I applaud Hone Harawira’s courage in taking a stand on behalf of the needy who can least afford to pay more consumption tax, despite the rules of politics which require a representative to toe the party line.

This is not the first time Harawira has stuck his neck out – in a much publicised incident late last year, he was pilloried for using objectionable language when called to order over a wayward side-trip while on parliamentary business in Europe.

The member for Tai Tokerau has perhaps not yet come to grips with the rules of engagement in the political arena and maybe the New Zealand public should thank him for that.Harawira has been well schooled in a history of which many Pakeha who grew up in the 1940s and 1950s have only sketchy knowledge. At every hui of the Harawira whanau and iwi, Hone and his siblings would have heard how the crown stole Maori land and how the hegemonic methods were similar to those used in other British colonies such as Ireland and Scotland.

Harawira does not forget that his own people, the people of the land, have started the race from a long way back. A cursory glance at the life-expectancy statistics (Maori are still some six years behind Pakeha New Zealanders) not to mention a lop-sided presence in the Justice and Health systems bears this out.

As long as Harawira is in parliament and speaking out against injustice, the government will be called to address the needs of this country’s most marginalised.

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