Harawira hits out at party leaders

Co-leaders Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples have asked Hone Harawira to go. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Maori Party MP Hone Harawira yesterday defended himself against the call for him to resign and took a thinly veiled swipe at the party's leadership, claiming the wider party was being "dictated to" by a few individuals.

Mr Harawira said emails had flooded in from party members throughout the country telling him to stay with the party, despite president Whatarangi Winiata's request at a hui on Thursday for him to resign and become an independent MP.

That request was yesterday backed by the united front of co-leaders Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples at a press conference in Wellington, where Dr Sharples said the party was having difficulty controlling Mr Harawira and needed its credibility intact if it was to further work such as the repeal of the Foreshore and Seabed Act and the emissions trading scheme legislation.

In a message clearly aimed at the leadership of the party, Mr Harawira said the decision came down to a matter of what "individuals want or what the party wants".

He defended himself against the leaders' statements that he was not accountable to the caucus, saying he had voted against it only once and kept any disagreement with its decisions on other issues out of the public domain.

"I am feeling at peace with myself and the decisions that I've taken. I can't do any more."

The request for Mr Harawira to quit the party followed controversy over a sightseeing trip he took to Paris while on a parliamentary trip and an expletive-filled email to former Waitangi Tribunal member Buddy Mikaere, who had questioned the trip.

Professor Winiata has given him two weeks to discuss it with kaumatua.

Yesterday, Mrs Turia said the party was still considering whether it would force Mr Harawira out if he had not buckled by the end of the fortnight.

Mr Harawira, when asked later if his party was trying to give him an honourable way out, said there was nothing honourable about the leaders speaking so publicly about his options.

"What's honourable about a public jump?"

He denied he was "digging in" but said he had already delivered a genuine apology.

"I don't mind admitting that when I've made a mistake I've made a mistake. But when I apologise for it, as far as I'm concerned that's it, done and dusted ...

"I'm not in the habit of apologising 10 times, 20 times and all the rest of it and grovelling and the rest of it."

Mrs Turia said there had been a string of problems with Mr Harawira which were contrary to the party's tikanga and kaupapa requiring MPs to act with integrity and respect others.

The co-leaders made it clear there was little chance of redemption for Mr Harawira.

Yesterday, Prime Minister John Key said he would not deal with Mr Harawira if he became an independent MP.

THOSE HONE MOMENTS


October 2009: On travel perks:


"White motherf ***s 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***?"


October 2009: On his domestic travel expenses:


"Quite frankly, I don't give a s*** what New Zealanders think. I do care what the people of Tai Tokerau think."


July 2007: On John Howard's Aboriginal policies: "John Howard is a racist b****** imposing racist policies on a people who are not in a position to fight back."


October 2006: On refusing to help constituents not on the Maori roll:


"No offence to John Carter but when it comes to my electorate I don't give a s*** what John Carter thinks."


September 2006: On accepting koha:


"You can play your Pakeha corruption bulls*** on somebody else but not on me ... it's our way of life. It may not be yours, but I don't care about your way of life".