Obituaries — Sir Howard Morrison OBE 
Obituaries — Sir Howard Morrison OBE 
[Volume:657;Page:6833] 
Thursday 24 September 2009 
Mr Speaker 
 took the Chair at 2 p.m. 
Karakia 
. 
Obituaries 
Sir Howard Morrison OBE 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Leader of the House) 
: 
 I seek leave to move a motion without notice marking the death of Sir Howard Morrison OBE. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Is there any objection to that course of action being followed? There is no objection. 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: I move  
That the House mark the passing of the prominent New Zealander Sir Howard Morrison 
. It is with great sadness that I have to inform the House that Sir Howard Morrison has passed away. He will be immediately remembered by most New Zealanders as a great entertainer a man who could raise the hairs on the back of one’s neck when he sang “How Great Thou Art”. 
Sir Howard was a leading New Zealander. He was born in 1935 in Rotorua of Te Arawa and Irish ancestry. He was a son of Maori All Black Tem Morrison. Sir Howard started from a humble beginning. One early job was as a meter reader and he was also a surveyor’s chainman and he played rugby at his local club Waikite at the back of the scrum. 
Sir Howard’s musical career started by putting vocal groups together for rugby club socials before he started the Ohinemutu Quartet which evolved into something that will be remembered fondly by many New Zealanders the Howard Morrison Quartet. What started as a humble quartet became so much bigger. From the 1950s through the 1960s Sir Howard Morrison’s quartet sold hit records performed all over the country and toured Australia extensively. When the band retired Sir Howard launched into what was to become a highly successful solo career. He went international and played in clubs and shows extensively throughout Asia Australia and the United States. He performed with big names in show business like Sammy Davis Jr and Glen Campbell. 
Possibly the highlight though of Sir Howard’s career was when he took a simple hymn and turned it into something magnificent. This was his version of “How Great Thou Art”. He performed it in a way that nobody had predicted a royal command performance would produce when the Queen returned to New Zealand in 1981. It became an instant hit holding the No. 1 spot in national charts for some 5 weeks. 
There are far too many highlights in Sir Howard’s 50-year music career to list but in the brief time we have today we can consider that he was indeed a great entertainer and truly the mighty kauri of the New Zealand entertainment scene the Tane Mahuta of New Zealand music. 
But there was far more to Sir Howard Morrison than his musical talents and the glitz of his performing career. He was almost always foremost a New Zealander with a deep-seated bond with and love for his country for his home town and for his people. Sir Howard held a strong desire to be constructive for Maori and always was willing to do something or to work with anyone willing to tackle Maori underachievement. Sir Howard was never shy with his time and talent to help Maori or the Government in a positive way. 
His achievements have been recognised along the way but perhaps the biggest was his knighthood in 1999. The ceremony was held at Sir Howard’s home marae of Ohinemutu where he was given the title “Sir Howard”. He is a New Zealander whose passing will be mourned by us all. There will be a song that will be played to mark his death and that song will be the aptly named “Whakaaria Mai”—“How Great Thou Art” 
Hon SHANE JONES (Labour) 
: 
 Tenei ano te amiomio o te whakaaro. Tenei ano te raruraru o te wairua e kara mohou e Ta Hauata ka ngaro nei. Me ahu to wairua ki te tahuhu o te rangi. To tinana ki te kopu a Papatuanuku. E kara nahau te ao i whakatopatopa nahau nga taonga mai i o matua a-Rehia a-Nuku i hari ki nga topito o te ao. Nahau te iti me te rahi i whakaahuareka otira i tenei ra aue taukuri e ko to reo ka wahangu. Nga marae kua morehurehutia nga whare e tu kau ana. E kara e moe e moe moe oti atu e. 
[ 
Oh friend Sir Howard the mind is in a whirl the spirit is troubled as well for you we have lost. Your spirit soars to Sky Father above while your body is committed to Mother Earth. Oh friend you soared over the world you took the entertainment arts of your parents Rehia and Nuku to the very extremities of the planet. The meek and the mighty were entertained by you and today there is utter devastation because your voice has been silenced. The marae are left without the buildings stand empty. Oh friend rest there slumber there and sleep on for ever. 
] 
It is a privilege and an honour to stand in this House and offer testimony to Sir Howard Morrison. He is a revered figure who was beyond colour and beyond prejudice and he brought us together with a brilliant sense of humour often at his own expense. He joins the legions of other Maori entertainers not the least of which are Tui Teka and Billy T James who enabled our country and its Maori personality to mature. As I said in Maori Sir Howard’s singing made us as Kiwis feel proud when we went overseas and heard his voice and become far more familiar with hymns and tunes that we actually did not want to hear.  
