The Maori Party co-leader, Pita Sharples, is supporting MP Hone
Harawira's comments about Australian Prime Minister John
Howard.
Inan interview with Maori Television programme Native Affairs
Harwaira called Howard "a racist bastard".
"John Howard is a racist bastard imposing racist policies on a
people who are not in a position to fight back - in terms of the
Katrina thing - its actually more like Iraq - what he's trying to
do in the Northern Territory," Harawira said in the interview.
Sharples says the MP was just voicing what many groups in Australia already think, but the comments are already making headlines across the Tasman.
Australian TV reacted to Harawira's comments, saying he was letting fly at the federal government's intervention.
Sharples says he agrees with Harawira's comments.
Far from being disciplined by party leadership, Harawira's comments on John Howard have been endorsed.
"Well, his policies, that's a racist activity just to move in heavy handed like that and take over, bring in the army and the police to do medical checks and to take over towns. Yeah, very definitely," Sharples says.
Harawira was asked in the interview if such government intervention could ever happen in New Zealand.
"Your relations and mine, bro, if they tried that up in Nga Puhi they'd be on the streets with guns. It wouldn't happen," he said.
Harawira is no stranger to controversy. On TVNZ's Agenda programme last year he said he accepts koha all the time.
Party co-leader Tariana Turia did not appear impressed then, but this time Pita Sharples says he supports the MP speaking his mind.
The Maori Party co-leader says that, in fact, we should be less concerned with Harawira's comments, and more concerned with the issue he was commenting on - the plight of the Australian Aboriginal communities and their government's plan to intervene.
Howard last month announced radical measures to tackle problems including abuse against children and women, and poverty in remote Aboriginal communities.
They include bans on alcohol and pornography, quarantining welfare payments, abolishing a permit system that limits access to remote communities, and mobilising extra police and troops to help address abuse and other problems.
