2004 Te Tai Hauauru by-election

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2004 Te Tai Hauauru by-election

← 2002 general 10 July 2004 (2004-07-10) 2005 general →
Turnout	7,861
Candidate Tariana Turia Party Māori Party Popular vote 7,256 Percentage 92.74%
Member before election Tariana Turia Labour Elected Member Tariana Turia Māori Party

The Te Tai Hauauru by-election was a by-election in the New Zealand electorate of Te Tai Hauāuru, one of the Māori electorates. The date set for the by-election was 10 July 2004. It saw the re-election of Tariana Turia, a former MP for the Labour Party and now co-leader of the Māori Party.

Turia had quit both Parliament and the Labour Party in protest over the government's position in the foreshore and seabed controversy. She contested the by-election as a member of the new Māori Party, which she played a leading role in establishing. None of the major parties contested the by-election, and Turia was always the overwhelming favourite to win. Perhaps due to the apparent inevitability of a win for Turia, only around 32% of Te Tai Hauauru voters cast ballots.

Nominations for the by-election closed on 15 June 2004. Candidates were:

• Tariana Turia (Māori Party)
• Peter Wakeman, a Labour Party member who stood as an independent.
• Dun Mihaka (Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party), a veteran Māori activist best known for baring his buttocks to the Queen on her 1983 Royal Tour of New Zealand.
• Tahu Nepia, who stood as an independent, but represented the Ratana movement, with the intent of establishing an Independent Ratana Party to contest the next general election.
• Rusty Kane, an independent who campaigned on the platform that Māori electorates should be abolished.
• David Bolton, independent.

If no candidates had been put forward to oppose Turia, she would have been declared the winner without a vote – this initially appeared possible, and given the cost of a by-election (estimated at almost NZ$500,000), many hoped that a vote could be avoided.

The holding of a by-election was criticised by a number other parties. The Labour Party, of which Turia was originally a member (and which has traditionally dominated the Māori electorates) has called the by-election "a waste of time and money", and a "sideshow" although the by-election was required by Labour-supported waka-jumping law in force at the time.^[1] Labour nominated Errol Mason to contest the seat at the subsequent 2005 general election, losing to Turia.