This article first appeared on Stuff.
Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke has been named in the BBC’s list of the top 100 most inspiring and influential women of 2024.
Started in 2013, the BBC 100 Women list is compiled every year to celebrate women who have achieved great things in public life over the previous 12 months.
In October 2023, the 22-year-old, Maipi-Clarke became the youngest Māori woman ever elected to New Zealand’s Parliament.
At 21 years of age, she was also the youngest member of Parliament since 1853.
Since being elected she has become known internationally thanks to the haka she led at Parliament in November, the video of which made headlines around the world.
Maipi-Clarke and several other opposition party MPs performed the Ka Mate haka in opposition to the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, a move that landed her a 24-hour suspension from the debating chamber.
The MP has been a voice for young people online, garnering a significant following on TikTok and Instagram.
She was also a prominent figure during the recently completed Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti.
In September Maipi-Clarke received the prestigious One Young World Politician of the Year award for her efforts to amplify young indigenous voices in politics.
The organisation awarded her the award on the basis that “her involvement in the political realm allowed young Māori and the younger generation to have a voice within New Zealand’s democracy.”
Maipi-Clarke features alongside the likes of astronaut Sunita Williams, rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot, actress Sharon Stone, Olympic athletes Rebeca Andrade and Allyson Felix, and British singer Raye on the list.
Other New Zealanders to have featured previously on the list have been former prime minister Helen Clark and climate activist Kera Sherwood-O’Regan.
Former prime minister Dame Jacinda Ardern was notably absent from the 2019 list despite featuring in Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people of 2019.
- Stuff
