Sydney Taiwhanga

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|start=1887

|end=1890

|party=Independent politician

|electorate=Northern Maori

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|start=1890

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Hirini Rawiri Taiwhanga ({{circa}} 1832 – 27 November 1890), known as Sydney Taiwhanga, was a 19th-century Māori member of the House of Representatives.

Taiwhanga identified with the Ngāpuhi iwi. He was born in Kaikohe, Northland, New Zealand in about 1832; his father was Rawiri Taiwhanga.{{DNZB|Orange|Claudia|2t4|Hirini Rawiri Taiwhanga|31 August 2021||Claudia Orange}}

He unsuccessfully contested the Western Maori electorate in the {{NZ election link|1884}}. Of eight candidates, he came last with 5.5% of the vote.{{cite news |title=The Western Maori Election |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=WT18840805.2.20 |accessdate=15 March 2014 |work=Waikato Times |date=5 August 1884 |volume=XXIII |issue=1885 |page=3}} In the Western Maori {{By-election link|Western Maori|1886}}, he came fourth out of five candidates.{{cite news |title=Wanganui Herald |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=WH18870111.2.8 |accessdate=16 March 2014 |date=11 January 1887 |volume=XXI |issue=6117 |page=2}}{{cite news |title=The Western Maori Election |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP18861230.2.14 |accessdate=16 March 2014 |work=The Evening Post |date=30 December 1886 |volume=XXXII |issue=191 |page=2}}

He represented the Northern Maori electorate from 1887 to 1890.{{cite news |title=Death of Sydney Taiwhanga |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=PBH18901128.2.11 |work=Poverty Bay Herald |date=28 November 1890 |volume=XVII |issue=5932 |page=2}} He was re-elected in 1890 for Northern Maori, but died on election day, aged about 55. He had also stood in Eastern Maori, and came second.{{cite book |last= Scholefield |first= Guy Hardy |authorlink=Guy Scholefield |title= New Zealand Parliamentary Record |edition=2nd |orig-date=First published in 1913 |year=1925 |publisher=Govt. Printer |location= Wellington |page=138}}

A by-election was held in the Northern Maori electorate on 7 February 1891 to replace him.