Whether you believe Heatley was effective or not, credit must go to him for rising above Hone's trash talk. Heatley was staying positive and focusing on the future.
He told us later that day: "Local people who know me and who know Hone are quite capable of making their own judgment on our respective characters."
With a day's work done, it was back into the car for me and guess who was on the radio?
"A lot of our people have their hopes and faith pinned on us as Maori doing something better for Maori than squabble," the Mana leader was saying.
Harawira quit the Maori Party in 2011 but he is willing to return as the party leader, stating that his return has been requested by some members of the party.
Discouraging "squabbles" - indeed. I wonder what Phil would say about "horrendous" Hone's change of course, and only hours after his Heatley thrashing?
("Horrendous" is how Tariana Turia described the Maori Party's former dealings with Hone.)
The young Maori men of Northland need positive role models - something the renegade Mana leader might remember next time he opens his mouth and addresses the nation.
