Jerry Mateparae

Sir Jeremiah "Jerry" Mateparae GNZM, QSO, KStJ (born 14 November 1954) is New Zealand's 20th Governor-General, and the 9th Queen's representative in Niue, the second Māori person to hold the office after Sir Paul Reeves. He was Chief of the New Zealand Defence Force between 2006 and 2011 and the Director of the New Zealand Government Communications Security Bureau from 7 February 2011 until 1 July 2011. His appointment as Governor-General was announced on 8 March 2011 and he took office on 31 August 2011.

Personal life

Jerry Mateparae was born to the Andrews family in Wanganui. He was given to his mother's brother, a Mateparae, to be raised in the Māori customary adoption known as whāngai. His birth father and his adoptive father were both ministers in the Rātana Church. He is descended from the Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Ngāti Kahungunu tribes and also has links to Tūhoe and tribes in the upper Whanganui. He was raised in the Whanganui suburb of Castlecliff and attended Castlecliff Primary School, Rutherford Intermediate School and Wanganui High School. He has three children with his first wife Raewyn, who died in 1990, and two children with his second wife Janine.