“Government’s pledge to do something about poverty is bullshit” said MANA
leader Hone Harawira, “and their forcing the Aupouri Maori Trust Board to
stop feeding hungry kids as part of their Social Workers in Schools
contract, proves it.”

Harawira said that for the past four years the Aupouri Maori Trust Board had
been providing free lunches to hungry kids in Kaitaia every day, but the
government had forced them to stop doing it ‘because it was outside of
contractual obligations.’

“Aupouri have been an inspiration really,” said Harawira. “They were funded
to deliver a contract and they have consistently delivered on all their
outcomes, and yet government is now telling them that feeding children can
not be part of their social work.

Harawira said that teachers, nutritionists and child poverty experts have
consistently pointed to the necessity of breakfast and lunch to children’s
learning, and positive classroom behaviour.

“And yet despite all the evidence, the Child, Youth and Family Service – the
agency charged with looking after children – wants to stop Aupouri feeding
hungry children. Unbelievable.”

Harawira said that the Minister of Social Welfare should actually come back
to Kaitaia to see what it was that Aupouri was doing because it was the sort
of work that deserved a medal rather than condemnation.

“In fact, I’d be happy to host her, “said Harawira. “I was the CEO for
Aupouri for a number of years, and I’ve seen how successful they have been
with their social work programmes”

Harawira said that when bureaucrats cancelled contracts over petty
technicalities, it was time somebody cancelled their contracts.

“This kind of bully-boy behaviour towards organisations doing positive work
to alleviate poverty shows that government’s Cabinet Committee on Child
Poverty is destined to be nothing but lip service to the hundreds of
thousands of kids living below the breadline.

“Increased poverty will be the biggest indictment against this Government -
mark my words”, said Mr Harawira.

ENDS

For further information please contact Malcolm Mulholland on 027 765 6380

“As a country we should be doing our utmost to back our wharfies.  Despite the efforts of National and the country’s media to make this dispute about money, this is all about having reliable and stable employment.  The workers want to know that they have a set number of hours per week.  If it was about the money why would they only want to settle for a 2.5% pay rise when they are being offered 10%?  What I don’t understand is why the workers are being held responsible for risks to the business. Tony Gibson will get his huge salary each week no matter what and the Council wants a 12% return on capital no matter what. It is the wharfies who are expected to pay the price each week if business is down.  Under any other business regime, the owner is the one who takes the risk, not the workers!”

“As for politicians saying that we should not get involved, what a load of crap.  This dispute became political when Rodney Hide set up the appointments of the Board of Directors for the port.  Auckland Mayor Len Brown needs to step up to the mark and back the workers – after all the port is Auckland’s asset. The owners of any business have a duty to make sure their managers treat their workers fairly”.

“In 1951 there was a watershed strike involving wharfies.  Today we are faced with another defining moment regarding employment rights in this country.  Rest assured that if the wharfies loose then this right wing Government will see it as an endorsement to go ahead with the casualisation of hours and it will be another blow to the union movement, a movement that has for so long protected blue collar workers”.

For further information please contact Malcolm Mulholland on 027 765 6380.

When I came back to parliament after winning the Tai Tokerau by-election as the new MANA MP, the Speaker booted me out of the house for swearing allegiance to the Treaty of Waitangi and the people of Tai Tokerau before the Queen of England.

I copped some flak from the Tories and their Maori Party colleagues, but the positive side was the wide-ranging debate in the media about the oath itself and whether the Queen was even relevant to our parliament.

Apparently the law says you have to swear or affirm, but there’s nothing in the law that says you can’t say something else first, and in fact recent practice has been to grant MPs the licence to make statements that reflect their views on life as part of the oath. The important bit being that as long as you end with the formal oath, you should be OK.

And of course the oath itself has changed over time, so it’s not like what we say in 2011 is exactly what people were swearing in England back in 1711, so there’s nothing historically mandated about the content of the oath.

In fact, a few years ago they even allowed the oath to be delivered in Maori and now you can swear on the Koran if you so wish!!

