Dunne Peter: Obituaries — Hon Parekura HoromiaText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDunne Peter: Obituaries — Hon Parekura Horomia[Sitting date: 07 May 2013. Volume:689;Page:9599. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon PETER DUNNE (Leader—United Future):Mā wai rā e taurima te marae te wāhi nei? Mā te tika mā te pono mā te aroha e.Those words are the chorus from atraditional Ngati Porou lament which translate as: “Who will take responsibility on the marae now? There can be justice and truth only if there is love.” I think they are particularly apposite to the life and achievements of the Hon Parekura Horomia.Some people come to this place and assert their leadership by the power of their oratory the bulk of their size or the range of spectacular achievements. Others like Parekura assert their leadership and authority by their absolutely genuine nature and the love that they show for the job that they do for the people whom they represent and for the task ahead of them every day they are in this place. That is where the justice and the truth comes from.I think one of the great examples that Parekura has left us is of a form of leadership that is not about self but about others. It is about putting oneself out for the good of others. It is about achieving and caring for at all times the well-being of others and always doing it with a sense of humour light-heartedness and warmth that made the recipients of his great interest and his aroha feel particularly proud and wanted.We have all recalled stories about Parekura over the last few days that sum up the essence of the man. My instance relates to an event a couple of years ago. I went up to Gisborne to open a new dental clinic at a very large intermediate school. By coincidence at the airport I ran into Parekura. “What are you doing here?” he said. I told him what I was doing. He said: “Oh that’s in my electorate. I’d better come. Have you got a car?”. I said: “I’ve got a driver waiting.” “OK. I’ll come too.” he said. So he piled into the car which lurched considerably to the right as we drove off to the school. The moment we arrived he took over. I was ushered on to the marae. He was my translator my minder and the person who pushed me forward and made me do all the things that I was expected to do and he did it with aplomb. He was the star of the show.When the time came to leave he said: “Where are you going now?”. I said I was going on to a meeting at the hospital. “Oh I’d better come too.” he said. So he tagged along and we went through the same procedure and it was the same procedure at the third appointment. Then it was time for me to go back to the airport so he came back to the airport with me and as the driver dropped me off Parekura said: “Oh just one thing—is it OK for him to run me up the coast now and run me home?”. I could hardly say no. The driver then completed the occasion by saying: “Well I should actually take you home because the last time I drove past your place a couple of weeks ago the lawns hadn’t been mowed.” So Parekura was going home to sort it out.I thought of that experience a lot during the tangi when we were there on Friday. I agree with my colleague to my left the Hon John Banks about the awesome occasion that the people of Hauiti Marae provided. The sorrow the leadership the humour the food and the surroundings were sublime but I thought then of Parekura coming home to check that the lawn had been mowed and everything had been tidied up and put in its place. I could just see it all occurring and I could see it being done in a way where none of that great bulk was being thrown around but the power of his presence and his whole style and tone would have ensured that everything got done as it should have been.There are some people who spend a period of time in this House and who go and are not remembered. Parekura will not be one of those. He was a unique member of Parliament. We have heard stories being told of his extraordinary dedication to the task and of his wiliness on occasions—there are one or two stories I have heard about his pursuit of fish and chips and his use of various means to acquire those even when he should not have because of his doctor’s advice. We have heard stories about his commitment to his constituents.I suspect that every member in the House today would secretly hope that when their time comes they are remembered in a similar way—that they are remembered asParekura Horomia will be as a person who sought to help others; as a person who sought to use his gifts his talents and his political commitment to ensuring that every waking moment of his day was devoted to the cause of others; and sadly as a person who at the end probably sacrificed himself to that very cause.This place will in due course elect a new member to fill that seat but with the greatest of respect that new member will not fill those shoes because Parekura has left shoes that are very big to fill. There is a gap in this House today. There is a gap in the lives of his colleagues his friends his whānau his family and a gap in the lives of all of us that will not be easily filled.I am sure that for a long time to come we will cherish the memory of that smile that big presence that shuffling gait and that incomprehensible language that was at the same time endearing and we will know of the power of his achievements the affection of his people and the regard in which he was held. Haere rā Parekura. May you rest in peace. The journey you have embarked upon is at an end for now. You deserve your peace. You deserve your quiet. Reflect on your achievements. Go well into the future.