John Henry Tamihere (born 8 February 1959) is a New Zealand politician, media personality, and political commentator.

Weal alerted Tamihere to the impact that Britain's joining the European Common market would have on New Zealand's economy and society.

According to Weal, New Zealand would have to wake up quickly to the loss of the relationship with Britain, find new markets and new ways of doing things, and back itself.

"The way Mr Weal brought education to life gave me a strong interest in what I call the Kiwi-isation of our society", wrote Tamihere.

According to Tamihere, the party's leaders belonged "to a relatively wealthy, educated elite", and did not represent ordinary Maori.

of dishonest financial dealings, including accepting a "golden handshake" from the Waipareira Trust after stating that he would not take one, and failing to pay tax on this payment.

On 3 November Tamihere resigned from his Ministerial portfolios, citing as untenable the retention of his responsibilities during on-going investigations.

Tamihere also made comments regarded as derogatory about other members of the Labour Party: Steve Maharey was called "smarmy" and lacking in substance, and Michael Cullen was depicted as cunning and manipulative.

At the Labour Party caucus meeting on 12 April, Tamihere attended despite being placed on stress leave by Clark.

In the 2005 election, Tamihere lost his electorate seat to Pita Sharples of the Māori Party and left Parliament.

[17] He had previously decided not to seek a list placement, stating that this decision was due to his desire to determine whether he had the "people's mandate.

Under existing legislation, charities are banned from donating or endorsing political parties or candidates and allowing them to use their resources.

[20][21] In addition, Tamihere criticised The New Zealand Herald journalist Matt Nippert's coverage of the two charities' donations to his election campaigns, which he described as racist.

[22][23] In May 2023, the Waipareira Trust agreed to cease making political donations and recover funds it had made in interest free loans to its chief executive and Te Pāti Māori President Tamihere.

[28] Tamihere and Jackson also have a New Zealand current affairs debate-based TV show, "The world according to Willie and JT".

[31] In November 2013, on RadioLive, Willie Jackson and John Tamihere interviewed a 'friend' of an alleged rape victim, "Amy".

Amy discussed information she knew about an incident by a group called the "Roast Busters" that was under investigation in New Zealand.

They also questioned why the girls, some as young as 13, had not made formal complaints to the police, asked "how free and easy are you kids these days?

[37] In the 2013 New Zealand local elections, Tamihere stood successfully for a seat on the board of the Waitakere Licensing Trust, which owns and operates a chain of wholesale liquor outlets and bars in West Auckland.

He also stood, but narrowly missed out, for a seat on the Waitemata District Health Board, which also covers the North Shore and Rodney areas.

[45] He narrowly failed to unseat incumbent Labour MP for Tamaki Makaurau Peeni Henare and did not enter Parliament.

[50] In early June 2024, Stuff journalist Andrea Vance published two reports alleging that staff at the Manurewa Marea in the Tāmaki Makaurau electorate had illegally collected personal data obtained during the 2023 New Zealand census collection and COVID-19 immunisation drives for political campaigning purposes by Te Pāti Māori during the 2023 general election.

[51][52] Former marae workers also alleged that Census participants were given vouchers and gifts to encourage them to switch to the Māori roll.

[51] Manurewa Marae CEO Takutai Moana Kemp had successfully contested Tāmaki Makaurau as a Te Pāti Māori candidate during the 2023 election.

[51] In addition, the Labour Party complained that Tamihere's Waipareira Trust used a text code to encourage COVID-19 vaccine recipients to vote for Te Pāti Māori during the 2023 election.

[51] In response, Tamihere claimed that the census data misuse allegations were made by disgruntled former marae employees.

The report made nine recommendations to improve Statistics NZ's procedures and referred allegations against Manurewa Marae to the Privacy Commissioner.

According to Tamihere, traditional structures such as iwi do not reflect the reality of modern Māori life, and have proven inadequate for solving today's problems.

Tamihere has condemned modern iwi organisations as "new feudal tribal constructs", dominated by an elite group far removed from the majority of Maori.

[citation needed] Tamihere has expressed concern that the National-led coalition government's boot camp programme would fail without long-term support.