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Parliament's Speaker Lockwood Smith has requested Maori Party MP Hone Harawira pay back some of the taxpayers' money used to fund him attending parliamentary business from which he skipped away to see Paris.
Smith is said to have requested a portion of the total expenses amounting to around $1000 after Harawira decided not to attend a parliamentary conference in Brussels and take his wife sightseeing in Paris instead.
Harawira's subsequent abusive defence of his actions culminated in a partial apology on Tuesday and on Thursday his party will meet in his electorate to decide what, sanctions he could face.
Harawira says his decision was justified because "white motherf...rs" had been "raping" New Zealand for years and he was not beholden to white puritanical "bullshit".
Harawira said sorry for his "poor choice of words" and the offence caused on Tuesday.
He should have instead referred to what European colonisers had done, the MP for Te Tai Tokerau said.
The comments were not an attack against all Pakeha, he says.
Harawira's later comments have overshadowed the Paris trip, but he has acknowledged he had made some mistakes there as well.
"It probably could have been handled better. It was a spur of the moment thing. I could have planned to do it probably at the end of the tour and it's been suggested that that's what I should have done," Harawira says.
"I got the opportunity to take the woman of my life to the city that she's always wanted to go to and that we were close enough to go to, so we went."
Harawira had been unrepentant about his decision to go to Paris but said on Thursday he had done the wrong thing and he would pay back some expenses but would let the Speaker's office determine what they were.
Harawira's abusive comments followed former Waitangi Tribunal director Buddy Mikaere writing to Harawira asking who paid for his wife, Hilda's, trip.
He had shown the email to his wife minutes after sending it and she said he shouldn't have sent it.
His apology was sincere and the best he could give, he said, though he accepted it would not satisfy all people.
"I'm not quite sure whether the rest of the country thinks I've done enough, but I know that my family think I've done as much as I possibly could."
Prime Minister John Key says it was an apology of sorts and he would leave it to New Zealanders to judge its value.
Key says he believed people were sick of the "Hone Harawira side show" and it was up the Maori Party to decide how they dealt with their "shock jock" MP.
You can read Hone Harawira's email in full
here
AUDIO: Listen to
Hone Harawira's comments about Phill Goff (0:31)
WARNING CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE
How do you feel about Hone Harawira's apology and his comments?
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Add a Comment:
Post new commentGreg Cramond said on 2011-01-28 @ 19:02 NZDT: Report abusive post
Hone was in Kitimat (Canada) for a conference for American Indian Nations, did his usual racist rant and blamed white people for everything wrong and then left after being presented with the indian name of walking eagle... This means 'one so full of sh!t, he can not fly'. Hone, give it up mate, you look like an idiot... It is New Zealand, not Whites and Maoris, Us and Them, people like you incite racism... Let it go... Bro!
Rog said on 2009-12-02 @ 09:45 NZDT: Report abusive post
Harawira should look at the history of his own race before criticising others. They stole land from, raped, murdered and ate their own people when they felt like it. He should read the book "This Horrid Practice" by Paul Moon plus accounts in the National Archives of Maori history.
shiloh said on 2009-11-30 @ 07:52 NZDT: Report abusive post
It looks as though they are waiting for all the racist hype to quiten down, and then keep him on in the party. Mind you... when you think about it, if they kick him out, the Maori party will have to deal with the wrath of Hone's fans. And if they keep him, they have the rest of the country to deal with!! GET RID OF HIM! NZ has no room for racist politicians.
paulmmmm said on 2009-11-29 @ 18:18 NZDT: Report abusive post
Being in New Zealand from Australia to witness Hone's spectacular racist and stupid remarks was fascinating. Do they help even if true? Hone, I wish you and your people all the best. At least the Maoris have a political party - Australian Aboriginies do not.
Zanziabar said on 2009-11-29 @ 18:12 NZDT: Report abusive post
This is completely unacceptable, this is a truly horrendous double-standard applied to this entire political circus. As it has been pointed out before, If a Pakeha MP was to make the same comment about Maori then he would be expelled. Instead, We get a maori party unable to face up to it's responsibilities as a political party. Mark my words, there will be massive public outrage if he isn't expelled from his causcus.