Metiria Turei

Metiria Leanne Agnes Stanton Turei (born 1970) is a New Zealand academic and former politician. She was a Member of Parliament from 2002 to 2017 and the female co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand from 2009 to 2017. Turei resigned from the co-leader position on 9 August 2017 amid a political controversy arising from her admission to lying to the Ministry of Social Development to receive higher payments when she was on the Domestic Purposes Benefit and later, to being enrolled to vote in an electorate where she was not eligible when she was 23. She was the Green Party spokesperson on Inequality, Justice, and Building and Housing. She resigned as co-leader of the Green Party and a list candidate immediately prior to the 2017 general election and retired from politics.