Politics took a back seat for Te Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira when he saw his 23-year-old daughter Ngahuia admitted to the bar in the High Court at Whangarei yesterday.
As he watched relatives swamp the new young lawyer with congratulatory hugs, he said his re-election at the weekend was"no big deal" in comparison with the pride he felt over his daughter's success.
"I think she has done exceedingly well. But she has been lucky to be surrounded by so many people, her aunts and uncles, who would do anything for her," he said.
Whanau filled much of courtroom 5 when Ngahuia was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in a ceremony conducted by Justice Ailsa Duffy.
Mr Harawira said he considered her admission an important step for kura kaupapa (school lessons in te reo Maori).
She said she was not the first kura kaupapa graduate admitted to the bar, but it was a milestone insofar as kura kaupapa students were raised in "a whole different stream of education" and her admission to the bar showed her schooling had prepared her to "pursue life in both worlds."