But it seems that the Speaker, Lockwood Smith just doesn’t like the idea of MPs bringing a bit of “Aotearoa” into the proceedings; mind you, he’s the guy that has the whole place come to a halt so he can have his own little parade into the house every day.

But recent history would suggest that its Lockwood’s commitment to pomp and monarchy that is more out of step than my oath to the people of Aotearoa.

Back in 1999 Margaret Wilson, who would go on to become a Speaker herself, called for the oath to the Queen to be replaced by a pledge of loyalty to the people of New Zealand.

In 2004, MP Mat Robson called the oath of allegiance to the Queen ridiculous and said that “nobody pays attention to it.”

That same year, Phil Goff tried to get a bill through the house to modernise the oath, and a 2004 discussion paper noted the absence of any commitment to New Zealand or democratic values in the existing oath.

When I first came into the house in 2005 I tabled an amendment to allow MPs to honour the Treaty as part of their oath, and Green MPs and other Maori MPs have sworn allegiance to the Treaty as well.  The bill is yet to come back to parliament for the final stages.

So I think it’s time we revisited the oath to bring it up to date and to make it more relevant to who we are and where we sit in the world.

I mean what’s wrong with what I said – “that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, that I will be honest and forthright in my efforts to advance the rights of the people of Tai Tokerau, that I will do my utmost to help all Maori people become full and proud citizens of this land, and that I will do whatever I can to reduce inequalities in this country, so that all may one day be proud to call Aotearoa home.”

Isn’t that what voters want to hear from their elected representatives? Isn’t that what MPs should be pledging when they come into parliament?

I’m not sure how I will respond when called upon to give the oath tomorrow, but rest assured, I will pledge allegiance to the things that matter.

ENDS

For further information, text Hone Harawira on 021 865 372.

“Research shows that milk provides a number of nutrients to those who drink it. For our whanau who are struggling to pay the bills, milk is not a priority as the price was out of their reach. This news shows that Fonterra has a heart”.

“I would also like to congratulate Fonterra for looking to expand the programme nationwide in 2013. While the kids of the north are in great need, so are the children who live in other parts of the country. What I think other companies should do is look to follow Fonterra’s lead. Now that we have the milk, all we need is some cereal to go with it. I wonder if Sanitarium or Hubbards might be willing to donate some of their kai so our kids get at least a descent breakfast?”

• For further information please contact Hone Harawira on 021 865 372

Nā to koutou kaha, nā to koutou pono kua para te huarahi mo te rōpu torangapū o Mana i roto i te
whare paremata, kua ea tera moemoea aianei. I tīmata tēnei hīkoi i mua i ahau . Kua takahia e
Ngai Tāua i nga rori mai Te Rerenga Wairua ki Pōneke i te tau 1975 mō te Hikoi Whenua Māori;
anō i te tau 2004 mō te Pire Tahae Takutai Moana. Ahakoa nga piki me nga heke, i reira koutou te
manaaki i ahau me taku whanau i taku wehenga i te Paati Maori i te marama o Pepuere i tenei tau.
Hareruia! Kua whai ao inaianei.

He mihi hoki ki nga tini kaimahi puta noa i te rohe whānui o Tai Tokerau mai Waitakere ki Te
Hāpua. Ki nga kaumatua kuia i haere ki nga huihuinga katoa hei ope tautoko; ki nga hoa i whakatū
i aku pikitia i nga rori maha o te rohe nei; ki te tini me te mano: i patōtō kuaha; i txt atu ki nga kai
pōti maha; ki a koutou nga “bro drivers” i haria nga tāngata ki nga wāhi pōti; kia aku hoa kohete ki a au kia whakatikahia tēna me tēra. Ka hoki au ki te whare miere a tera wiki hei māngai mo nga reo maha o Tai Tokerau.

