

Coffey was a fill-in presenter for current affairs programme Seven Sharp in late 2013 following Greg Boyed's departure from the show.[18]

New Zealand's Got Talent

Coffey was the host of New Zealand's Got Talent in 2012[19] and 2013.[20]

Intrepid Journeys

As part of series seven of the TVNZ show Intrepid Journeys, Coffey travelled to Oman on the Arabian Peninsula for three weeks. The episode screened on 20 January 2011 on TV One. Coffey is seen engaging in activities including mountain climbing, turtle nesting, dhow fishing cruises and souk shopping.

Breakfast

In September 2007 Coffey left What Now and moved to TVNZ's early morning show Breakfast where he was the show's weatherman and roving reporter. He presented the show alongside Petra Bagust, Peter Williams, Rawdon Christie, Nadine Chalmers-Ross and Corin Dann. Coffey left Breakfast in December 2012 and was replaced in the role by Sam Wallace.[21]

Dancing With the Stars

Coffey was a contestant on season five of the New Zealand version of Dancing with the Stars in 2009. Partnered with Samantha Hitchcock, Coffey won the series final on 21 April 2009. Coffey's charity was Rainbow Youth, an organisation that supports gay youth.[22]

What Now

Coffey joined the What Now team in February 2004. During his time on the show, Coffey also played character roles most notably, "Whitney" in the "What Now Cheerleaders" and "New Zild's Next Top Model". He mainly traveled around New Zealand in a car called "The Spyrider", to many different towns where weekly, he would film live with the locals and experience what their town had to offer. He hosted the show alongside co-hosts Virginie Le Brun, DJ Vinyl Richie, Serena Cooper and Charlie Panapa.

Personal life

After winning Dancing With The Stars in 2009, Coffey came out as gay during an interview with Woman's Weekly and said that he lives with his long-term boyfriend, Tim Smith, a former music teacher from northern England. The couple announced their engagement on 16 February 2011[23][24] and wed in a civil union on 29 December 2011.[25] His partner was hit by a falling ceiling fan in Christmas 2017.[26] In July 2019, they welcomed their first son Tūtānekai Smith-Coffey who was born via a surrogate. However the couple can't legally claim Tūtānekai is theirs until an adoption process is carried out between them and their surrogate mother.[27]

Following the 2014 election Coffey elected not to seek a new broadcasting role, instead going into business opening a bar in Rotorua with his partner Tim. Their bar is designed to give Rotorua the atmosphere of Ponsonby, Auckland, the name of the bar being Ponsonby Road.[28]

In 2016, Coffey was elected to the Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust[29] with the highest number of votes; he currently holds the position of Deputy Chair[30] within the trust's board.

Filmography

References
  1. "The Tamati takes off tour – Lower Hutt (video)". TVNZ video. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  2. "Tamati Coffey". New Zealand Labour Party. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  3. "Tamati Coffey". www.nzonscreen.com. NZ On Screen. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  4. Sparks, Zizi (28 December 2018). "From street to streat: Looking back at Eat Streat's first five years". ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  5. "Labour MP Tāmati Coffey welcomes first baby into his 'modern family'". Stuff. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  6. "Tamati Coffey". tvnz.co.nz/. Television New Zealand. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  7. "Our people: meet Tamati Coffey's parents". Rotorua Daily Post. 2 November 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  8. Bathgate, Benn (4 March 2013). "Can Coffey break McClay's hold on Rotorua?". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  9. Bilby, Lynley (29 March 2014). "Tamati Coffey selected for Labour". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  10. "Labour List for the 2014 Election Announced" (Press release). New Zealand Labour Party. Scoop. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  11. "Labour Party List for the 2017 Election announced". Scoop.co.nz. 2 May 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  12. "Waiariki – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  13. "Waiariki - Preliminary Count". Electoral Commission. 17 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  14. "Tamati Coffey claims 'race isn't over yet' for Waiariki". Stuff. 17 October 2020. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  15. Whyte, Anna (18 October 2020). "Analysis: The winners, losers, new faces and goodbyes of election 2020". 1 News. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  16. "Waiariki - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  17. "2020 General Election and Referendums - Official Result Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  18. "Coffey 'just helping out'". New Zealand Herald. 22 December 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  19. "Tamati Coffey to host NZ's Got Talent". 1 April 2012. New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  20. "Tamati Coffey Returns For New Zealand's Got Talent 2013". www.scoop.co.nz/. Scoop Media. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  21. "Tamati Coffey says goodbye to Breakfast". New Zealand Herald. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  22. "Tamati's DWTS win benefits gay youth charity". TVNZ. 9 May 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  23. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 February 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. "Tamati Coffey announces engagement". One News. 16 February 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  25. "TVNZ's Tamati Coffey to wed – reports". Stuff.co.nz. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  26. "Labour MP's partner felled by ceiling fan in Christmas tree stretch". New Zealand Herald.
  27. "'I'm in a position where I can talk to some friends' – MP and new dad Tāmati Coffey on updating surrogacy laws". Television New Zealand. 15 July 2019.
  28. "Tamiti Coffey Brings Ponsonby Road to Rotorua". TVNZ. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  29. Arthur-Worsop, Stephanie (20 November 2016). "Four new faces on Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust". The Daily Post. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2 November 2017 – via The New Zealand Herald.
  30. Hunter, Zoe (19 September 2017). "Tamati Coffey 'gunning for the seat'". Bay of Plenty Times. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2 November 2017 – via The New Zealand Herald.
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by
Te Ururoa Flavell		 Member of Parliament for Waiariki
2017–2020		 Succeeded by
Rawiri Waititi
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