By AUDREY YOUNG
"She has the power. She is the rangatira. She is the Prime Minister. It is her prerogative. She giveth and taketh away."
Dover Samuels delivered his own political funeral rites yesterday, after being sacked as Maori Affairs Minister.
Despite the anger and devastation that have consumed him for the past week, he appeared determined to inject some dignity into the sad end of a sordid week.
Almost incredible was his statement that he does not intend throwing mud at anyone just because it has been thrown at him.
That may be a relief to Act MPs and their leader, Richard Prebble, whose complaint has been blamed for triggering Mr Samuels' demise.
Mr Samuels blunted his criticism of Helen Clark, while clearly believing she has treated him badly in disposing of him so swiftly.
"I will let the people of New Zealand be the arbiter."
He criticised her indirectly, saying he would have expected, in the interests of natural justice, for the police report to be finished before his fate was sealed.
"If I am found guilty of any of the allegations I will resign my seat in Parliament," he pledged.
His attitude to Helen Clark now?
"I've got no feelings at all, virtually, for anything apart from my family, my children and my wife."
The force of his delivery belied the meaning of the words.
Disgrace has not dimmed the MP for Te Tai Tokerau, a man who speaks in a small room as though he were addressing a hundred people with the wind against him.
His own eloquence moved the former fisherman to tears.
"All I ask is for fair play and justice for me and my family. The heart and wairua of the boy that was born in Matauri Bay some 60 years ago is no different now from the man with his family who stands before you as the former Minister of Maori Affairs."
Exits in politics make much more lasting impressions than entrances.
Unfortunately, Mr Samuels' emotional exit from the cabinet was as incomplete as the investigations against him.
His wife, Jacqui, and their two teenage children were to have been with him at his press conference, scheduled for 6 pm.
That was a surprise, as Labour's chief whip, Rick Barker, had pleaded with reporters the day before not to even mention the children's names in stories, so upset had they been over the treatment of their father.
Storms delayed their travel, and Mr Samuels had to weather the public acknowledgment of his fate with friends, not family.
He decided to begin the press conference at 5.45 pm - apparently to meet the demands of one television channel - without telling many of those invited.
That meant his support team arrived piecemeal, and reporters trickled in late unable to absorb the full impact of his departure speech.
His supporters lined up behind him in the Labour caucus room - John Tamihere, Joe Hawke, Taito Phillip Field, Janet Mackey, Judy Keall, Clayton Cosgrove, Mark Peck and Harry Duynhoven, and Alliance MPs Sandra Lee and Willie Jackson.
Mr Tamihere and Mr Hawke were the only Labour Maori MPs to attend, and friends say Mr Samuels was hurt about that.
Sandra Lee was the only minister who turned up to lend personal support publicly.
But others - Phil Goff, Annette King, Paul Swain and George Hawkins - went to Mr Samuels' office later for private commiserations.
As the column of Samuels supporters made its way to the Beehive office, it drew to a halt while Mr Samuels hongi-ed New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.
It was a hongi of empathy - both are from the north and both are sacked Ministers of Maori Affairs.
And it was also a reminder that there can be life after a seeming political burial.
Dignity as the rangatira taketh away
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