The late Labour MP and Minister of Maori Affairs, Parekura Horomia, was known for being out on the road more than inside his office, there are stories of drives from Wellington to his home on the East Coast taking weeks, simply due to the number of people he saw along the way.
It was this innate quality that helped guide his decision making.
Ex-Labour Party leader David Shearer said that during caucus meetings when the party was getting rather hypothetical while talking about high-level sorts of policy, it would be Horomia who would bring them down to earth, talking about the family he met when he was travelling up that day, and asking what they would get out of that particular policy that they were pushing.
This is in stark contrast to the current Minister of Maori Development who said in a televised debate that he has "no idea" how homelessness got so bad in the city where he has been MP for 12 years.
Then on Monday the Rotorua Daily Post reported that two te kura kaupapa Maori, also in the minister's home town, are frustrated they're not receiving the same amount of support and resourcing as the charter initiative the minister has been promoting.
