Right Reverend Manuhuia "Manu" Augustus Bennett (10 February 1916 – 20 December 2001) was a New Zealand Anglican Bishop in the second half of the 20th century.[1] [2] He was born in Rotorua on 10 February 1916 into an ecclesiastical family: his father Frederick Augustus Bennett was the inaugural Bishop of Aotearoa.[1] [3] He identified with the Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Pikiao and Ngāti Rangitihi iwi.[4] Educated at the University of Hawaiʻi and ordained in 1940, he was a Curate in the Diocese of Waiapu before becoming a Chaplain to the New Zealand Forces. When peace returned he was a Māori Missionary at Rangitīkei. Later he was Vicar of St Faith's Rotorua[5] before being appointed Suffragan Bishop of Aotearoa in 1951. He was Bishop of Aotearoa from 1968 to 1981 and a member of the Waitangi Tribunal from 1986 to 1997.[1] He died on 20 December 2001.[6]
In 1977, Bennett was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal.[7] In the 1981 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. On 6 February 1989, Bennett was the eleventh appointee to the Order of New Zealand.[8] The following year, he was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.[7]