[7][8][9] Tabuteau attended Rotorua Boys' High School before completing tertiary study in business and teaching at Waiariki Institute of Technology and the University of Waikato.

[19] The bill was designed to limit New Zealand's ability to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement but failed its first reading when it was not supported by government parties.

[21] He later gained further appointment as Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control when that ministerial position was re-created (and assigned to Peters) in May 2018.

[22] As the coalition government had no associate ministers in the foreign affairs portfolio, Tabuteau's role included deputising for Peters as required.

[5][23] He also had delegated responsibility for the New Zealand Agency for International Development programme and supporting the delivery of regional economic action plans.

[24] In addition to his roles in the executive government, Tabuteau was additionally his party's spokesperson for commerce, energy, insurance, revenue, superannuation and tourism and associate spokesperson for finance; the deputy chair of parliament's finance and expenditure committee; and, during the initial COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, a member of the epidemic response committee.

[28] He and his fellow New Zealand First MPs lost their seats after the party's vote dropped to 2.6%, below the five percent threshold needed to enter Parliament.

[27] In July 2021, Tabuteau announced that he would be a candidate for the Rotorua mayoralty at the 2022 local elections, following the incumbent Steve Chadwick's decision not to stand again.