Ae Marika! 23 July 2013
Posted on July 22, 2013 by admin in Ae MarikaI don’t want to get too caught up in all the hoopla about who in the Maori Party is making all the decisions, but I really do think somebody over there needs to get their positions sorted out.
Since their AGM, the media has reported that the leadership isn’t interested in any alliance with MANA, but senior members of the Maori Party have contacted me to say they want to talk, my old mate Tame Iti says he wants to talk about an alliance even though he doesn’t have the support of his leaders to do so, and I’m STILL getting calls from Maori Party members who are disappointed that their leaders won’t even consider the possibility of a deal.
Sad really – the principle of unity should always be more important than the personalities of leadership. Anyway, my door is always open.
Back to reality now … by the time you read this, my court case will have started (9am this morning, Auckland District Court). I have no idea how things are going to pan out, but I hope to highlight the cruel nature of this government’s housing policy which forces out long-term good-paying tenants from their homes, so that the houses can be removed and the land sold to private developers. In Glen Innes’ case, government promised that no tenant would be forced to leave their homes if they didn’t want to move, and then they backtracked on the deal and essentially shunted people out of their homes, some of whom had been tenants for more than 30 years.
And just while I’m on housing, I got stopped in Awanui by a couple of guys wanting to build dome houses using local clays and soils. They showed me a whole bunch of weird and wonderful photos so I’ve flicked them on to Reuben Porter who is building some few earth-ram houses. He knows all the scoops about earth housing including all the local body requirements. Hope it works out well, because the cost of housing has gone through the roof and anything that can help reduce that will be a positive step for those wanting to get into a home of their own.
And in another completely unrelated but pleasant dose of reality, last week I had to take my mokopuna to the doctor so away we went to see Doctor Lance O’Sullivan. And what a nice surprise it was to see a doctor slip so easily into Maori to put his patient at ease and make the whole episode just that much nicer. Te Reo Maori, the best medicine you can give a Maori child. Nga mihi ra ki a koe e te rangatira.
AE MARIKA is an article written every week by Hone Harawira, leader of the MANA Movement and Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau. You are welcome to use any of the comments and to ascribe them to Mr Harawira. The full range of Hone’s articles can be found on the MANA website at www.mana.net.nz.
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