Jones Shane: Obituaries — Hon Parekura HoromiaText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeJones Shane: Obituaries — Hon Parekura Horomia[Sitting date: 07 May 2013. Volume:689;Page:9601. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon SHANE JONES (Labour): Tuatahi māku taku waiata e tuku ki a Parekura.[First I will sing my lament to Parekura.]Ko te ūranga o te rāTerenga waka tōrangapū.He waihoe tuku ihoKo Apirana kei te ihuKo Parekura kei te rapa e-e.E Hina i te pō hūteaE tama te pāinainaHei i a wai te hoe a Pare?Haupū ngā moehewaTere ana ki te pae waiHe waka ūtanga kaitā e-e.E ahu ki te pae o te rangiMā te tai a Paikea ArikiTe Matau-ā-Māui TikitikiTe Upoko o te IkaTe ripo o te kāwanatanga e-e.Nāna te ōhakī whakarereWhāngaia a pīpī pātereKia ngata kia māpuapūaE Pare tēnei koe e whakawairua kau iho e-e.[Under a glaring sunBehold a political canoe.Paddlers of yesteryear working in unisonApirana at the bowAnd Parekura at the sternpost alas.Moon goddess of pale lightSun god we feel your heat.Who has Pare’s paddle?Driven by great dreamsDrifting to the water’s edgeA canoe with a massive cargo alas.Fix your course on the horizonBy the tides of the High Chief PaikeaPast the fish-hook of Māui Tikitiki-ā-TarangaTo the head of the fishWhere government swirls alas.He leaves the legacyFeed the little onesSo they may grow and flourish.Pare you enjoin us spiritually.]E te iwi kua tau nei ki Te Upoko o te Ika ki te whakatutuki i te kaupapa mō te mārohirohi o te Ao Māori nāna tēnei Whare i whakakōrero nāna ngā marae o ngā iwi katoa i whakamanuhiri. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.[To the people who came here to Wellington to conclude this matter about Māori tenacity he was the one who made this House talk and visited the courtyards of every tribe. I acknowledge salute and thank you all collectively.]I come from the far north and the best way to memorialise someone in our upbringing was to compose a waiata. Unfortunately I have sung that waiata in front of the cultural aristocrats of Ngati Porou. But take it as a heartfelt expression for my closest friend in the political world. Take it as an expression from those of the Māori MPs who often would say to each other: “Let’s construct a perfect Māori parliamentarian. Let that person be possessed of acuity of analysis clarity of thought lucidity of expression athletic prowess nimbleness in the media.” And then we would say: “We ended up with Parekura.”—without a doubt a person of our time who will prove to be the most popular parliamentarian to the Māori people. To the family and to the visitors of Te Tai Rāwhiti your thoughts no doubt will go to his replacement but know this: his impact and the affection with which he was held during his political journey crossed boundaries.I must acknowledge the presence of all the parliamentarians at that tangi. Partisanship aside to the senior team of the Crown the Government of the day I have no doubt that the Māori of the East Coast felt proud that the Government of the day decided to grace that marae and honour Parekura with such a presentation of power and personality from the Government of the day.In terms of Parekura’s children know this. Parekura was a person who said: “You know e hoa Shane people will forget what you say people will often forget what you did but they will never forget how you made them feel.” That was the genius of your father this parliamentarian. Sure we talk about his elliptical kinds of expressions and we talk in jest about his style of operation but he knew that if you want to connect with your community understand how they feel. He was a person who brought feeling to this House.Just before I wind up when David Shearer had his by-election Parekura Kelvin Davis and Shane Jones were dispatched to the rather grimy streets of Avondale to doorknock. Parekura being the senior dispatched Kelvin Davis. He said: “Here boy here’s some pamphlets. Go and stand on the other side of the street. Go up there down there.” He said: “Shane hei noho mai koe ki konei. Chief you stay with me. You stay with me. We’ll go up the other end of the street.” which we did. Then getting outside a house Parekura said to me: “Now boy you take these pamphlets. I’ll guard our waka. Just go and knock on that door.” I proceeded to knock on the door only to be greeted by the largest angry dog in John Tamihere’s neighbourhood. And as the dog barked at me Parekura called out: “E hoa pussy pussy pussy.” A Māori came out of that house. He looked at me and said: “Yeah what do you want?”. I said: “By-election e hoa—pamphlets.” as the dog barked. He looked past me and he saw Parekura. Parekura hopped out of the car. He said: “Oh kia ora uncle.” as he went into that house. As Parekura sensed the fish heads cooking he became positively athletic. Kelvin Davis meanwhile was wandering around in circles. The moral of the story is the randomness of politics. Parekura you are in Hawaiki; Kelvin Davis you are unemployed; Shane Jones you have been in the crap; and David Shearer is our leader. Kia ora tātou.