Ben Couch


Manuera Benjamin Riwai Couch was a New Zealand politician and rugby union player. He was a team-member of the All Blacks and the New Zealand Māori rugby union team in the 1940s.

Early life

Couch was born in 1925 in Christchurch and he grew up on Banks Peninsula. Couch's parents were Methodists and he was largely raised by his grandmother who belonged to the Salvation Army. He attended Christchurch Technical School. He married Bessie Carter, his childhood sweetheart who was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Couch was in the Royal New Zealand Air Force at the end of World War II but was never sent into battle. At the age of 24 Couch joined the LDS Church. He moved to the Wairarapa in the mid-1940s.

Rugby union

A first five-eighth, Couch represented Wairarapa at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, from 1947 to 1949. He played seven matches for the All Blacks including three internationals. Of Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Mutunga descent, he also played 20 matches for New Zealand Māori between 1948 and 1950.

Political career

In the 1975 general election, he was elected to Parliament as the National Party member of parliament for the Wairarapa electorate, thus becoming only the second and third Māori to win a general electorate.
He served as Minister of Māori Affairs and Minister of Police in the third National Government, but lost his seat in 1984 to Labour's Reg Boorman. While Minister of Police, he called for the birch to be introduced for violent offenders and allowed the police to use longer batons. He created some controversy by wearing a Springbok rugby team blazer at the time of their 1981 tour of New Zealand as well as attending a public meeting organised by the League of Rights. This was despite his having been denied entry to South Africa as part of the All Blacks rugby team in the 1940s because of his race.
In 1977, Couch was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal, and in 1990 he received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. In the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours, Couch was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services.

Later life and death

In the 1990s, Couch was involved in various Māori organisations. He died in 1996 in Masterton.