Hone AWOL
The Herald reports:
Maori Party MP Hone Harawira is being investigated after skipping a European parliamentary delegation meeting to make a 300km dash from Brussels to go sightseeing in Paris. …
“How many times in my lifetime am I going to get to Europe? So I thought, ‘F*** it, I’m off. I’m off to Paris’,” he said yesterday.
Mr Harawira, whose wife, Hilda, accompanied him on the trip, paid for the extra travel himself and said many of the issues that were due to be discussed at the missed meeting had been broached at a dinner the night before.
That is of course not the issue. I don’t have a problem with MPs staying on after an official trip, for a private holiday. Hell I try to do that myself whenever I have a conference or work related travel somewhere. Silly not to, if already on the other side of the world.
But it is quite different to take a holiday in the middle of your official business, let alone actually miss meetings that are the reason you are funded to be there. Hone has made the same error of judgement that Richard Worth made years ago in Egypt.
A Parliamentary Service spokesman yesterday said the Office of the Clerk was looking into Mr Harawira’s Paris trip and it was possible he could be asked to repay a portion of his travel costs if he had missed official business.
That would be appropriate.
Mr Harawira effectively dobbed himself in by writing about the Paris trip in his column in the Kaitaia-based Northland Age newspaper.
You have to give Hone credit at least for that – he outed himself, and is willing to let his constituents judge if they approve.
November 5th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Let’s not kid ourselves that the meeting he missed had any value or intrinsic merits.
November 5th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
You have to give Hone credit at least for that – he outed himself, and is willing to let his constituents judge if they approve.
What makes you think Hone’s constituents give two shits about him ripping off the white government? Chances are his support will rise because of it.
November 5th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
“Mr Harawira effectively dobbed himself in by writing about the Paris trip in his column in the Kaitaia-based Northland Age newspaper.
DPF – You have to give Hone credit at least for that – he outed himself, and is willing to let his constituents judge if they approve”
I disagree that he deserves credit – he wouldn’t have seen himself as “outing” himself. He’s such an arrogant prick he wouldn’t have seen anything wrong with it and he was bragging about his holiday.
November 5th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Who paid for the travel of the accompanying wahine?
November 5th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Even though Hone is a race-pimping thug, I can empathize how he’d rather take a raincheck on some bleeding-heart, dicky-licking EU meeting on multiculturalism too.
November 5th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Was Hone on a “red passport” at the time?
November 5th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Colin Espiner quotes Hone’s press release in full..
November 5th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
I agree with Kiwi Greg the trip was never anything other than an official junket of no value, there will be no reports written and if there were no-one would read them. Hone may well have improved himself by luxurating in the culture of Paris, especially if he visited the Muslim quarter and glympsed the likely future for Aotearoa.. The more MPs that act as Hone did the sooner the government will be motivated to curb the extravagances due to too many MPs with too little to do.
November 5th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
The funniest thing is this
>>In it, he describes the Louvre as “the museum made famous by Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code”
Yeah Hone, because nobody had heard of the Louvre before until six/three (depending whether he is talking about the book or the movie) years ago
November 5th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
I’m pretty sure that nice man Mr Key will be “relaxed” about this.
November 5th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
emmess is right. Way to impress us with your bloody ignorance Hone.
The only culture he knows about comes from Hollywood and KFC.
November 5th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
this guy is just a piece of garbage.
November 5th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
…what a shame john came home…
November 5th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
sheesh..!..brussels vs. paris..?
no contest..!
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 5th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
This shows a poor commitment to his responsibilities. And he doesn’t seem to understand.
I’ve been on business trips and have sat through meetings that theoretically weren’t essential – except that it would left a bloody bad impression for my bosses and clients if I had skived off sight seeing instead. Hone’s boss should be annoyed about this – some of us are.
If he was an official guest at a marae would Hone skive off during the whaikorero to go and sample the hangi?
November 5th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
What worries me about Mr Harawira is the contempt he shows towards the rest of New Zealand.
A few weeks back when asked about parliamentary funding (or so my hazy memory believes) he said he ‘couldnt give a toss’ what other NZers thought about his spending and that he was only accountable to his electorate.
It beggars belief that a man who sits in the House of Representatives, thinks he only needs to do whats best by his ‘own’ people. Life in NZ isnt a one horse race and im fairly sure that Tikanga customs don’t have a ‘us vs them’ attitude. Of course we want electorate MP’s to stand up for their constituents, but must it always be at the expense of others?
Is this really the type of person we want in our Parliament?
November 5th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
And he doesn’t seem to understand…
..he understands alright..but his arrogance and ” up yours whitey ” attitude will continue to let him down…coupled with his low intelligence and obvious ADD traits he will continue this way for sometime.
