Harawira hints at quitting

BY MARTIN KAY

Firebrand Maori Party MP Hone Harawira – under attack for an explosive email – says he could quit at the next election over his party's support for National.

Mr Harawira told The Dominion Post this week that he was concerned the party was too close to National – despite the relationship delivering a crucial promise to scrap the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

The comments came before Mr Harawira was embroiled in a row with party leaders over an email to a critic in which he branded Pakeha "white motherf...s" who "have been raping our lands and ripping us off for centuries".

The email was sent to resource consent consultant and former Waitangi Tribunal member Buddy Mikaere, who had questioned who paid for a jaunt to Paris that Mr Harawira and his wife, Hilda, took during a taxpayer-funded parliamentary visit to Europe.

Mr Harawira took the day trip – which he paid for – instead of attending official engagements in Brussels.

The party said yesterday that it was considering whether to take disciplinary action – which could include expulsion – for the email and the trip to Paris.

Co-leader Tariana Turia is understood to be particularly upset that Mr Harawira told her he missed the Brussels meetings because he was ill. She is also likely to be concerned that the email could inflame race relations as iwi prepare submissions on customary title to the foreshore and seabed – a racially explosive issue when the act was passed in 2004.

Party co-vice-president Heta Hingston said Mr Harawira had sent a message to the board apologising "unreservedly" if the email had harmed the party.

Mr Harawira told TV3 he regretted his choice of language, but not the sentiments.

The Human Rights Commission said it had received calls from people who found the comments "offensive and divisive" and it would assess any complaints.

Prime Minister John Key said the email was deeply offensive and inflammatory, but it was up to the Maori Party to deal with it.

The row has fuelled speculation that Mr Harawira is deeply disillusioned with the Maori Party's decision to back National.

It is understood several supporters in his Te Tai Tokerau stronghold are also unhappy with the relationship.

He confirmed his concerns to The Dominion Post, despite praising the deal leading to the Foreshore and Seabed Act being scrapped, and said he could walk away in 2011.

"I'm finding it a bit of a struggle, to tell you the truth. If I have doubts, it's the doubts that everybody thought would be apparent about the Maori Party and National, the fact that we are a party that has dedicated a lot of our speaking time and a lot of our efforts to the protection of those less fortunate in our society, and I think they're coming under increasing attack from this government.

"I just think there's a need to establish some distance between the things that the Maori Party really believes in and the things that National believes in."

Concerns included having to vote for tax cuts for the wealthy, but not the poor. The Maori Party's support at this stage for National's ACC reforms – which include service cuts and possible private competition – was also a problem.

He would not confirm whether he planned to stand at the next election.

"It's hard to tell, really, what's going to happen."

Mrs Turia was not available for comment last night, but conceded during the week that Mr Harawira had often voiced opposition to some of the party's decisions and direction, as had other MPs.

 THE EMAIL

At 8.54pm on November 3, resource management consultant Buddy Mikaere emailed Hone Harawira's office after reading the email version of Mr Harawira's weekly Ae Marika column. Mr Mikaere's email said:

Gotta ask the question, eh? Who's paying for Hilda?

At 10.30pm, Mr Harawira replied:

Gee Buddy, do you believe that white man bulls... too do you? 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 bulls... . I don't often respond to comments like this, but I will to you.

I put in s...loads of hours and bucketloads of energy in my commitment to advancing Maori, and I am happy to put my body, my freedom, and my personal credibility on the line for that cause.

And I don't do it because of the salary, or the political position I hold, or for any other reason than that I believe in fighting for Maori rights and I love doing what I do.

As far as my wife is concerned – I don't know what your relationship is with whomever, but my wife is my partner, my adviser, my critic, and my best friend, and she has marched with me, fought alongside me, suffered the hard times with me and stood by me for more than 35 years, so if I get the chance to take her with me as part of my role as an MP I will.

And quite frankly I don't give a s... what you or anyone else thinks about it. OK? Hone PS and if you want to take this to the press, go right ahead. I answer to my people, not to them or to anybody else.

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