Donna Lynn Awatere Huata (sometimes written Awatere-Huata) is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament. She was expelled on 19 November 2004 after a long legal battle, and was subsequently convicted on charges of fraud. She was originally a member of the ACT New Zealand party, but became an independent after the charges were first made. The New Zealand Parliament is the legislative body of the New Zealand government. ... November 19 is the 323rd day of the year (324th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004(MMIV) is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Current ACT New Zealand logo ACT New Zealand is a free market liberal party in the New Zealand Parliament. ...

Early life

Donna Awatere Huata was born in the city of Rotorua in 1949, and was educated in Auckland. Her primary area of study was education, particularly educational psychology, but she has also undertaken study in opera singing and film production. Rotorua is a city located on the southern shore of Lake Rotorua in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. ... 1949 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest urban area in New Zealand. ... Educational psychology is the study of how children and adults learn, the effectiveness of various educational strategies and tactics, and how schools function as organizations. ... The foyer of Charles Garniers Opéra, Paris, opened 1875 Opera is an art form consisting of a dramatic stage performance set to music. ... Film production stages include (very broadly) Development: script development, or purchase of a screenplay rewriting the screenplay (repeat) -- see development hell financing Pre-production: budgeting scheduling casting rehearsals set construction Production: principal photography visual effects Post-production: film editing special effects composing score sound editing sound effects Distribution marketing Merchandising...

Awatere Huata initially worked as an educational psychologist for ten years, but later began to become involved in consultancy work related to biculturalism. She also was the producer for a Maori language film. In the 1970s and 1980s, she became involved in activism on behalf of certain Maori causes (such as the controversy over Bastion Point) and in various feminist campaigns. She was active in the protests against a tour by the Springboks, the rugby team of South Africa (which was then under an apartheid government, and which followed a "whites only" sport policy). A policy of biculturalism is typically adopted in nations that have emerged from a history of national or ethnic conflict in which neither side has gained complete victory. ... Māori (or Maori) is a language spoken by the native peoples of New Zealand and the Cook Islands. ... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... Feminism is a diverse collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies, largely motivated by or concerning the experiences of women, especially in terms of their social, political, and economic situation. ... The Springboks or Bokke are the South African national rugby team. ... A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ...

Entry to parliament

Shortly before the 1996 elections, Awatere Huata joined the ACT New Zealand party. This surprised many commentators, as ACT was not generally associated with the sort of cause that Awatere Huata had previously supported. She was ranked in fourth place on ACT's party list, and stood as a candidate in the Maori electorate of Te Puku O Te Whenua. She was not successful in her electorate race, but entered parliament as a list MP. In the 1999 elections, she retained her fourth place ranking on the party's list, and consequently remained in parliament. In the 2002 elections, she was lowered to fifth place on the party's list, but nevertheless remained in parliament comfortably. The 1996 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament. ... Current ACT New Zealand logo ACT New Zealand is a free market liberal party in the New Zealand Parliament. ... The 1999 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the 46th session of the New Zealand Parliament. ... The 2002 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the 47th New Zealand Parliament. ...

Conviction for fraud

In late 2002, the Dominion Post newspaper reported evidence that Awatere Huata had appropriated public money for her own use. The money in question belonged to the Pipi Foundation, a children's reading program. Some of this money was alleged to have been spent by Ms Huata on a secret gastric bypass operation which resulted in a dramatic weight loss much commented on in women's magazines. Donna had claimed this weight loss was purely the result of willpower and diet. 2002(MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Dominion Post is a metropolitan broadsheet newspaper published in Wellington, owned by the Australian Fairfax group, owners of The Age of Melbourne and The Sydney Morning Herald. ... Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, or simply gastric bypass surgery, is a procedure almost exclusively used in surgical weight loss applications to correct morbid obesity. ...

Awatere Huata strongly denied the accusations, but further investigation (much of it conducted by the Dominion Post) provided sufficient grounds for an official enquiry by the Serious Fraud Office. On 11 February, the ACT party expelled her from caucus, although not from the party itself. A caucus is most generally defined as being a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement. ...

The final report on Awatere Huata's dealings was not completed until November that year, however. Investigators claimed that the delay was caused by total lack of cooperation from Awatere Huata, which Awatere Huata denies. The report was highly critical of her, and she was charged (along with her husband) with multiple counts of fraud. She was also charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice.

During this time, Awatere Huata's membership of the ACT party had lapsed, something which Awatere Huata claims was accidental. When she reapplied for membership, however, ACT indicated that it would not accept her. ACT then informed the Speaker of the House of Representatives that Awatere Huata should no longer be considered a member of ACT. The Speaker concurred, and declared Awatere Huata an independent. In New Zealand The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the individual who chairs the countrys legislative body, The House of Representatives (commonly known as Parliament). The Speaker fulfills a number of important functions in relation to the operation Parliament, much of which is based upon the British...

ACT shortly afterwards attempted to invoke the Electoral Integrity Act, which was designed to limit the ability of MPs to change parties. Under this law, MPs who change their allegiance in a way that "distorts the proportionality" of Parliament must vacate their seat. ACT contended that because Awatere Huata is no longer a member of the party, the party had less strength in parliament than its last election result awarded it, thereby undermining proportional representation. Awatere Huata, however, claimed that even if she was not a member of ACT, she still voted according to ACT policies, ensuring that the public still got the policies that they voted for. In a long battle, Awatere Huata sought a court injunction against the Electoral Integrity Act being invoked. The High Court initially refused an injunction, but was overruled by the Court of Appeal. Finally, on 18 November, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the original decision, allowing the law to be invoked. The following day, the Speaker declared Awatere-Huata's seat to be vacant. She was replaced in Parliament by Kenneth Wang, the next person on ACT's party list. Proportional representation (PR) is any election system which ensures a proportionally representative result of a democratic election, x% of votes should be represented by x% in the democratic institutions, parliament or congress. ... November 18 is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years), with 43 remaining. ... The Supreme Court of New Zealand is the highest court of appeal in New Zealand, having formally come into existence at the beginning of 2004, and sitting for the first time on 1 July 2004. ... Kenneth Xiaoxuan Wang (born 1955) is a New Zealand politician, representing the ACT New Zealand party. ...

On 23 August 2005, Awatere Huata and her husband were convicted on multiple charges of fraud. On 30 September 2005, Awatere Huata was sentenced to 2 years and nine months in prison and husband Wi was given 2 years with a possibilty of home detention. The court room was packed with over one hundred Maori leaders and activists plus the Huata family. As the sentencing was read by Judge Roderick Joyce, the crowd in the court yelled and jeered so much the judge stopped sentencing. As the crowd, 20 of whom drove up from Hastings, yelled and held up racism signs Donna Awatere and Wi merely stood still with little emotion as they stared into each others eyes. Wi Huata's transgender brother Huia caused such an uproar between yelling "white justice" to the judge and doing an impromptu haka with sister Hira that he had to be arrested for proceedings to continue. Mrs Awatere Huata's lawyer Guyon Foley said he was not sure whether his client would appeal but Wi Huata's lawyer said he was considering an appeal. The large crowd outside the District court in town created such commotion as Mrs Huata was taken in a police guard that police officers stood by as screaming and yelling continued at reporters from the activists and Huata family. August 23 is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (236th in leap years), with 130 days remaining. ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 92 days remaining. ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...