November 5th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
“The more MPs that act as Hone did the sooner the government will be motivated to curb the extravagances due to too many MPs with too little to do” Baxter 2:16…
New Zealand one representative per 36,000 population
Britain one representative per 94,000 poulation
Australia one representative per 145,000
Says it all really…
November 5th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
“sheesh..!..brussels vs. paris..?
no contest..!”
How the fuck would you know Phool?
November 5th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Hone in not a Minister and entered Parliament too late to take advantage or the 10% perk that MPs who have been there since 1999 can. Does anyone know if we paid for his wife’s fare from NZ to Brissells?
November 5th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Actually Phil if you want to get unbelievably drunk never drinking the same type of beer twice whilst gorging on mussels and chips then Brussels is a far superior destination to Paris.
November 5th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Australia 1 representative per 145,000? That’s strange. Last time I looked they had nearly 1000 MPs (state and federal, upper and lower houses). They also have a lot more councils and coucillors than us at the next level down.
Of course we should have fewer MPs but don’t chose Australia as the model – they’ve got it much worse than us in terms of too many MPs.
November 5th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
And the children at the Standard were putting around a story that Hone was in the Australian outback considering his resignation from the Maori Party because of their support for National.
Shit no. Pate foire gras, les moules du vin blanc et les escargots meurniere with lashings of champagne beats the hell out of witchety grubs and swamp water.
November 5th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
“You have to give Hone credit at least for that – he outed himself, and is willing to let his constituents judge if they approve.” – Too true, but what does it say about his constituents if they do approve? IE, do they think it is ok to not do your job? Do they think its ok to walk out of a job when you feel like it? If his constituents approve of such behaviour then they obviously lack values that most of NZ has (well hopefully have). I also doubt that people who approve of such behaviour could hold a job outside of government for very long.
November 5th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Can we see Hone’s birth certificate?. I bet he is a ring in like Mac Daddy, I suspect Hone was born in Eneabba, they all go walkabout there.
November 5th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Can you expect anything different from Harawira?
He does not care a f… for any conventions other than his own screwed thinking.
November 5th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
err what were they supposed to achieve in the first place. Our poliies need to discover the wonders of tele conferencing and email instead of spending half their life filling up Air NZ’s seats.
Ban these junkets!!!!
November 5th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
“..How the fuck would you know Phool?..”
i’ve been to paris..and never had a desire to go to brussels..
“..Actually Phil if you want to get unbelievably drunk never drinking the same type of beer twice whilst gorging on mussels and chips then Brussels is a far superior destination to Paris…”
as a pot-smoking vegan..i gotta say .. you ain’t ringing my bells..eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 5th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
I’m pretty sure Hone is taking the piss when he makes the quip about Dan Brown. He’s not stupid.
I’m more pissed off at the other MPs on the junket than I am with Hone. At least he was honest about it being one, and took full advantage. I’d rather that than some swot telling us that their Brussels meeting was “really really important”.
November 5th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
For a while his carry on was “cute” now its just getting annoying/stupid and is going to start affecting the credibility of maori party longer term.
November 5th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Another parasite has been exposed. This time a racist parasite.
November 5th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Ignorant, parasitic oaf sucking on the public tit. Quelle surprise. He knows that Harawira are “kiwi royalty” so does not even make feeble pretense. BTW, how is his dear mother?.
November 5th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
A waste of time conference, where you can bet they didn’t talk about the fact that most of Europe is circling the drain due to muslim “multiculturism” (colonisation), attended by an arrogant and racist MP who only gives a shit about himself and Maori. Great.
November 5th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Just saw him on the news, what an arrogant fuck….. He missed the whole point…. And whats more he thinks no one will care and most will say good on him….
Give me F-ing strength
November 5th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Now write this out a thousand times Hone, I must not do what those entitled ACT types do.
Jeez, a hori MP troughing like a Pakeha MP, oh dear, cannot have that can we ?
November 5th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
“eez, a hori MP troughing like a Pakeha MP, oh dear, cannot have that can we ?”
grumpy, swallow your sarcasm and have the courage to criticise your fellow Maori trougher, or is it that the blood/race bond have blinded you to Hone’s misbehaviour?
Harawira is as guilty as Hide, Douglas, Hunt, Bunkle, Hobbs, etc. In fact, the list of parasites of all races is endless.
November 5th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
It is no co-incidence that DPF’s next thread following this one is titled “Failing Boys”
Through his behaviour Hone has set an extremely poor example to every maori male student throughout NZ.
He has demonstrated, that
It is okay to bunk off school
Particularly if you have something better to do
And when you are questioned about it – you justify it by saying you had a great time, and give the finger to the authorities.
With huge numbers of Maori youth failing to turn up to the classroom every day, Hone has demonstrated exactly why these young people are over-represented in our national crime statistics and failing to reach their potential.
