[3] He was instead selected for Te Tai Tonga, the Māori electorate covering the South Island and Wellington city.

After the 2005 general election, Okeroa was appointed a minister outside of Cabinet holding associate ministerial portfolios for Arts, Culture and Heritage; Conservation and Social Development and Employment.

In the 2008 general election, Rahui Katene of the Māori Party out-polled Okeroa by a margin of 1,049 votes.

He declined to re-enter Parliament as a list MP after the resignation of Darren Hughes in 2011[5] and did not stand for the general election later that year.

[6] Okeroa was elected to the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust in 2009[7] and succeeded Sir Ngātata Love as chair in October 2012 after the latter was removed, following a Serious Fraud Office investigation.