Nuk Korako


Tutehounuku "Nuk" Korako is a former New Zealand politician who was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2014 general election as a representative of the National Party. In mid-April 2019, Korako announced his retirement from politics, which took effect on 16 May 2019 when he left Parliament, being replaced by Paulo Garcia.

Early life and family

Korako attended St Stephen's School in Bombay south of Auckland, Rangiora High School, and Lincoln College. He is married to Christine, and they have four sons. His father is from North Canterbury and was a freezing worker; his paternal grandfather was a wharfie.

Career

Korako is a businessman in the tourism sector and a Ngāi Tahu board member.

Political career

Korako supported the National Party for many years, and contributed to Bob Parker's 2007 mayoral campaign.
Korako stood for Christchurch City Council in the 2013 local elections in the Banks Peninsula ward. Based on preliminary results, he was just five votes behind Andrew Turner, with 80 special votes still to be counted. On the strength that he might get declared elected, Korako attended the induction meeting, and joined the council delegation that met Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee. One week after the election, Turner was declared the winner with a five votes margin.
Korako was selected relatively late by the National Party over fellow contenders Lincoln Platt and Jason White, and had just 100 days for his campaign in the 2014 election. He claimed to have doorknocked 300 houses per day, but Labour members disputed that, pointing out that this meant 10 hours of uninterrupted work, with just two minutes spent at each house.
He contested the against Ruth Dyson of the Labour Party, who has held the electorate since its inception in. Based on preliminary counts, Dyson had a majority of 1,865 votes over Korako, who entered Parliament via the National party list.
In 2016, Korako had a private member's bill drawn by ballot for debate in Parliament. The Airport Authorities Amendment Bill would allow airports to decide the best way to advertise lost property for sale.