Special thanks to our kaumatua and kuia, my friends, our rangatahi and our mokopuna who have
supported me this year. Due to your support and belief, MANA has entered parliament. This
movement began before me. We walked the roads from Te Rerenga Wairua to Wellington in 1975
for Māori land and in 2004 for the Foreshore and Seabed. And through it all you were there to
support me and my whānau in my move away from the Māori Party in February 2011. Hareruia – a
new dawn!

I especially want to thank the volunteers throughout the electorate from Waitākere to Te Hāpua -
those kaumatua and kuia who travelled with me to many hui; the crews who erected and re-erected
my billboards after they were knocked down; the door knockers; the multi-texters; and the brodrivers
who carted voters to polling booths; and my friends who growled me when I needed it.

I return to parliament 20th December and hope to represent the many views and needs of Te Tai
Tokerau in the future.

heoi ano

kia pai te wā whanau , manaaki a tātou mokopuna

Hone Harawira Mana MP Tai Tokerau

I look forward to talking with them in the near future about the possibility of MANA and Labour working together on common issues.

• For further information and comment please text Hone Harawira on 021 865 372

For the past couple of weeks I’ve spoken of the need to get the representatives of Ngaitakoto, Ngati Kahu, the Far North District Council and the Minister of Treaty Settlements together to discuss the future of the Kaitaia Airport.

Well, last Friday, thanks to the chairman of the Board, I managed to get them all together at Te Rangi Aniwaniwa, the first time they had all met at the airport.

After a “frank and open”, sometimes humorous sometimes harsh, discussion of the different points of view, there was an agreement to table all the relevant information at the next meeting which I have been asked to convene, back at Aniwaniwa in a couple of weeks.

One thing I can report though is that everyone wants to keep the airport open – all we have to do now is nut out the details. Lookin’ good folks.

PIRI MOKENA

On Saturday morning I had the privilege of opening the 30th annual Piri Mokena Memorial Tournament, Whangaroa’s annual sporting challenge based around teams from the various marae in the area. The tournament is noted for the ruthlessness with which the Matangirau team, bolstered by the powerful Rush clan, regularly wins the rugby but is more noteworthy for the commitment from all of the people of Whangaroa, and the hundreds who come home for the tournament.

The weather was awesome, the kai was sweet, the games were fiercely contested, the whanaungatanga was awesome, AND for the first time ever, Matangirau went down in the final to … Matauri. So big ups to the boys from the Bay, and congratulations to everyone for another fabulous tournament.

And just because I didn’t get back to catch the Rugby World Cup Final on the big screen at Kaeo, Eric Rush gave me heaps for going to watch the game at Eden Park (I wish!!!) when in fact I was at church …

BIG UPS TO THE ABS

Congratulations to France for teaching us all a bloody good lesson in never taking anything for granted. They did themselves proud, they shoved a ton of newsprint back down the throats of some pretty nasty journalists, their captain won the man of the match award, and they gave 4 million Kiwis some serious heart palpitations.

But in the end I think the fear of losing gave the boys the energy to pull it off. So thank you New Zealand for giving the AB’s all the support a team could wish for, and a special thank you to Richie and the boys for getting the gorilla off our back.

THE NEXT FEW WEEKS

Now I don’t want to bum everybody out, but now that the RWC is over I think its time we start lookin’ at some simple realities – New Zealand is nearly bankrupt (we’re paying $300 million a week in overseas debt); we’ve just had our credit rating downgraded twice in the last 6 months (and the PM lied about it); the oil spill in Tauranga is an ominous warning about how dangerous deep-sea oil drilling can be (which the government lied about as well); and for some reason, all the other parties are too scared to step up to the challenge of providing the bold and courageous leadership that this country really needs.

Well, as I sign off till after the election, I’m glad to see in the latest polls that people are finally catching on to the fact that MANA does have the policies (check the website www.mana.net.nz) and the candidates to give a person confidence that when they say they will do something, then it will get done.

So MANA up, MANA hard, MANA for one, MANA for all – and see you all soon!!!

“Give Elvis a gold medal and hang the other bugger” said MANA leader and MP
for Te Tai Tokerau, Hone Harawira about today’s court cases in Tauranga for
men charged with oil related incidents.

