Mete Kīngi Paetahi

Mete Paetahi
Formal seated portrait photograph of Mete Kīngi Paetahi, one of the first four Māori MPs, wearing a uniform and holding a patu
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Western Maori
In office 1868–1870
Personal details
Born	c. 1813 New Zealand
Died	22 September 1883 Putiki, Wanganui, New Zealand
Profession	Māori chief, politician

Mete Kīngi Te Rangi Paetahi (c. 1813 – 22 September 1883) was a Member of Parliament in New Zealand. He was one of four Māori elected in the first Māori elections of 1868 for the new Māori electorates in the House of Representatives.

Private life

Mete Kīngi was the chief of the Ngāti Poutama (or Ngā Poutama) and Ngāti Tūmango hapu of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi in the Whanganui River area. His father was Paetahi and his mother Utaora. He opposed the Pai Mārire (Hauhau) movement in the 1860s and fought against the Hauhau, becoming known popularly as 'General Mete Kīngi'. When Hōri Kīngi Te Ānaua died in September 1868, Mete Kīngi succeeded him as the highest-ranking chief in the tribes of the lower Wanganui.

Political career

New Zealand Parliament

Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1868–1870	4th	Western Maori			Independent

Mete Kīngi was the only candidate proposed at the nomination meeting for Western Maori, one of the new Māori electorates, at the Wanganui Courthouse in 1868, and was thus elected unopposed. As he had a salaried position as Assessor for the Crown, a special act, the Mete Kingi Paetahi Election Act, 1868, was required to validate his election.

He represented the electorate from 1868 to 1870. He contested it again at the 1871 general election, but was defeated by Wiremu Parata, coming last of the three candidates.

References

• McLintock, A. H., ed. (1966). "Paetahi, Mete-Kingi". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
• Scholefield, Guy (1925) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record (2n ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.
• Wilson, John (9 November 2003), The Origins of the Māori Seats (PDF) (updated May 2009 ed.), Wellington: Parliamentary Library, retrieved 27 August 2010