Tuariki Delamere

In 1996, New Zealand First signed a deal with National to form the first MMP coalition government, and Tuariki Delamere knew he would be a one-term MP.

"Tuariki Delamere is a classic all-rounder." - Morgan Godfery, host of Matangireia

Watch the video version of the episode here.

The former Te Tai Rawhiti MP was once a world record holder in long jump, the chief financial officer at Polynesian Blue airline in Samoa and Tasman Pulp and Paper Mill in Kawerau, and a leading minister in the first MMP coalition government.

Delamere is also a former U.S. Army serviceman.

"They had a thing called the draft back ," he told Morgan Godfery.

"And I had a green card, so I was a permanent resident, and if you're a permanent resident, you're eligible for the draft."

Conscription put Delamere, who may be the only government minister to ever serve in the U.S. Army, on a path to West Point, one of the most prestigious military academies in the world.

Delamere was working as an "accounting specialist," but "the reason that I was there was they wanted someone to coach the jumpers."

In his young days, the New Zealand First MP-to-be was a long jumper famous for using the now-banned somersault technique. This is where a jumper somersaults off the board rather than "jumping" in the traditional manner.

Former Olympic champions, like decathlete Caitlyn Jenner, were experimenting with the technique in the early 1970s as well, but Delamere is perhaps best known for perfecting it during his stint at Washington State University.

His record still stands, even if it isn't officially recognised as such.

This was typical of Delamere: unconventional but surprisingly successful.

From the U.S., he went on to jobs in Samoa and back home in Waiariki (the Bay of Plenty), entering Parliament as the Māori seat MP in 1996.

Like his world record, was it a surprise to get in?

"They didn't vote for me. They didn't vote for Tau or the others. They voted for Winston," Delamere acknowledges...

"Winston did an incredible job getting blue-rinse Pākehā into the same waka as Māori, but unfortunately, once we got , he didn't carry through with it."

"He put us at different ends of the waka."

But Delamere kept at arm's length from some of the internal ructions in his party. Instead, much of his energy went to reforms in his various portfolios knowing that "a few months ago, I was just Joe Blow walking the streets of Whakatāne, up in the hills of the Urewera, and now I'm a Cabinet minister."…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details