What’s worse he did it while representing the NZ Government using tax payers money.
November 5th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
I’d like to do an experiment.
Put every politician’s travel on hold for a decade except for the Foreign Minister and the PM, and send instead the permanent staffers from their offices.
They claim this is for information/best practice/idea sharing. So if that’s the case, why the fuck does the Minister/MP go? I mean, their staffers are MUCH more experienced in the portfolio than they are, so IF that’s really the case, we’d get much more bang for our very very precious buck sending the most experienced people, wouldn’t we.
I await with interest a response from any politician.
November 5th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
reid, agree, but the chance of that happening is about as slim as hell freezing over……
November 5th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Manolo , dear boy, that is the point, the whole bloody lot of them are a bunch of troughers.
I will bet other hori MPs have had their snouts in the tax payer travel trough but their names have not yet come up.
Sarcasm ? did you really expect hori MPs to be any different from all the others, I did not
November 5th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Yes the politicians haven’t exactly been forthcoming thus far have they Whafe. How very curious.
Seriously, it fucks me right off, good and proper. I see it in the corporate world as well. Senior managers usually executives taking overseas junkets to conferences when if they had any loyalty to the corporate they worked for, they would send the people who actually do the work – operate the system, organise the logistics, etc etc.
On the grounds it would be of most benefit to the organisation for those ground-level people to get exposed to the thinking since those execs have no idea whatsoever what half the presentations are about.
You see it all the time in corporates. The one place you hardly ever see it, is on-to-it private consultancies who actually do send the right people. Forget the big six, they’re corporates. I’m talking the small consultancies. For some reason, those businesses manage to carve out their own niche and become very successful indeed. Who woulda thunk.
November 5th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
democracymum is racist.
It’s OK for the white guys and gals to do it, but not the Maori boy.
Says it all, really.
November 5th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Luc
This is a thread about Hone – FYI I feel exactly the same about Rodney’s recent exploits.
You are of course, assuming that I too am white.
November 5th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Paris is ok, if you like smog, grubby buildings and shedloads of tourists seeking the illusion of the worlds most “romantic” city. Good food and pretty good beer. Pretty shit shopping. Been there a few times, can’t say I loved it – I think most people buy into the image of it.
Brussels blew me away. Clean city. Shedloads to see and well set out. Culture oozing from all over the city. Excellent beer and great food, and cheaper than Paris. Never got round to shopping as I was sightseeing nonstop for 4 days. People who diss it either have never been there or don’t have many brain cells to rub together.
November 5th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
so why does it have the reputation as the whangarei/arsehole of europe..?
heinie..?
and why is it a bye-word for boring..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 6th, 2009 at 2:19 am
it’s only cheeky
maoris like hide and roger
d who do this shit
November 6th, 2009 at 2:22 am
brussels: good for food,
beer and comics; paris: good
for wine and totty
November 6th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Meanwhile, am I the only person who is finding myself in the unfamiliar position of total agreement with Tariana Turia:
QUOTE
“The worry for me is that Hone was the leader of that delegation and I guess that what we are going to be questioned about in future, in terms of any trips overseas, is that `can we give a guarantee that this won’t happen again, it happened in Australia?’ And with hand over heart I don’t think we can give that guarantee.”
[...]
Mrs Turia was concerned about that and how Mr Harawira’s actions would reflect on the party.
“All of us have to be really conscious as to the perception that’s created as to how we use public funds, the public doesn’t actually fund us to go on holidays and to have a look around and that’s the reality.”
END QUOTE
Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10607633
As I’ll say in my Public Address Radio piece this week (Radio Live, Sunday, 7pm), you don’t need to think too hard about how Hone would react if John Key blew off a hui to go tiki touring with his family — then said it didn’t matter because he’d kicked around the kaupapa at dinner the night before and, anyway, Pita Sharples and Georgina Te Heu Heu were there to take notes and report back to him. The Maori Party would be embarrassed and more than a little pissed off — and rightly so.
November 6th, 2009 at 9:18 am
And judging from the story I linked to above, it seems that Harawira flat out lied, to Turia at least, about why he was AWOL from Brussels. If he was too sick to go to work…
November 6th, 2009 at 10:01 am
Just in case anyone thinks I’m being snarky — I really do agree with Turia, and full props to her for 1) getting it, and 2) having the ovaries to call out loud and clear one of her own MPs in public. Uncomfortable as it is, she earned some credit and I’ll give it to her. Just keep it up.
November 6th, 2009 at 10:42 am
“White motherf***ers have been raping our lands and ripping us off for centuries”
- is this Maori Party policy and if not, what is Turia going to do about it? Because this kind of divisive language has no place in modern New Zealand society.
November 6th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Hone in the trough.
What a fucking dickhead.