Honorable Nanaia Mahuta – Labour candidate for Hauraki-Waikato in the 2020 New Zealand Election, Picture by NZ Labour Party.
Friday, 6 November 2020, Wellington, Dominion of New Zealand: The Honourable Nanaia Mahuta, a Labour MP has been sworn in at Government House by the country’s Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy, as the country’s twenty eighth foreign minister, a portfolio that is held for the first time by a woman.
Mahuta made headlines in 2016 after becoming the first female MP to wear a amoko kauae, that is, a traditional tattoo on her chin, during a parliamentary session. Moko are immesely symbolic, for they represent information about a person’s ancestry, history and status. There are also sacred protocols around tā moko– the act of applying a moko to a person. Historically, moko were applied with chisels but now tattoo machines are often utilised.
Minister Mahuta (b. 21 August 1970 in Auckland) was firstly elected to parliament in 1996, and has previously held a various portfolios, including the minister of local government and Māori development. She is related to the late Māori queen, Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu, and the current Māori monarch, Kingi Tuheitia. The Kīngitanga, or Māori King movement, dates back more than 160 years and is a significant political presence in New Zealand.
For further information
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-cabinet-focused-covid-19-recovery?fbclid=IwAR0udjVlkMFDFSwdBf9b3fE7WTW0dfYjCMIS7-hWuqlek9vR4WHjHN01gek
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