Banks John: Obituaries — Hon Parekura HoromiaText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBanks John: Obituaries — Hon Parekura Horomia[Sitting date: 07 May 2013. Volume:689;Page:9599. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon JOHN BANKS (Leader—ACT): On behalf of the ACT Party I rise to pay my respects to the late Hon Parekura Horomia. It was clear to anyone who attended his tangi or watched or read about it in the news that this was a man who was held in great respect not only by his own family his own people and his own community but by iwi and communities from every corner of our country.What a memorable occasion it was at his marae last week last Thursday. It is a truly beautiful place in a wonderful but isolated part of Earth. If you had to move on from this world Tolaga Bay would be a great stepping stone. What struck me most about that day visit to Tolaga Bay was the generous spirit of Parekura’s family and his wider whānau. The welcome for the Prime Minister’s party was something I will never forget. It is a long time since little kids have asked me for an autograph. I must go back again next year!Life is like a pile of sand—some of us are given more than others—from which we sprinkle a little each day. Parekura sprinkled the last of his sand early last week. And we know do we not that the tears at the tomb of Nazareth were not tears of despair but tears of joy. There was much joy and celebration last week across this country of a life well lived.When I came back to this place after a third reincarnation I stopped him in the corridor one day and I resisted the temptation of saying: “You know who I am don’t you?”. I said to him: “I’m Banksie. I thought I should meet you.” He stood there for about 5 minutes shaking my hand and he said quite a lot. I still do not remember exactly what he said but he was very very friendly. He was a very friendly man.When I reflect on the great members of Parliament whom I have known in this place over 10 Parliaments—the wonderful Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan Koro Wētere and Peter Tapsell just to name a few—I see that they had a common thread through them these Māori role-model leaders and that was that they went about their work in a very dignified way. They had their say and did not make too many enemies but they did make a difference.Māoridom has lost a significant figure in Parekura’s passing. His constituents have lost a leader and an advocate for them in this House and since his death many have remarked on just how tirelessly he worked for his community. I was sitting here 2 weeks ago looking across the House and he did not look well at all. I thought: “Wow he is still working. His heart and soul is in this business.” At the end of the day as I saw when I was at the marae last week the only thing that really matters is that your family loves you—and Parekura’s family loved him. It was a great farewell from the family for a father for the wonderful person he was.Parekura worked his way from the bottom up holding jobs as a manual labourer a printer a fencer a worker and many careers in between before he became a member of Parliament and a Minister of the Crown. Today it seems that many of our young people want a short cut to the top. When they find how much hard work has to be done and how much is needed to get there they often give up before they begin. Parekura was living proof that no matter what your background is if you put your mind to it and are prepared to put in the hard work you can achieve anything.At 62 Parekura Horomia was still a relatively young man and although his health struggles have not been secret his death still comes as a surprise to all of us. I offer my sincerest condolences today to his whānau friends and colleagues in this House.Your waka travels in a direction in which you will not return Parekura but may God cherish and look after you on this journey.