Hone Pani Tamati Waka Nene Harawira^[1] is a New Zealand politician. He was elected to the New Zealand Parliament for the Māori Electorate of Te Tai Tokerau in the 2005 general election as the Māori Party candidate.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Activist 3 Member of Parliament 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Early years

Born in Whangarei in 1955 and raised in West Auckland, Harawira attended St Stephen's School and Auckland University, but credits people like Muhammad Ali, Syd Jackson, Nelson Mandela, Maori Marsden, and his mother and wife for teaching him the need for strength, commitment and vision. His mother whakapapas to Ngāti Hau, Ngāti Wai and Ngāti Hine, and his father to Te Aupouri, Ngapuhi and Ngati Whatua. His wife Hilda is from Ngāti Haua.^[2]

[edit] Activist

Harawira is the son of Titewhai Harawira, and has played a role in treaty issues, language revitalisation, land occupations, Maori broadcasting and fighting racism both in New Zealand and abroad. In 1979 Harawira was part of a group who confronted University of Auckland engineering students who performed a parody of Ka Mate with obscenities painted on their bodies, while drunk. The group containing Harawira assaulted them with baseball bats and hoses, resulting in several broken bones.^[3] He was a key player in He Taua the 1981 Springbok Tour, and the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Hikoi which led to his entering parliament.

He has a reputation for aggressive and sometimes violent behaviour. Harawira has a conviction for assault in 1981. The sentence was suspended because of provocation. Harawira says that he is no longer as rash as he once was, “I am comfortable trying to work towards a positive future rather than simply knocking things down. When I was younger, knocking things down was pretty much everything."

[edit] Member of Parliament

Years	Term	Electorate	List	Party
2005–2008	48th	Te Tai Tokerau	none	Māori
2008–present	49th	Te Tai Tokerau	3	Māori

Since entering parliament Harawira has continued in his tradition as a rebel, breaking protocol to open parliament in Maori, saying the former Australian Prime Minister “John Howard is a racist bastard" for his intervention into Aboriginal Affairs, being fined for leaving a planned parliamentary overseas tour to make headlines over Aboriginal rights, and for continually challenging the government’s Maori MPs for ‘not defending Maori rights’. A student at Waikato University complained about Harawira in April 2009 after an incident where Harawira swore in response to a question referring to Maori as a "minority group".^[4]
In November 2009, Hawawira was asked to repay some travel costs after skipping a taxpayer-funded conference in Brussels to go sightseeing in Paris. "How many times in my lifetime am I going to get to Europe? So I thought, 'F*** it, I'm off. I'm off to Paris'," he said.^[5] In a subsequent email exchange with a member of the New Zealand public who had criticised Mr Harawira's actions Mr Harawira lashed out at white people, stating "White motherf***ers have been raping our lands and ripping us off for centuries and all of a sudden you want me to play along with their puritanical bullshit....And, quite frankly, I don't give a shit what you or anyone else thinks about it. OK?". Harawira's letter was heavily criticised by the media, other members of Parliament, and the general public.^[6]

The Maori Party defended Harawira's actions, deciding he would not face punishment. On Radio Waatea he apologised for the wording of his email but not for the sentiment of it.^[7] He later suggested that Labour leader Phil Goff was a "bastard" and "should be lined up against a wall and shot" for passing the Foreshore and Seabed Act.^[8]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The official website of Hone Harawira
• Parliamentary website page

v • d • e Māori Party Co-leaders Tariana Turia · Pita Sharples Presidents Whatarangi Winiata Current Members of Parliament Te Ururoa Flavell (Waiariki) · Hone Harawira (Te Tai Tokerau) · Rahui Katene (Te Tai Tonga) · Pita Sharples (Tāmaki Makaurau) Tariana Turia (Te Tai Hauāuru) Related articles Foreshore and seabed controversy

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