Sir Terepai Tuamure Maoate KBE (1 September 1934 – 9 July 2012) was Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from 18 November 1999 to 11 February 2002.

The 1999 election produced a hung Parliament, and following several coalition realignments, Maoate became prime minister.

[2] He was ousted by his former Deputy Prime Minister Robert Woonton on 11 February 2002,[3] and subsequently became Leader of the Opposition.

[7] Continued factional infighting saw Maoate fail to become prime minister after the 2004 elections, when a group of Democratic Party MPs split to back Jim Marurai.

In December 2009 Maoate was sacked as Deputy Prime Minister in favour of Robert Wigmore, sparking a mass-resignation of Democratic Party cabinet members[9][10] and the withdrawal of support for the government.