- Puti Tipene Watene
Infobox Person|
name=Puti Tipene Watene
caption=
birth_date=18 August 1910
birth_place=Kirikiri,Thames,New Zealand
death_date=14 June 1967
death_place=Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New ZealandPuti (Steve) Tipene Watene of Ngati Maru and Te Arawa was a rugby league player and politician.
A strong member of the Mormon faith, Watene was an outstanding sportsman and captained the New Zealand Rugby League team in 1936 and 1937. He was elected Labour Member of Parliament for Eastern Maori in November 1963, following the retirement of
Ratana MPTiaki Omana and held the seat until his death during a Maori Affairs Committee meeting.The Eastern Maori seat was won in the subsequent by-election by
Ratana MPParaone Reweti .References
[http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/ Henare, Manuka. 'Watene, Puti Tipene 1910 - 1967'. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated 7 April 2006]
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