- Hone Harawira
Hone Pani Tamati Waka Nene Harawira 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.Born in
Whangarei in 1955 and raised in West Auckland, Harawira attendedSt Stephens School andAuckland University , but credits people like Muhammad Ali, Syd Jackson, Nelson Mandela, Maori Marsden, his mum and his wife for teaching him the need for strength, commitment and vision.Harawira has wide tribal connections throughout his electorate, is the father of 7 children, and grandfather of six grandchildren.
Harawira is the son of well-known Maori activist, Titewhai Harawira, and has played a major role in treaty issues, language revitalisation, land occupations, Maori broadcasting and fighting racism both in New Zealand and abroad. He was a key player in He Taua the
1981 Springbok Tour , and the 2004 Foreshore and SeabedHikoi which led to his entering parliament.Although he has a reputation for aggressive and sometimes violent behaviour, Harawira has only one conviction, for assault in 1981; the sentence was suspended because of racist 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."
Since entering parliament Harawira has continued in his tradition as a rebel, breaking protocol to open parliament in Maori, saying the 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’.
External links
* [http://www.tokerau.co.nz/ The official website of Hone Harawira]
* [http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/MPP/MPs/MPs/3/7/4/48MP126921-Harawira-Hone.htm Parliamentary website page]
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