Pita Paraone (centre), with Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy at Maiki (Flagstaff) Hill, Russell, during a reconciliation ceremony in January 2018. Photo / File
'Loyal', 'dignified', 'humble' and 'diligent'.
Tributes are pouring in for well-respected Ngāti Hine leader, politician and Waitangi stalwart Pita Paraone who died yesterday.
Paraone, aged 73, had not recovered from heart surgery he underwent three weeks ago at Auckland Hospital and he died there at 2am yesterday.
He is survived by his wife Elva, their three children, grandchildren, and wider whanau.
Among words used to describe Paraone are 'loyal', 'dignified', 'humble' and 'diligent'.
He was considered a quiet but determined achiever, and fair minded, by those who worked both with and against him in his public posts, not least of which was his time spent supporting and leading the Waitangi National Trust.
Paraone had a long career in the public service and was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori and the community in 1997. He entered parliament as a New Zealand First List MP in 2002.
He spent many years as chairman of the Waitangi Day organising committee and was on the Waitangi National Trust for 22 years, eight of those as chairman.
He had been a spokesman on Fisheries and Māori Development and leadership roles within Māori Affairs Te Puni Kōkiri, including with the Māori Language Commission - Te Taura Whiri and, more recently, the Local Government Commission.
Among changes he led, Paraone will be remembered as the man who took the heat out of the always tense pre-Waitangi Day pōwhiri for the Crown.
Two years ago he was instrumental in moving the welcome event from the Waitangi Marae at Te Tii, often called the ''Lower Marae'', to the more neutral Treaty Grounds.
Paraone was also the acting chairman of Waitangi Ltd, the trust's commercial arm, and had previously been a trustee on the Ngāti Hine Forestry Trust.
His colleague on those boards, fellow Ngāti Hine leader Pita Tipene said Paraone was more a behind-the-scenes leader than someone who revelled in the public arena.
''He was a real leader, through quiet diplomacy in the main, but he was also very forthright at times. When he needed to he would stand up and fight for something,'' Tipene said.
''In terms of humility and exemplary qualities, he was absolutely loyal, very much a family man and extremely diligent. He will be greatly missed.''
Named Rewiti Pomare Kingi Paraone after he was born at Kawakawa, Paraone was educated at Mōtatau District High School and Bay of Islands College.
He gained a Diploma in Business Development from the University of Auckland and a Diploma in Social Work from Victoria University of Wellington. He also attended the Henley Management College at Henley-on-Thames, England.
Before entering politics his career in public service spanned several decades as a regional director for Te Puni Kōkiri [Ministry of Māori Development].
He was an MP for three terms and had been NZ First's spokesman on Māori and Pacific Island affairs, as well as the Treaty of Waitangi. Paraone left national politics at the 2017 election, but was supportive of the party's embrace of Labour and the Greens; a political union he said would benefit Māori and New Zealand as a whole.
NZ First leader Winston Peters said he is deeply saddened by the death of Paraone. Peters described his colleague as a NZ First stalwart and sent his condolences to Elva and whānau.
"Northland, and the people of New Zealand, have lost a man who cared deeply for his people and country, and worked endlessly to make New Zealand a better country for us all," Peters said.
Past politician Dover Samuels described Paraone's death ''as the passing of one the Te Tai Tokerau's great men.''
Samuels, a former Tai Tokerau MP for Labour, said the two had served in Parliament together and worked, among other roles, on Māori Affairs committees. Even though they were on different sides of the political fence, they were great friends, Samuels said.
''Pita was very, very supportive of Māori issues. He was gentle giant and never, ever aggressive. He cared deeply for his people at the grass roots level, at the whanau and hapu level. He didn't aspire to great heights, only honest and affective representation.
''He was a true kaumatua.''
Paraone's tangihana will be at his home marae in Mōtatau, Bay of Islands.
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