Hone's mother could be banned from Waitangi marae

Mana Party leader Hone Harawira's mother could be banned from the Waitangi Marae following her use of what marae leaders have dubbed "hate tactics".
Titewhai Harawira disrupted a recent hui at the marae at Te Tii, calling Maori Party delegates "snakes" and "liars" as they discussed whether to contest a by-election in the Te Tai Tokerau seat now vacated by her son, a former Maori Party member.
Marae board chairman Te Hapae Ashby, his deputy Eruera Taurua, and five other board members wrote in an email to the Northern Advocate that Mrs Harawira's behaviour during the hui was a blatant breach of Maori protocol.
"The hate tactics being used to create dissension within the Ngapuhi tribe and division with the subtribes, and the taint of her foul language in our house of ancestors, on a marae which is significant to both Maori and Pakeha, is not acceptable," the release said.
The marae would not be a "dumping ground for personal agendas" any longer, the seven members of the marae board said.
Trespass notices would be issued against the kuia if the board felt it necessary, they said.
Mrs Harawira told the Northern Advocate she did not ever swear "on the marae or in public."
She declined to discuss the potential ban.
"I don't want to dignify that sort of discussion. I have no comment on it," she said.
Mrs Harawira said it was tikanga Maori for what happened on a marae to stay on the marae.
A marae ban would affect her most noticeably on Waitangi Day, when she is a regular presence there, invariably latching on to the country's leading politicians.
In 1998 Mrs Harawira was 'demonised" for telling Helen Clark, then Leader of the Opposition, to sit down and shut up at the Waitangi Marae. Ms Clark, reduced to tears, refused to return to Waitangi.
On more recent Waitangi Days she has held hands with Prime Minister John Key as he walked on to the marae.