Harawira complaint to be discussed tomorrow

Maori Party MP Hone Harawira about to enter a Te Tai Tokerau Electorate Committee meeting on the Whakapara Maraei north of Hikurangi in Northland last week. Photo / NZPA

MP Hone Harawira's future with the Maori Party will be up for discussion tomorrow in a meeting to consider the complaint laid against him by a fellow MP.

Maori Party whip Te Ururoa Flavell laid a formal complaint over a newspaper column on January 16 in which Mr Harawira said the party was too wrapped up with National and was supporting anti-Maori policies.

A hui held in Mr Harawira's Te Tai Tokerau electorate last week was supposed to resolve the complaint, but neither Mr Flavell nor party president Pem Bird were invited and it turned into a support rally for the MP.

The issue was referred to a disputes and disciplinary committee, which was due to meet on February 9, but Mr Bird said there would be a chance for the complaint to be resolved tomorrow, when Mr Harawira and Mr Flavell meet at Rotorua's Taheke Marae.

"They have not had a chance for a face-to face...we've got the hearing on the ninth, this is a final opportunity for that," Mr Bird told NZPA.

Mr Flavell had been the "forgotten man" throughout the process so far, he said.

"He's a critical person in this and was never invited to the hui. To see whether there is any substance to his complaint - that is what has been forgotten. People have passed judgment on it without the people directly involved with complaint."

A recommendation would be made to the disputes committee following tomorrow's meeting, he said.

"They will think about it and the present it to the national council - and the council will take it up from there."

Everyone involved was looking for a swift resolution, he said.

"The quality of the membership of the disciplinary and disputes committee gives me great confidence that the process will be able to seek resolution of the matters."

Maori Party co-vice president Te Orohi Paul will chair the committee.

Other committee members include: co-vice president Ken Mair, a political activivst and iwi spokesman; Lindsay Gordon Paku, a coordinator for Heretaunga Maori Executive Whanau Services; Donna Ngaronoa Gardiner, a project officer for the National Institute of Research Excellence for Maori Development and Advancement; and Matiu Dickson, a senior lecturer in Te Piringa, at Waikato University's law school.

Mr Bird said the group had a wide diversity of tribal wisdom, and expertise across the education, health, social services, and the justice sectors.

"There is also a very strong level of knowledge about community development, with experience across whanau, hapu and iwi a common feature in the backgrounds of each of the five members of the committee."

- NZPA