Hone Harawira: Difference between revisions
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'''Hone Pani Tamati Waka Nene Harawira'''<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Debates/Debates/5/c/4/49HansD_20081208_00000010-Members-Sworn.htm |title=New Zealand Hansard - Members Sworn Volume:651;Page:2|publisher=[[Parliament of New Zealand]]}}</ref> (born 1955) is a New Zealand [[Māori protest movement|Māori activist]] and parliamentarian. He was elected to the [[New Zealand Parliament]] for the Māori Electorate of [[Te Tai Tokerau (NZ electorate)|Te Tai Tokerau]] in the [[New Zealand general election, 2005|2005 general election]] as the [[Māori Party]] candidate. He is currently an Independent MP after leaving the Māori Party on 23 February 2011. |
'''Hone Pani Tamati Waka Nene Harawira''' (born '''John Hatfield''')<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Debates/Debates/5/c/4/49HansD_20081208_00000010-Members-Sworn.htm |title=New Zealand Hansard - Members Sworn Volume:651;Page:2|publisher=[[Parliament of New Zealand]]}}</ref> (born 1955) is a New Zealand [[Māori protest movement|Māori activist]] and parliamentarian. He was elected to the [[New Zealand Parliament]] for the Māori Electorate of [[Te Tai Tokerau (NZ electorate)|Te Tai Tokerau]] in the [[New Zealand general election, 2005|2005 general election]] as the [[Māori Party]] candidate. He is currently an Independent MP after leaving the Māori Party on 23 February 2011. |
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==Early years== |
==Early years== |
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Revision as of 02:04, 4 May 2011
Hone Harawira MP | |
|---|---|
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau | |
| In office 2005–present | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1955 Whangarei |
| Nationality |  New Zealand |
| Political party | Māori Party (2005 – 2011) Independent (2011 – ) Mana Party (2011 – ) |
Hone Pani Tamati Waka Nene Harawira (born John Hatfield)[1] (born 1955) is a New Zealand Māori activist and parliamentarian. 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. He is currently an Independent MP after leaving the Māori Party on 23 February 2011.
Early years
Harawira was born to John Puriri Harawira[2] and Titewhai Harawira[3] in Whangarei in 1955. He was raised in West Auckland and attended St Stephen's School, a boarding school for Māori boys, and the University of Auckland. He credits people like Muhammad Ali, Syd Jackson, Nelson Mandela, Maori Marsden, his mother and his wife for teaching him "the need for strength, commitment, wisdom and vision".[4] His mother is descended from the Ngāti Hau, Ngāti Wai and Ngāti Hine tribes, and his father from Te Aupōuri, Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Whātua. He married Hilda Halkyard from the Ngāti Haua hapū (subtribe) of Te Rarawa.[4]
Activist
His mother is a prominent Māori activist and Harawira himself played a role in Treaty of Waitangi issues, Māori language revitalisation, land occupations, Māori broadcasting and fighting racism both in New Zealand and abroad. In 1979 Harawira was part of He Taua, which confronted drunk University of Auckland engineering students who performed a parody of the "Ka Mate" haka with obscenities painted on their bodies. The group including Harawira assaulted them with baseball bats and hoses, resulting in several broken bones.[5] He was a key participant in He Taua, the 1981 Springbok tour protests, and the 2004 foreshore and seabed hikoi, the last of which led to him entering Parliament.
Harawira's family continue to engage in activism, with his nephews Wikitana Popata and John Junior Popata protesting in 2009 and 2010 at Te Tii Marae during the Waitangi Day celebrations and Harawira has said he is proud of their actions.[6] In 2009 they were convicted of assaulting Prime Minister John Key and sentenced to community work.[7]
Member of Parliament
| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–2008 | 48th | Te Tai Tokerau | none | Māori Party | |
| 2008–2011 | 49th | Te Tai Tokerau | 3 | Māori Party | |
| 2011 | Changed allegiance to: | Independent | |||
In Parliament Harawira has continued in his tradition as a rebel, breaking protocol to open Parliament in Māori; 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 Māori MPs for "not defending Māori 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 Māori as a "minority group".[8]
Hone Harawira has a regular column in the Kaitaia-based newspaper The Northland Age, entitled Ae Marika. In the edition dated 29th October 2009, during the time he was on a Parliamentary trip in Europe, he wrote:[9] "...we've been scrapping and squabbling and brawling and bawling about this, that and the other thing for so long that all of the original Waitangi Tribunal claimants are now long dead." "...the European Union...27 distinct languages and hundreds of different dialects...political diversity...everyone doing their best to talk with one another, and work together!" "So hangin' with these folks has been a great learning experience." "...I for one learned heaps."
Following his return from Europe, 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.[10] 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 racist email was heavily criticised by the media, other members of Parliament, and the general public.[11]
The Māori 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.[12] 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.[13]
On 7 February 2011 Harawira was suspended from the Māori Party caucus, with a statement by Turia and Sharples saying they had lost faith in him after five years of ill discipline.[14] He responded saying he wishes to stay with the party and stand for it in the 2011 election.[15]
On 23 February 2011 Harawira left the Māori Party after the party's disciplinary committee recommended he be expelled,[16] and on 30 April 2011 he announced the formation of the Mana Party[17] and that he was resigning from Parliament and would contest the resulting by-election.
References
- ^ "New Zealand Hansard - Members Sworn Volume:651;Page:2". Parliament of New Zealand.
- ^ Harawira, Hone (9 December 2010). "Harawira: Tobacco inquiry debate". Scoop. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ "Harawira reflects on life and love". Western Leader. 15 December 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ a b "About". Hone.co.nz. Hone Harawira. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ Tahana, Yvonne (2 May 2009). "Haka brawl rivals unite to remember". The New Zealand Herald.
- ^ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10704321
- ^ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10704285
- ^ Brennan, Nicola (27 April 2009). "'Thug MP' Harawira swore at me: student". Waikato Times.
- ^ On hardcopy, not accessible on northlandage.co.nz
- ^ "'Public wonder' over Harawira's holiday". Stuff.co.nz. 5 November 2009.
- ^ "Harawira's white tirade 'deeply offensive'". Stuff.co.nz. 6 November 2009.
- ^ "Harawira's apology - what he said". 3news.co.nz. 10 November 2009.
- ^ "I should have asked my wife to check my email, Harawira admits". The New Zealand Herald. 10 November 2009.
- ^ "Faith in Harawira lost". The New Zealand Herald. 7 February 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
- ^ "Harawira wants to stay with party". The New Zealand Herald. 8 February 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
- ^ "Harawira out of Maori Party". ONE News. 23 February 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
- ^ "Hone Harawira launches new party". Stuff. 2011-04-30. Retrieved 2011-04-30.