She was a member of parliament in the House of Representatives for the National Party and sat on the Māori Affairs Committee.

[1] Other family members include World War II pilot John Pohe and the chieftainess Rere-ō-maki, one of few women to sign the Treaty of Waitangi.

[1][5] Hoani Hīpango and Shaw met at Shelly Bay when they were both in the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

[7] Hipango graduated from University of Auckland in 1991, with a Bachelor of Laws,[8] and practised as a lawyer in Whanganui for more than 25 years.

[13] Hipango was selected by the New Zealand National Party to contest the Whanganui electorate at the 2017 general election, after the retirement of incumbent MP Chester Borrows.

[16] Hipango received considerable media attention when she said that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was being morally inconsistent by voting to decriminalise abortion while also speaking out on child mortality rates.

Several said that she was not well-liked in the caucus and "didn't have a lot of friends", with one MP saying that she "sailed her own waka" and seemed to think the party should be honoured that she agreed to join, rather than being grateful for the opportunity.

[26] On her return, one fellow MP expressed mixed feelings, saying “While she is a conservative and some people think we have too many of those, she is also bringing some ethnic diversity to the caucus, which we desperately need", while another said that she would need to change her behaviour of "talking outside of the party view".

[16] Todd Muller later identified himself as one of the anonymous critical MPs, allegedly after being overheard making his comments, and announced on 23 June 2021 that he would not stand at the next general election, following a late-night caucus meeting.

After then-leader Judith Collins was replaced by Christopher Luxon, he changed his position and said he would not leave the party, and would run in his electorate again.

The protest was intended to disrupt a planned visit to the centre by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

The rally was organised by Voices for Freedom, New Zealand's largest anti-vaccination group, known for spreading vaccine misinformation and protesting restrictions.