'An obligation to my people' - Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke to return to Parliament after landslide win

One of the most internationally recognised young MPs, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, is returning to Parliament after a landslide victory in the Hauraki-Waikato electorate.

In preliminary results, Maipi-Clarke secured 68.6 percent of the electorate vote, more than double the 28.8 percent received by her closest challenger, Labour's Kiingi Kiriona.

At just 24, she is the youngest MP in Aotearoa.

"I'm feeling really, really grateful, privileged, honoured to serve once again," she told RNZ.

"I don't see this as just a seat or a role but really an obligation to my people and my home and my iwi. So it's really been an honour to go again after everything that we've had to endure as a people."

Since entering Parliament in 2023, aged just 21, Maipi-Clarke has become a recognised figure and a prominent voice for indigenous rights.

Her profile grew significantly in November 2024, when she led a haka in Parliament during the first reading of the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, tearing up a copy of the proposed legislation.

The moment attracted international attention, with TIME magazine later saying she "shook the world", and video of the haka gaining millions of views.

In 2025, the magazine named her one of the world's most influential rising stars in its TIME100 Next list.

Writing about Maipi-Clarke for the magazine, former US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland described her as a link in a long line of activists who had fought to protect Māori culture, language and indigenous rights.

"Using her platform and voice, she staved off attempts to disenfranchise communities and attack Indigenous rights," Haaland wrote.

"In the grand scheme of things, she represents something that rings true: young people are not just leaders of tomorrow, they are also taking the helm and fighting for the future they deserve."

Before the haka brought her international recognition, Maipi-Clarke was named One Young World's Politician of the Year in 2024, recognising her work to positively influence young people in her community and country.

Maipi-Clarke told RNZ the election result in Hauraki-Waikato challenged the narrative that young people are disengaged from politics.

During her first election campaign in 2023, she faced criticism that rangatahi would not turn out to vote.

"They will vote when they see themselves in Parliament or when they hear the issues or what challenges they face being represented in Parliament."

She said she did not blame young people for feeling disconnected from the political system when they struggled to see themselves reflected in it.

Maipi-Clarke also pointed to the growing number of younger MPs entering Parliament, including the Green Party's Tamatha Paul and Labour's Arena Williams, as an encouraging sign for rangatahi.

Maipi-Clarke said she had also been impressed by the role young people had played in mobilising voters during this election.

"I've just been absolutely amazed at the level of engagement that rangatahi have had around social media, around mobilising to vote.

"Not just voting themselves, but actually encouraging everyone else around them to go out and vote."

She said the engagement of young people, indigenous communities and minority groups in politics can make a difference, pointing to significant election results in Brazil and the US midterms.

"When rangatahi, when young people, when indigenous people, when the minority groups engage in politics, this is what we can see."

Looking ahead to another three years in Parliament, Maipi-Clarke said the cost of living, a fairer tax system and embedding Te Tiriti o Waitangi would be among her priorities.

But she said the country also needed to address the way different communities are treated and spoken about.

She criticised what she described as the attitude shown towards Māori, LGBTQ communities and Asian communities during the previous parliamentary term.

"It's an attitude thing as well, around how we can move together as a country rather than just through legislation."

Despite the challenges ahead, Maipi-Clarke said she remained hopeful about the future of Aotearoa.

She is particularly encouraged by the next generation of young people, including those outside the Māori community, who she said had a strong appreciation for Māori culture and understood the wider inequalities facing the country.

"I'm so excited for the next generation, because we've had so many young people come through in my first year of parliament," she said.

"I don't think I'll be in this job long because there's a lot more rangatahi that are coming through that are just as amazing and bright."

Hundreds gathered at Rangiriri Paa on election night to support Maipi-Clarke, with tamariki waving their tino rangatiratanga flags, kaumātua and kuia joining in celebrations, and plentiful hāngī and kai for supporters.

Maipi-Clarke used her victory speech to acknowledge the people behind the "emotional journey", including her parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins and campaign team.

She also revealed she had ruptured her achilles tendon at the beginning of the campaign, with doctors initially telling her she would not be walking again for another four months.

"But anyways, look at us, we're walking in heels, and we won elections," she told the cheering crowd.

With another three years ahead, Maipi-Clarke told supporters the work was far from over.

"We've got to just set up even stronger now, and I'm so excited. I'm actually so, so excited to see what we can do."