From One Tree Hill pine attack to Parliament?

One Tree Hill's lone pine may no longer be standing, but the man who attacked the tree in 1994 is.

Political activist and educationist Mike Smith will stand as an independent candidate in the Te Taitokerau electorate, held by Labour's Dover Samuels.

He said he believed his constituency would know him more for his involvement in community development over the last 20 years than for the high profile he had "endured or suffered" as an activist.

Mr Smith, who has Ngapuhi and Ngati Kahu affiliations, has worked with the Ministry of Maori Development and helped establish health provider Te Hauora o te Taitokerau, and Taitokerau Resource Management Group.

He said his most significant achievement had been bringing the Treaty of Waitangi to the forefront in New Zealand. It had brought spectacular returns both in the tangible -- in the amounts returned as part of Treaty of Waitangi settlements -- and the intangible, including a renaissance of Maori of self-esteem.

Mr Smith said he was standing as an independent to avoid being hampered by any internal party factions.

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)

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