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Tāmati Coffey

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Tāmati Gerald Coffey (born 19 September 1979) is a New Zealand broadcaster, politician, and former Member of Parliament.

Tāmati Coffey
Coffey in 2020
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Labour party list
In office
17 October 2020 – 14 October 2023
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 (age 45)[1]
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Political partyLabour
SpouseTim Smith[2]
Children2[2]
OccupationPolitician, broadcaster

As a broadcaster, Coffey presented television programmes such as What Now, Breakfast, and New Zealand's Got Talent. He was a Member of Parliament for the New Zealand Labour Party for six years from 2017 to 2023.

Early life and family

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Coffey's parents are Gerald (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa) and Rangi (Ngāti Whakaue, Tūhourangi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa).[3] He has two older sisters.[4] Coffey was raised in Lower Hutt and attended Onslow College.[5] Coffey's parents were both factory workers and encouraged him to continue with his education.[4] He was the first in his family to complete high school and attend university, and he earned an honours degree in political science from the University of Auckland in 2003.[6] While at Auckland, he was president of the Māori Students Association.[4]

Coffey came out as gay during a 2009 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[7][8] and wed in a civil union on 29 December 2011.[9] They have two children born by surrogacy in 2019 and 2023. New Zealand surrogacy laws required the couple to carry out a legal adoption process between them and the surrogate mother.[10][11][2] Coffey is also the biological father of Kiritapu Allen's daughter.[12]

As of 2023, Coffey lives in Rotorua.[12]

Television career

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Coffey was hired as a presenter of the long-running children's weekend programme What Now in 2004. While most of the programme was broadcast live from Christchurch, Coffey travelled around New Zealand and broadcast live segments from non-studio locations in other cities and smaller towns. Coffey's co-presenters included Carolyn Taylor, Virginie LeBrun, and Vicki Lin. He continued with What Now until August 2007, when he joined the weekday morning news programme Breakfast as its first dedicated roving weather presenter.[13] He finished with Breakfast in December 2012 in order to move to England with his partner, and was succeeded by Sam Wallace.[14][15]

While appearing on Breakfast, Coffey competed in and won season 5 of Dancing with the Stars. 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.[16]

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

Coffey was also the host of New Zealand's Got Talent in 2012 and 2013,[17][18] and a fill-in presenter for current affairs programme Seven Sharp in late 2013.[19]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
2004–07 What Now Roving presenter
2007–12 Breakfast Roving weather presenter
2009 Dancing with the Stars Celebrity contestant Winner
2011 Intrepid Journeys Celebrity guest 1 episode: Arabian Peninsula
2012–13 New Zealand's Got Talent Presenter
2017 Moving Out with Tāmati Presenter
2019 Sunday Guest 1 episode[20]
2024 Celebrity Treasure Island 2024 Himself TVNZ

Political career

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New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2017–2020 52nd Waiariki 35 Labour
2020–2023 53rd List 37 Labour

Coffey is a member of the New Zealand Labour Party. In a 2017 interview, he explained that his family had always been Labour, except during the foreshore and seabed controversy.[4] Coffey said his return to the Labour Party was drawn from dissatisfaction with the Māori Party's support of the Fifth National Government, as well as Labour's track record on gay rights, including homosexual law reform, civil unions, and same-sex marriage.[4]

 
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.[21] He was also placed 30th on the Labour list.[22] He failed to unseat the National Party incumbent Todd McClay, and was not high enough on the list to get a seat in Parliament.[23]

First term, 2017–2020

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In 2016, he was selected by Labour for the Waiariki Māori electorate for the 2017 general election and was ranked 35th on the Labour party list.[24] He defeated Māori Party leader Te Ururoa Flavell in Waiariki by a margin of 1,321 and was elected to Parliament for the first time.[25] In his first term, he was a member of the Finance and Expenditure Committee and the deputy chair of the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee.[26]

Second term, 2020–2023

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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.[27] Coffey did not concede until the release of the final results on 6 November.[28][29] The final results confirmed that Coffey had lost to Waititi by a margin of 836 votes.[30] Despite this loss, Coffey was re-elected to Parliament on the Labour Party list.[31] In his second term, he was the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee until March 2023, when he became deputy chair.[26]

Māori wards in Rotorua

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In April 2022, Coffey introduced the Rotorua District Council (Representation Arrangements) Bill on behalf of the Rotorua Lakes Council. The bill sought to introduce three Māori wards to the council. Due to the Local Electoral Act 2001, the council had not been able to establish a governing arrangement that would include "adequate" Māori representation without a law change.[32] The Local Electoral Act requires Māori wards and general wards to be weighted to their respective populations, while the council's bill proposed equal membership of Māori and non-Māori councillors. The bill passed its first reading on 6 April 2022 and was referred to the Māori Affairs Committee, which Coffey chaired. While the Labour, Green and Māori parties supported the bill, the opposition National and ACT parties opposed it.[33]