, captain of the Whanau-a-Apanui fishing vessel San Pietro, is in
court today after his ship was intercepted while fishing in tribal waters
and he was charged over ‘interrupting’ a deep-sea oil survey by oil drilling
multinational Petrobras.

“Given the disaster created by the leaking oil from the grounded Rena, and
the ongoing environmental problems still affecting the coastline from
Tauranga to Whakatane, government should be giving Elvis a gold medal for
stopping the oil survey and drilling programme which had been agreed to in
the Raukumara Basin”

Harawira said that the agreement to allow Petrobras to survey and drill in
the Raukumara was always a bad deal.

“There’s a fault-line running right through the area, the drilling would
have been nearly three times deeper than in the Gulf of Mexico, and our oil
emergency response team is only 3 launches as opposed to the thousands
engaged in the Gulf clean up.

Meanwhile, the captain of the Rena is still being held in custody on charges
related to the grounding of his container ship and the loss of cargo and
fuel oil.

“Hangin’ the poor bugger might sound a bit harsh but somebody should pay”

“Mind you, the New Zealand government dithered when the weather was fine
then blamed the weather when it turned bad” said Harawira. “They lied to us
about the potential dangers in the Raukumara, they lied to us about their
ability to respond to such an emergency and they lied about the risks posed
by the grounding of the Rena”

“Maybe we can send the Rena captain home with a stern warning and put Steven
Joyce up on the gallows in his place”

For further information contact Hone Harawira on 021 865 372

Like a lot of us, Hone had been away in Aussie for years. He came home a few years back and that’s when I first met him.

He came home because he wanted to build a home for his family and a future for his kids, and in the short time I knew him he packed in a lot. He’d cleared a big section on some whanau land just outside of Kaikohe, put down some gardens, started building some small whare, gotten involved with the Maori organic buzz, was into Maori healing, been around the world half a dozen times on those kaupapa and worked on a rez up in Canada … and that was just in the 3 years that I knew him!

His wife Mere worked for me for a while (full-time work on a part-time wage and a wonderful person in her own right) and that’s how I got to meet him.

Hone was a big man, easy to smile, and nice to have around. He never seemed like a threat to anyone but always had that way about him which suggested he knew how to handle himself. He was a calming presence which some people took as him being a bit too laid back, but when you’re operating at a hundred thousand miles an hour like I am, that’s just the kind of guy you need to help chill you out.

Whenever I went to Kaikohe I’d pick him up to go visiting folks who needed a hand with this, that and the other. Hone seemed to know heaps of people, and I found out later that even when he didn’t know people, he had a way of making them want to know him.

He mixed freely with all the hoodlums I knew, and heaps more that I didn’t, and when I introduced him to people from parliament he mixed with them like he’d known them all his life as well too!

Hone worked alongside me all the time that I knew him, and for the past few months I was able to pay him a little bit for what he did. But he worked for me because he loved the kaupapa and just wanted to be part of the buzz; to be part of a new world and to share in the joy of helping bring about change in people’s lives.

I think he saw that in me and wanted to be part of that, but the truth is a little bit different. The fact is that I saw special things in him, and I wanted to be part of his buzz as well.

Farewell my friend. Life doesn’t often send us special people like you. I’ll miss you heaps. Say hi to the folks in Hawaiki, and we’ll see you when we get there.

Haere e te rangatira, haere. Hoki atu ki to ükaipö, ki nga rua köiwi o nga matua tupuna. Takahia i tera ara tapu kia tae atu ki te rerenga wairua. Rukuhia i nga rimurimu, a, rere atu, rere atu, rere atu ra.

Hone had some lovely kids, and now they haven’t got a dad. I hope we can do for his whanau what he was able to help me do for many, many others.

Hone Pomare is lying in state at Mokonuiarangi marae in Utakura. There will be a service at the marae at 10am tomorrow, following which he will be taken to Rahiri to be buried, and then back to the marae for a häkari.