Dover Samuels
{{short description|New Zealand politician}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = The Honourable
|name = Dover Samuels
|honorific-suffix =
|image = Dover Samuels.jpg
|caption =
|order = 39th Minister of Māori Affairs
|term_start = 10 December 1999
|term_end = 28 June 2000
|primeminister = Helen Clark
|predecessor = Tau Henare
|successor = Parekura Horomia
|constituency_MP2 = Labour Party list
|parliament2 = New Zealand
|term_start2 = 12 October 1996
|term_end2 = 27 November 1999
17 September 2005 – 8 November 2008
|constituency_MP4 = Te Tai Tokerau
|parliament4 = New Zealand
|term_start4 = 27 November 1999
|term_end4 = 17 September 2005
|predecessor4 = Tau Henare
|successor4 = Hone Harawira
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1939|7|9|df=y}}
|birth_place =
|death_date =
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|restingplace =
|birthname =
|nationality =
|party = Labour
|otherparty =
|spouse =
|partner =
|relations =
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}}
Dover Spencer Peneha Samuels (born 9 July 1939) is a former Labour Member of Parliament in New Zealand from 1996 to 2008.
Biography
=Political career=
Samuels started his political career in the 1970s as a councillor for the Whangaroa County Council.{{cite web|first=Susan |last=Botting |title=Northland's local body Māori wards working well - ex-Māori Affairs Minister Dover Samuels |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/northlands-local-body-maori-wards-working-well-former-maori-affairs-minister-dover-samuels/KABH2I7ZSJCINM44KTUQKBBENA/ |publisher=New Zealand Herald|access-date=14 July 2024 }} He went on to become a councillor and deputy mayor for the Far North District Council.{{cite web |title=Hon Dover Samuels |url=https://www.parliament.nz/mi/mps-and-electorates/former-members-of-parliament/samuels-dover/ |publisher=New Zealand Parliament|access-date=14 July 2024 }}
{{NZ parlbox header|align=left}}
{{NZ parlbox
|term=45th
|start=1996
|end=1999
|party=New Zealand Labour Party
|electorate=List
|list=3
}}
{{NZ parlbox
|term=46th
|start=1999
|end=2002
|party=New Zealand Labour Party
|electorate=Te Tai Tokerau
|list=5
}}
{{NZ parlbox
|term=47th
|start=2002
|end=2005
|party=New Zealand Labour Party
|electorate=Te Tai Tokerau
|list=11
}}
{{NZ parlbox
|term=48th
|start=2005
|end=2008
|party=New Zealand Labour Party
|electorate=List
|list=10
}}
{{NZ parlbox footer}}
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.{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Tony |title=Resounding victory for Dunedin man |publisher=Otago Daily Times |date=28 November 1994|page=4 }}
He was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal for services to New Zealand.{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Alister |last2=Coddington |first2=Deborah |authorlink1=Alister Taylor |authorlink2=Deborah Coddington |title=Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand |year=1994 |publisher=New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa |location=Auckland |isbn=0-908578-34-2}}
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.{{cite web |url=http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/dover+samuels |title=Dover Samuels |publisher=New Zealand Government |date=28 June 2000 |accessdate=3 June 2009}} 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.
|work = Newstalk ZB
|title = MP caught short in hotel
|url = http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=71713
|date = 28 April 2004
|accessdate = 28 May 2009
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070814043211/http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=71713
|archivedate = 14 August 2007
|df = dmy-all
}}
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 Kurī.{{cite web |title=Samuels, Dover - New Zealand Parliament |url=https://www.parliament.nz/en/mps-and-electorates/former-members-of-parliament/samuels-dover/ |website=www.parliament.nz |access-date=24 October 2021 |language=en |quote=Belongs to the Ratana Church}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|nz}}
{{s-bef|before=Tau Henare}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau|years=1999–2005}}
{{s-aft|after=Hone Harawira}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=Tau Henare}}
{{s-ttl|title=Minister of Māori Affairs|years=1999–2000}}
{{s-aft|after=Parekura Horomia}}
{{end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuels, Dover}}
Category:New Zealand Labour Party MPs
Category:Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
Category:New Zealand MPs for Māori electorates
Category:Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives