Tears flow as MP says sorry for drugs slur

By VANESSA BIDOIS

Maori issues reporter

John Tamihere wept as he asked forgiveness of the woman he had branded a drug addict and a thief.

Clapping and singing erupted in the tiny meeting house at Puatahi Marae by the Kaipara Harbour when Naida Glavish embraced Labour's Hauraki MP after his emotional apology on Saturday.

Her family and kaumatua from her tribe, Ngati Whatua, faced Mr Tamihere and his 30-strong crew of Waipareira supporters at a tense, three-hour hui that threatened at times to turn nasty.

Mr Tamihere, former chief executive of the urban Maori authority Te Whanau o Waipareira, had labelled Naida Glavish, Dennis Hansen and Hyrum Parata drug addicts and thieves under the cover of parliamentary privilege in March.

The trio will be called before the Maori affairs select committee, which will hold an inquiry into the West Auckland trust's operations after Act party allegations of financial mismanagement.

Mr Tamihere, who arrived with his partner, Awerangi Durie, new baby Hauraki and ally Win Anania, told the hui that he sometimes felt like a rotisserie chicken in a takeaway shop.

He said there was no excuse for his actions, but he was "a fiery fella and that's just the way I was born."

"I'm frustrated because I cannot do anything to undo the damage and sorry seems to be so poor," admitted a tearful Mr Tamihere, who recently refused to apologise until the results of several inquiries into the trust were complete.

At one point, an upset Mr Tamihere suggested Naida Glavish's male relatives escort him outside for a physical confrontation.

Her nephew, Richard Nahi, said they would never threaten visitors to their marae.

"We don't want you to be taken out by having a physical, violent fight," Mr Nahi said. "[There's] no need for it. We've got better things to do for our Maori people."

Naida Glavish, the deputy chairwoman of Waipareira, a Maori fisheries commissioner and a prominent health campaigner, said her family, hapu and iwi were happy with the apology.

She was not sure if she would appear before the select committee but she wanted the misinformation to be corrected in Hansard, the formal record of the House of Representatives.

Act leader Richard Prebble, who has been accused of playing the race card in his unrelenting campaign against Mr Tamihere, said he wanted the parliamentary inquiry to start as soon as possible.

"If you insult someone in Parliament, then you should apologise in Parliament, and having her [Naida Glavish] in front of the committee will be the place to do it."

Mr Parata could not be reached for comment yesterday, but Mr Hansen - who has congratulated Mr Prebble for his "guts and determination" - said he refused to attend the hui as he would save his contribution for the inquiry.

Mr Tamihere has vowed to make public how much Mr Prebble's campaign, which he says has included "hundreds" of questions in Parliament, has cost the taxpayer.

The Serious Fraud Office has said it has not uncovered anything that would warrant a statutory investigation.