Maia Te Hira descends from the Ngāti Ira and Ngāi Tara peoples who called Te Whanganui-ā-Tara home, she also connects through whakapapa to the various iwi of the Wairarapa and Muriwhenua regions and to the peoples of Gua Leng in China.

She was born and bred on Wellington’s south coast and has been raised and shaped by many of the city’s communities. She holds a BA from the University of Auckland, an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington, diplomas in te reo Māori from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and is pursuing postgraduate studies at Te Wānanga o Raukawa.

Maia keeps busy running her own business; working as a litigation lawyer engaged primarily in constitutional, public law and criminal defence matters; in iwi governance roles; and as a māmā to 3 tamariki who she is raising with her whānau in a multigenerational urban pā near the moana. She is passionate about equity in the law, indigenous economic development, and ensuring a Tiriti-based Aotearoa.

She is a proud graduate of Kōhanga Reo, Kura Kaupapa Māori and Whare Wānanga.