In late April 2022, the Attorney General David Parker issued a report under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 which stated that the bill discriminated against general roll voters by allocating more seats to Māori ward voters disproportionate to their share of the local population. At the time, Rotorua's general roll had 55,600 voters while its Māori roll had 21,700 voters. In response, Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson and Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson withdrew their support for Coffey's bill. The National Party's justice spokesperson Paul Goldsmith claimed that the bill breached the principle of "equal suffrage" by giving Maori electoral roll votes twice the value of general roll votes. By contrast, Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi defended Coffey's Rotorua Bill, claiming that it accorded equal representation to Māori.[34][35][36] In late April 2022, Coffey and the Rotorua Lakes Council agreed to "pause" the bill's select committee process in order to address the legal issues raised by the Attorney General.[37][38] After the 2022 local elections, the reconstituted Lakes Council council voted to withdraw its support for the bill in February 2023.[39][40]

Surrogacy reform

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As a father of children born via surrogacy, Coffey took an interest in legislating for surrogacy reform. In 2021, his private member's bill, the Improvement Arrangements for Surrogacy Bill was introduced to Parliament.[41] The bill passed its first reading unanimously in May 2022 and referred to the Health Committee. The early legislative stages of the bill ran contemporaneously with a Law Commission review of surrogacy law that had been commissioned by the Government in 2020 and was reported in May 2022, nine days after Coffey's bill passed its first reading.[42][43] The report made 63 recommendations to establish a new framework for determining legal parenthood in surrogacy arrangements, and the Law Commission separately recommended to the Health Committee that Coffey's bill, as drafted, not proceed in favour of the Government progressing the Commission's own recommendations for surrogacy reform.[44] The bill was adopted by the Government in May 2023. The Health Committee, which considered the Bill alongside the Law Commission's recommendations, issued interim reports on the bill in October 2022 and August 2023.[45][46]

In October 2022, Coffey stated that he hoped that the surrogacy reform bill would pass into law before the end of the 53rd New Zealand Parliament, although this was ultimately not achieved. Coffey stated that "more and more couples are having kids this way, so the law needs to be changed to streamline this process."[2][47]

Housing

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Coffey also took an interest in housing in Rotorua and the Waiariki electorate. By March 2023, Coffey claimed credit for building 260 state homes, with 300 more on the way. He claimed that these measures reduced the number of people living in emergency housing by half compared with 2022.[2][47] Former Mayor of Rotorua Steve Chadwick credited Coffey with securing NZ$300 million in funding from the Government for housing and regional development in the Rotorua district.[47]

2023 general election

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Coffey announced his intention to retire from Parliament at the 2023 election in March of that year,[2] but in July was announced as the new candidate for East Coast, replacing Kiri Allan.[48] He had been ranked 36th on the Labour party list.[49] Coffey does not live in the East Coast electorate but stated his intention to move to Gisborne if he won.[12] He lost to National candidate Dana Kirkpatrick by a margin of 3,199 votes.[50] Labour did not poll highly enough for Coffey to return as a list MP.[51]

Business career

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Following the 2014 election Coffey elected not to seek a new broadcasting role with TVNZ, instead going into business opening a bar in Rotorua's Eat Street with his partner Tim Smith. Their bar was designed to give Rotorua the atmosphere of Ponsonby, Auckland; the name of the bar being Ponsonby Road. It became a popular nightspot for several years.[52][47][53]

In 2018, they bought a neighbouring restaurant and rebranded it as a Kiwi-style restaurant called Our House. Both restaurants became accredited living wage employers. In 2021, Ponsonby Rd closed and was rebranded as a cocktail and wine restaurant called Rotorua International but proved financially unprofitable. Both Eat Street businesses were sold in December 2022.[47]

Community service

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In 2016, Coffey was elected to the Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust, winning the highest number of votes (5,125).[54] By 2017, Coffey had become the Trust's deputy chair.[55] In November 2022, Coffey lost his bid to be re-elected for a third term on the Rotorua Trust.[56]

