Emailer has no regrets about outing Harawira

Maori Party MP Hone Harawira makes a public apology at the University of Auckland Waipapa Marae for the language that he used in an email. Photo / Richard Robinson

Buddy Mikaere, the man who released the email which has put Maori Party MP Hone Harawira's political career at risk, has no regrets about doing so and says casting Mr Harawira off would be the "making of the party".

Mr Mikaere released the email in which Mr Harawira referred to "white motherf***ers" after hearing Mr Harawira on Morning Report on the day the Herald first reported he was under investigation for a sightseeing trip he took to Paris.

Following widespread public backlash, Mr Harawira has been asked to quit the Maori Party by its president and co-leaders - a request he has rejected. The party's electorate chairs discussed it over the weekend and party officials are holding a hui over the next 10 days to determine his fate.

The Maori Party co-leaders have kept out of the media since holding a press conference on Friday, including pulling out of scheduled television appearances - an indication they want to deal with Mr Harawira behind closed doors.

Today the party's caucus will meet for the first time since the email. Mr Harawira did not return calls yesterday and it is not known if he will attend that caucus or whether it will exclude him if he tries to.

The leaders have said their concerns are more long-standing than the email and the Paris trip, and Mr Harawira has since apologised for the language he used in the email.

Mr Mikaere said he had no regrets for bringing the matter to a head. He believed it was important to hold politicians accountable for their actions - regardless of the party they belonged to or their ethnicity.

"I think this is a good test for the Maori Party in determining its maturity and the changing role it's got. The party came in as a one-issue party. Now, being a party of government, it's got wider responsibilities and this could be the making of it."

While it was essential to be aware of the grievances Mr Harawira had raised and their impact on the lives of today's Maori, he believed both sides now acknowledged those things happened in the past.

"I think he's making it quite clear he's not going to change and if that's the case, and those are the views he holds, I don't think he's suitable to be an MP."

A historian and former Waitangi Tribunal director, for the past 12 years Mr Mikaere has worked in Maori consultation for developers seeking resource consent - including iwi, government agencies and local government.

Mr Mikaere said he was not a Maori Party member but had voted for the party in the last two elections and helped in campaigns. He knew Hone Harawira "in passing" and the two had corresponded previously about the prospect of the Maori Party standing candidates in local body elections.

Mr Mikaere's email that prompted the exchange was a cheeky one-line email, saying "gotta ask the question eh? Who's paying for Hilda?" - a reference to press reports on Mr Hide taking his partner on his international travels.

He received the now-infamous "white motherf***ers" reply later that night, and early the next morning wrote back, saying Mr Harawira was no better than Mr Hide and the "white mofos" he complained about.

Mr Mikaere has been criticised for releasing the email by those who believed it had damaged the party. He said he held off on Mr Harawira's challenge he release it to the media for two days, and did so only after hearing Mr Harawira claim on Radio NZ that only media had been critical of his Paris trip.