Heading in the same direction

Shane Jones and Hone Harawira come from the same tribe, went to the same school and are both pitching for the votes of northern Maori.

By this time next week, the two St Stephen's College old boys could be sitting in different parties as part of a new wave of Maori in Parliament.

Mr Harawira is polling well ahead of sitting Labour MP Dover Samuels in the northern Maori seat of Te Tai Tokerau, one of up to five electorates the Maori Party is expected to win.

Mr Jones, who is well placed (No 27) on Labour's list, is plugging the party vote as he competes against National's John Carter in the Northland electorate.

On the day the Herald visits them on the campaign trail, Mr Jones is dressed in a baggy pinstriped suit as he strolls up to address a Northland education leadership seminar.

He speaks with a fluidity honed on the marae and in the boardroom, and nods at the irony of addressing a gathering of teachers at the Copthorne Waitangi.

It was not long ago that he was an unwelcome guest at Waitangi, and each February 6 he was likely to depart commemorations in the back of a police wagon.

Further down the road at Kawakawa, Mr Jones' regular policevan companion on Waitangi Day, Mr Harawira, is also pitching for votes.

No suit for him, however; he is in smart jeans, black T-shirt and Maori Party vest. Dark glasses cover his hard eyes.

He is upbeat on the overcast afternoon as polls have him well ahead of the sitting Te Tai Tokerau MP, Labour's Dover Samuels.

The latest Marae-DigiPoll survey shows Mr Harawira with 52 per cent of the electorate vote and Mr Samuels with 25.5.

As Mr Harawira takes a break from campaigning to enjoy a cappuccino, deep-fried fish and hot dogs, a regular stream of well-wishers toot as they pass or stoop to offer a hand shake or a peck on the cheek.

There is a warmth towards the hard man of Waitangi, which conflicts with the "hater and wrecker" image put forward by Prime Minister Helen Clark during the foreshore and seabed hikoi he organised last year.

Mr Harawira, chief executive of a Kaitaia-based radio station, smiles at the irony that he and his old mate Shane are on the electoral trail.

Despite taking divergent paths from the early activist days of the 70s, the pair remain close.

"I talk to Shane more than I do members of my own party."

The pair are related through shared Aupouri ancestry and were ear-marked for leadership at a young age.

Mr Jones, mentored by tribal elders, was pushed to cultural and educational heights. He is fluent in te reo and Harvard educated.

Mr Harawira took a more street wise route, nurtured in the cultural hotbed of West Auckland under the guidance of wily campaigner Titewhai Harawira, his mother. He lived not far from John Tamihere.

"We called them [Shane Jones, Tuku Morgan and Rikirangi Gage] the golden boys," says Mr Harawira of the tribally backed youngsters nurtured in culture and pressed to top educational achievement.

All stepped in to the Maori leadership arena, Mr Morgan as a NZ First MP and former chairman of Tainui and Mr Gage in senior management positions including chief executive of Te Runanga o Te Whanau.

Mr Harawira slips out of campaign mode and political speak into the cock-sured confidence more familiar to those close to him.

He admits he buying a house in Wellington, along Oriental Parade.

"I am going to Wellington; best be prepared for it."

It is this confidence and his organisational skills that set him above his rivals, he says.

Also canvassing in the sprawling electorate stretching from Henderson in West Auckland to the top of the North Island is Mr Samuels, who holds the seat with a 5336-vote majority and warns against giving too much credence to the polls.

"Feedback from the people on the street is that I will be voted back to Parliament and Hone will be back in Kaitaia running his radio station."

Back at Waitangi, Shane Jones is more circumspect. He is 27th on the Labour list so is not dependent on winning the Northland seat to get into Parliament.

"Other than a brief stint under Social Credit, Northland has been a safe National seat since the 30s," he admits.

A situation Mr Carter, who held the biggest National majority at the last election, does not take for granted.

He says he is the only candidate in Northland who has campaigned on representing the constituency, and believes Mr Jones is relying on his high place on the Labour list to get into the House.

Mr Jones disagrees and says he has campaigned hard, while using the time to hone his skills and listen to voters.

He is eager to get to Parliament to fight for performance and accountability and to help address what he believes is growing resentment between non-Maori and Maori New Zealand.

Mr Harawira is eager to give a voice to Maori voters and to change more than token Maori involvement in the political process.

Shane Jones and Hone Harawira

Similarities

* Both Northland born, Aupouri members. Married and fathers to seven children. St Stephen's College old boys, who went on to Auckland University.

* Members of Kawariki, a Far North Maori protest group, and active in the Bastion Pt protests of the 70s.

Differences

* Mr Jones says he grew out of the protest movement in the late 80s, while Mr Harawira has remained a staunch face at Waitangi commemorations.

* Mr Jones is likely to be elected as a Labour list MP and Mr Harawira is tipped to defeat Labour's Dover Samuels in Te Tai Tokerau.