Hone Harawira

Hone Pani Tamati Waka Nene Harawira ( born 1955 in Whangarei, Northland ) is a New Zealand activist and politician. He was a founding member in 2004 of the Māori Party in the year. On 23 February 2011, he resigned from the party and with that came a party exclusion process, which should take place on the same day, before.

Life and work

Hone Harawira was born in 1955 in Whangarei, grew up in West Auckland, where he attended St Stephens School and studied at the University of Auckland later. About his mother Titewhai Harawira, a prominent Māori activist, Harawira is ancestrally connected to the iwi of Ngāti Hau, Ngāti Wai and Ngāti Hine. On the part of his father John Puriri Harawira there are roots to the Iwi of Te Aupouri, Ngapuhi and Ngāti Whatua occupation. His wife Hilda comes from the Iwi of Te Rarawa and Ngāti Hawa.

That his models are Muhammad Ali, Syd Jackson, Nelson Mandela, Maori Marsden, his mother and his wife, that they have taught him the importance of vision and the need for strength, commitment and determination.

Hone Harawira is married and has seven children.

Political activist

Hone Harawira took important roles in the political debate about the Treaty of Waitangi process. He sat down for the revitalization of the Maori 's language and for the creation of a separate TV channel (see Māori Television, fought against the land dispossession of Māori by Pākehā (see Māori land rights movement ) and fought against racism in New Zealand and beyond.

In 1979 he was one of the main players in the group He Taua in Auckland, the engineering students beat for the denigration of Māori Haka and thus put a turning point in Respect of Māori by Pākehā. Also he was. During the actions against the South African Springboks in 1981 while that found themselves exposed in their country because of apartheid policies on a tour of New Zealand violent protests

His commitment to the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 [Note 1] eventually led him to the motion establishing the Māori Party and a short time later to the New Zealand Parliament.

Professional career

Since 1985, Hone Harawira has held the following professional positions:

• Manager of the Ngati Kahu Te Rarawa Trust Aupouri
• Manager of Aupouri Māori Trust Board
• Manager of Te Reo O Te Hiku O Te Irirangi Ika
• Chief Executive Officer ( CEO) of Tehiku Media
• 1990-1995 Director of Aupouri Fishing Company Ltd
• Since 2001 director of the Te Hononga Whakapaoho Māori Media Network Ltd
• 2003-2005 Director of the Te Tai Tokerau PHO Ltd
• Since 2004 director of Starnet 2000 Ltd

Political career

• Founding member of the Māori Party in May 2004
• Was co-author of the Party Statutes of the Māori Party in July 2004
• Won the direct mandate for the Māori Electorate Te Tai Tokerau in 2005 with 52.41 % of the vote, followed by almost 62 % in 2008 and is therefore elected since 2005 Member of the House of Representatives.

Also known as Parliamentarians Harawira used his reputation as a rebel and radical activist on. In addition to violating the Parliament protocol he fell on mainly by verbal attacks and insults. " John Howard is a racist bastard, imposing racist policies on a people who are not in a position to fight back." [Note 2] was just one of the insults that gained public attention.

In December 2009, his invective white New Zealanders would have excluded as " motherf ***** " him almost from the party. A public apology saved him from the party political corner. His offense led to 753 complaint filings with the Race Relations Commissioner ( German: Commissioner for Ethnic Relations )

In January 2011, Harawira out in an interview then against his own party, by accounting for the government's Māori -related legislative initiatives and consider as the dark side of the government coalition with the National Party. He was an intended party exclusion method before and left the party on 23 February 2011, but without giving up his seat in Parliament or to dispense with the Māori Electorate Te Tai Tokerau. He announced to want to stand as an independent candidate or a candidate of a new political movement for the electoral district 2011 to choose from.

In April 2011, Harawira founded a new party, the Mana Party. He gave up his seat in Parliament as party independent member of the House of Representatives on 11 May 2011, to enforce a by-election in Te Tai Tokerau his constituency. In this election he was able to bring back with 49.15 % of the votes cast his seat in Parliament and his first time representing his party in parliament. At the General Election ( parliamentary elections ) November 26, 2011 Hone Harawira occurs as a top candidate of the Mana Party.