Merepeka Raukawa-Tait is a New Zealand politician and former chief executive of the Women's Refuge organisation of New Zealand. She is currently a councilor at large for the Rotorua District Council. She previously stood as a candidate for Parliament, serving briefly as deputy leader of the small Christian Heritage Party. Early life Raukawa-Tait was born in Feilding, New Zealand and raised a Catholic. She has worked in a number of jobs, both in New Zealand and in Zurich, Switzerland. In the early 1990s she was in business in Rotorua and was a member of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council for one term. Her most well-known role was as chief executive of Women's Refuge, an organisation that supports women who suffer domestic violence. She was a contentious chief executive bringing embarrassment to the organisation after attending the premiere of a strip club in central Wellington causing staff to lose faith in her judgment Political career Merepeka Raukawa-Tait was elected to the Rotorua District Council in 2011. In 2013 Merepeka was re-elected to the Rotorua District Council. Previously, in 2001, she made a high-profile bid for the mayoralty of Wellington; however, after a weak performance at a candidates' meeting and a perceived failure to articulate policies and vision for the city, her support tapered off and she eventually placed sixth. Shortly before the 2002 elections, it was announced that Raukawa-Tait would be standing as a candidate for the Christian Heritage Party. This surprised many commentators, as Raukawa-Tait's previous comments did not indicate a great affinity with Christian Heritage policies – in particular, she was considered to be markedly more tolerant of homosexuality than the party. As a personal recruit of then party leader Graham Capill, Raukawa-Tait was immediately elected deputy leader of the party. In the election itself, Raukawa-Tait contested the Wairarapa electorate against Labour's Georgina Beyer. Raukawa-Tait eventually placed third, winning 19% of the vote. This was the best result achieved by any Christian Heritage candidate in that election. Not long after the election, however, Raukawa-Tait and Capill entered into a dispute about the election campaign. Her campaign manager, Adam Owens, alleged that Capill's management of the party's campaign was poor, with little strategy and poor advertising. Owens alleged that the party was being financially mismanaged by Capill, and that he was not a "proper person" to lead a political party. After a protracted dispute, Raukawa-Tait and the entire Wairarapa