Harawira's constituents just love their bad boy

Tai Tokerau voters trust Hone Harawira. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The outcome of a hui to decide what sanction if any Hone Harawira will face in the wake of the "mofo" emails is unlikely to dent his popularity in the north.

The Te Tai Tokerau MP received 12,019 votes, or 60 per cent of the total at the last election, more than double that of the Labour candidate, Kelvin Davis, the next- highest-ranked candidate.

The Herald spoke to his constituents, who are drawn from the Maori roll, about the level of their support and whether any sanctions would affect that support.

Ngawini Smith, 59,
teacher at Okaihau College:

"I know there's a lot of people from Kaikohe going to Kaitaia [today] to his meeting and to support him. I used to be Labour but I vote for the Maori Party. We don't like the language he used but that's how he is, he hasn't changed from his radical days, he's still the same and people trust that they know his character. You can talk to Hone until you're red in the face but you'll never change his mind, even if we made a comment to him 'oh you can't be like that' it wouldn't matter. We don't want him clipped."

Rueben Porter, 41,
market gardener, Ahipara:

"I'm a staunch [Harawira] supporter. All of our kaumatua met earlier in the week. They've got a lot of aroha for Hone, they all got around him to tautoko [support] him, they call him their tamaiti [boy]. When he was younger he upset a lot of them but they've seen the work he's done setting up the radio and TV stations. They forgave him for the email stuff but I don't know what they think about the Goff comments. Everybody knows he's hotheaded but I think he needs to stand up and be accountable now because that support shouldn't be taken for granted. I think [the leaders] need to give him something to do, he's been there [in Parliament] for a while but he's done nothing."

Mihi Rogers, 59,
youth tutor, Kaikohe:

"I'm not afraid to say that I didn't vote for him at the last elections but I think he'll probably get more support from the voters after this. He hasn't said anything new that we haven't heard from when he was younger, before he went to Parliament. We all know him, we knew what we were getting. We want him to keep those [colonisation] issues to the forefront of people's minds. Half of me said good on him for going to Paris and taking his wife, and not some sheila, the other side of me said he's no better than the rest of the MPs and their perks. But I don't want any [sanctions], just get on with it."

Abe Witana, 39,
environmental manager:

"He's still got a strong level of support up here. I think it's dragged down the momentum between the Maori Party and National. From a Pakeha perspective [what he said] is racism. I'm not keen on how he's mixed kaupapa [issues] - Paris and colonialism, I think it trivialises the latter. I know that Buddy and I can't understand why he'd let the email out. The Maori Party is out there promoting Whanau Ora, not abusing people, and this is a bit of a double standard. His support will grow because our people in Te Tai Tokerau love the underdog. Hopefully our kaumatua and kuia will support him but I would like him to clean up his words, just calm down a bit."

Mike Wikitira, 47,
business owner:

"I don't think he should be punished. There's a lot more racism from politicians out there that flies under the radar. He just wears his heart on his sleeve, it's probably not the brightest thing he's ever said. In saying that, I didn't like what he said about white people, I'm a fair Maori myself. You've got politicians like Rodney Hide who didn't want any Maori seats on the Super City, that's racism without the bad language."