References

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  1. ^ a b "The Tamati takes off tour – Lower Hutt (video)". TVNZ video. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f McConnell, Glenn (10 March 2023). "Labour MP Tāmati Coffey to retire from Parliament". Stuff. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Our people: meet Tamati Coffey's parents". Rotorua Daily Post. 2 November 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e Husband, Dale (2 September 2017). "Tamati Coffey: Labour has done its time in the naughty corner". E-Tangata. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  5. ^ "Tamati Coffey". tvnz.co.nz/. Television New Zealand. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  6. ^ Bathgate, Benn (4 March 2013). "Can Coffey break McClay's hold on Rotorua?". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  7. ^ "GayNZ.com Tamati Coffey reveals he's got a boyfriend". Archived from the original on 24 February 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  8. ^ "Tamati Coffey announces engagement". One News. 16 February 2011. Archived from the original on 19 February 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  9. ^ "TVNZ's Tamati Coffey to wed – reports". Stuff.co.nz. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  10. ^ "Labour MP Tāmati Coffey welcomes first baby into his 'modern family'". Stuff. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  11. ^ "'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.
  12. ^ a b c "Coffey reveals special connection to Kiri Allan on campaign trail". NZ Herald. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  13. ^ Television New Zealand (6 August 2007). "New Presenter for Breakfast | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  14. ^ "Tamati Coffey's shock exit". Now To Love. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  15. ^ "Tamati Coffey says goodbye to Breakfast". New Zealand Herald. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  16. ^ "Tamati's DWTS win benefits gay youth charity". TVNZ. 9 May 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  17. ^ "Tamati Coffey to host NZ's Got Talent". 1 April 2012. New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  18. ^ "Tamati Coffey Returns For New Zealand's Got Talent 2013". www.scoop.co.nz/. Scoop Media. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  19. ^ "Coffey 'just helping out'". New Zealand Herald. 22 December 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  20. ^ "TVNZ's Sunday programme follows Tamati Coffey and partner's journey to parenthood". 1 News. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  21. ^ Bilby, Lynley (29 March 2014). "Tamati Coffey selected for Labour". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  22. ^ "Labour List for the 2014 Election Announced" (Press release). New Zealand Labour Party. Scoop. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  23. ^ Martin, Matthew (22 September 2014). "Election 2014: Sombre Coffey and Labour evaluate defeat". Rotorua Daily Post. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  24. ^ "Labour Party List for the 2017 Election announced". Scoop.co.nz. 2 May 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  25. ^ "Waiariki – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  26. ^ a b "Coffey, Tāmati – New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. 1 August 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  27. ^ "Waiariki – Preliminary Count". Electoral Commission. 17 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  28. ^ "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.
  29. ^ Whyte, Anna (18 October 2020). "Analysis: The winners, losers, new faces and goodbyes of election 2020". 1News. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  30. ^ "Waiariki – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  31. ^ "2020 General Election and Referendums – Official Result Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  32. ^ Desmarais, Felix (1 April 2022). "Rotorua Lakes Council's representation review, ward models and law change push explained". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  33. ^ "Rotorua District Council (Representation Arrangements) Bill — First Reading". New Zealand Parliament. 6 April 2022. Archived from the original on 6 April 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  34. ^ McConnell, Glenn (26 April 2022). "Changes likely for Rotorua's election bill amid concern it's undemocratic". Stuff. Archived from the original on 27 April 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  35. ^ "Labour support falters as Rotorua electoral bill 'fallen foul' of Bill of Rights". Radio New Zealand. 27 April 2022. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  36. ^ "Rotorua Council plan fails Bill of Rights test". Waatea News. 25 April 2022. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  37. ^ Desmarals, Felix (28 April 2022). "Rotorua Lakes Council to 'pause' controversial Māori wards bill". Rotorua Daily Post. The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  38. ^ McConnell, Glenn (28 April 2022). "Rotorua District Council agrees to pause its representation bill". Stuff. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  39. ^ Gillespie, Kiri (22 February 2023). "'Assault on democracy': Council withdraws support of controversial Māori representation bill". Rotorua Daily Post. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  40. ^ Smith, Laura (1 March 2023). "'Done and dusted': controversial Rotorua representation bill confirmed as scrapped". Rotorua Daily Post. Archived from the original on 2 October 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  41. ^ New Zealand Parliament. "Improving Arrangements for Surrogacy Bill". bills.parliament.nz. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  42. ^ "Select Committee Reports – New Zealand Parliament". selectcommittees.parliament.nz. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  43. ^ "Te Kōpū Whāngai: He Arotake | Review of Surrogacy | Law Commission". www.lawcom.govt.nz. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  44. ^ "Improving Arrangements for Surrogacy Bill 2022" (PDF). New Zealand Law Commission. 20 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  45. ^ "Next steps to reform outdated surrogacy law". The Beehive. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  46. ^ "Changes to surrogacy laws set to be fast-tracked after government adopts bill". RNZ. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  47. ^ a b c d e "Tamati Coffey to retire from politics: Outgoing Labour MP predicts future of Waiariki electorate". The New Zealand Herald. 10 March 2023. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  48. ^ "Tāmati Coffey named Labour's candidate for East Coast electorate after Allan resignation". New Zealand Herald. 30 July 2023.
  49. ^ "Watch live: Labour reveals party list – Michael Wood humiliated by demotion". NZ Herald. 31 July 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  50. ^ "East Coast - Official Result". Electoral Commission. 3 November 2023. Archived from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  51. ^ "2023 General Election - Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. 3 November 2023. Archived from the original on 24 November 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  52. ^ "Tamati Coffey's 'Ponsonby Rd' Bar opens in Rotorua". Gay Express. 20 March 2015. Archived from the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  53. ^ Sparks, Zizi (28 December 2018). "From street to streat: Looking back at Eat Streat's first five years". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  54. ^ 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.
  55. ^ 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.
  56. ^ "Tāmati Coffey voted off Rotorua Trust". Radio New Zealand. 21 November 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Waiariki
2017–2020 		Succeeded by
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