Dover Samuels

Dover Spencer Peneha Samuels (born 9 July 1939) is a former Labour Member of Parliament in New Zealand from 1996 to 2008.

The Honourable
Dover Samuels
39th Minister of Māori Affairs
In office
10 December 1999 – 28 June 2000
Prime MinisterHelen Clark
Preceded byTau Henare
Succeeded byParekura Horomia
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Labour Party list
In office
12 October 1996 – 27 November 1999
17 September 2005 – 8 November 2008
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Te Tai Tokerau
In office
27 November 1999 – 17 September 2005
Preceded byTau Henare
Succeeded byHone Harawira
Personal details
Born (1939-07-09) 9 July 1939
Political partyLabour

Biography

Political career
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
1996–1999 45th List 3 Labour
1999–2002 46th Te Tai Tokerau 5 Labour
2002–2005 47th Te Tai Tokerau 11 Labour
2005–2008 48th List 10 Labour

Samuels joined the Labour Party and became its Māori Senior Vice President. In 1994 he challenged Maryan Street for the Labour Party presidency, but lost by a wide margin, 303 votes to Street and 75 for Samuels.[1]

He was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal for services to New Zealand.[2]

He first entered Parliament as a list MP in the 1996 election, and was the MP for Te Tai Tokerau since the 1999 election. When the Labour Party formed a government following its victory in 1999, Samuels became the Minister of Māori Affairs, but resigned this role in June 2000 pending an investigation into alleged sex crimes committed before he entered politics.[3] The police later cleared Samuels of all charges, and Samuels alleged that the accusations had political motivations. He was reinstated as a Minister of State in 2002, but in 2005 was involved in further controversy following a late-night incident in which he publicly urinated in a hallway within Auckland's Heritage hotel. [4]

Samuels lost his Māori electorate of Te Tai Tokerau in 2005 to the Māori Party candidate Hone Harawira. However, he was returned to parliament due to his high position on the Labour Party list. He was made the Associate Minister for Economic Development, Housing, Tourism and Industry and Regional Development.

On 31 October 2007, during the Cabinet reshuffle, Samuels lost his position as a Minister outside Cabinet and was replaced by Darren Hughes. He returned to the backbench.

Samuels did not contest the 2008 election.

Personal life

He is an active member of the Rātana Church of New Zealand and has iwi Affiliations with Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kuri.[5]

References
  1. Smith, Tony (28 November 1994). "Resounding victory for Dunedin man". Otago Daily Times. p. 4.
  2. Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
  3. "Dover Samuels". New Zealand Government. 28 June 2000. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  4. "MP caught short in hotel". Newstalk ZB. 28 April 2004. Archived from the original on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  5. "Samuels, Dover - New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 24 October 2021. Belongs to the Ratana Church
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