Ae Marika! 29 April 2014

Posted on April 29, 2014 by admin in News

When Shane resigned from parliament last week to take up a job as a Fisheries Ambassador to the Pacific he copped flak from Labour Party tragics who didn’t like him but didn’t have the guts to say so to his face, and praise from National Party gonks overjoyed at snaring Labour’s key player in election year.

But when I first heard the news I was devastated. Shane and I are closely related, our families live within spitting distance of one another, we went to the same school, we’ve marched together, laughed together, cried together, argued together, got in the shit together, and ended up going to parliament together.

Shane is a wonderfully gifted and captivating speaker and the best orator that parliament has ever seen, better even than David Lange because Shane was as gifted in Maori as he was in English.

He was never a representative of the ‘working class’ but he came from a family that knew how to work. His dad once told us how his father used to make them work late in the summer because of the extra daylight, and how he’d tell them about 10 at night, “take a break boys … and while you’re doing nothing go and cut some firewood!”

Whatever he does next, I wish him well. And as for his time in parliament … well, let’s just wait and see shall we?

This ANZAC Day I was up at 4.30am for a 6am Dawn Service at Waikumete Cemetery in Auckland, then I drove up to Whangarei for the 10am service at Pehiaweri Marae, and then on to Kaitaia for a Tribute to the Maori Battalion at Te Rangi Aniwaniwa at 6pm, all the while picking up mokopuna along the way.

And each of the three ceremonies I attended was memorable for different reasons.

Waikumete was shrouded in darkness and mist when we arrived, the parade marched out of the night to the soulful notes of “It’s a long way to Tipperary”, the service itself was brief and run with military precision, and the ceremonies were concluded with the laying of the wreaths; a very solemn and very moving ceremony in one of the largest war cemeteries in the country.

Whangarei was completely different. We were welcomed on to the marae on a beautifully fine mid-morning and enjoyed a very Maori, very relaxed ceremony, people talking about their family war stories, laying of wreaths from the local families and a hakari to finish the day.

And Kaitaia was special too. My daughter Te Whenua had assembled a crew of top quality tutors under the auspices of Tu Ake, and over the period of three intensive days they taught a group of 70 rangatahi a wide range of skills culminating in a stunning performance on ANZAC evening called “Stories from A Company”. The backdrops were great, the sound and lighting was awesome, the lead actors spoke only Maori, the scripts were simple and believable, the acting was fabulous, the dancing and the kapahaka was great, the band sounded like the Andrew Sisters, the story was easy to follow, everything was filmed, and the kids were just bloody awesome!

A truly memorable day.

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.