We think fondly of his whanau up in Te Arawa and his iwi Te Arawa but also of the entirety of the country because when he stood before the Queen and sang with those other kauri trees of the Maori and Pakeha entertainment world all of our spirits were uplifted. His is a great example and as I said in Maori Sir Howard will not wholly die. His more cherished qualities will find sweet repose in our ngakau our hearts; our hinengaro our minds; and our wairua our spirits. The bird may be quiet and the tree may have fallen but his finer sentiments will live on in our personality as New Zealanders. I farewell Sir Howard. 
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Green) 
: 
 The Green Party joins with others in the House to celebrate the life of Sir Howard Morrison to express our sadness at his death and to offer our condolence to his whanau and to Ngati Whakaue of Te Arawa.  
For half a century Sir Howard entertained and inspired New Zealanders and made us laugh. That is a great gift and it is one for which he was greatly loved. As long ago as 1956 he formed the Howard Morrison Quartet which was the start of a brilliant musical career. I can still remember hearing as a child around that time the Howard Morrison Quartet on an old valve radio. He received many awards as a musician—the HMV Entertainer of the Year in 1986 the Entertainer of the Decade in 1989 and the Feltex Award for Best Television Entertainer in 1983—and he was presented in 2007 with Creative New Zealand’s premier award for Maori artists Te Tohu Tiketike a Te Waka Toi. It is awarded to Maori artists who have demonstrated a lifetime commitment to their art and who are leaders in their field.  
Sir Howard was always proud to be Maori; his quartet recorded “My Old Man’s an All Black” in protest against the Maori players being barred from the tour to South Africa. As he grew older his commitment to Maori Maori youth and the education of Maori youth came to the fore. He established programmes for at-risk youth set up the Sir Howard Morrison Education Foundation for Te Arawa rangatahi and was a trustee of the Manaakitanga Aotearoa Trust and the Tu Tangata business studies programme for young Maori. His was a life of service in so many ways. He will be greatly missed. Kia ora. 
Hon HEATHER ROY (Deputy Leader—ACT) 
: 
 I stand today on behalf of the ACT Party to join with all members of this Parliament in paying tribute to one of the greatest and most loved entertainers this country has seen. From his early days as a member of the Aotearoa Maori Concert Party to the enormously popular Howard Morrison Quartet and throughout his illustrious solo career Sir Howard Morrison took New Zealand and Maori culture to the world. Sir Howard was no ordinary entertainer. As well as using music to cross national and cultural boundaries he devoted much of his life to his people and made enormous contributions as we have just heard from the previous speaker to Maori youth programmes around the country. He was an entertainer a statesman and a true New Zealand icon who led by example. In his lifetime Sir Howard touched the hearts of people throughout the world and with his passing New Zealand as a nation has lost one of its beloved sons. The ACT Party mourns the loss of this great man. Our hearts and thoughts go out to his wife Lady Kuia his children his whanau his loved ones. Sir Howard will live on in our hearts. May he rest in peace. 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
E te Kaihautu o te Whare otira tatau e hui nei i tenei rangi e te Whare Paremata tena koutou tena koutou kia ora tatau. Kua pokarekare nga wai o te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe. Kua pahu nga waiariki o Ohinemutu. Kua tairi te kohu ki runga o Tamatekapua. Kua ru Te Papaiouru i te hinganga o Ta Howard Morrison uri o Whakaue Kaipapa reo rongonui o te ao Maori ki nga topito katoa o te ao.  
E te rangatira ka pa mai te rongo kino nei ka pakaru mai te tangi o nga iwi huri noa Maori mai Pakeha mai i te mamae i te arohanui ki a koe. Nou te reo aroha. He reo whakapai i te wairua whakamama i te taumahatanga. He reo whakamenemene whakakatakata. He reo whakakotahi i nga iwi. He reo kawe i te mana Maori ki te ao he reo waiata i tonoa mai e nga ariki e nga upoko e nga mana nui o nga iwi o nga whenua puta noa.  
I naianei kua wahangu koe kua ngau mai a mamae haunga ano te hotuhotu o te tangi o te ngakau. Ta Hauata takoto mai ra e koro takoto mai ra i te poho o to whanau o to marae o to iwi. Moe mai ra i te moenga te whakaarahia i te urunga te taka. Ko koe tera e whai nei i te huarahi kua oti i a Atareta ma i a Taini ma te takahi. Ma raua ma ratou koe e pohiri. Haere haere haere ki te po. E koro whakangaro atu ra. 
[ 
Mr Speaker of the House and indeed we who are gathered here today greetings to you greetings to you and greetings to us the House. The waters of Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe have rippled. The geysers at Ohinemutu have become active. Fog hangs over Tamatekapua. The marae of Te Papaiouru shudders as Sir Howard Morrison descendant of Whakaue Kaipapa and famed voice of Maoridom to all corners of the world is felled.  
When this devastating news came oh chiefly one cries broke out throughout from Maori and Pakeha because of the pain and their great compassion towards you. Your voice was a loving one soothing to the spirit and easing difficulties. It brought smiles to people humoured and united them. It was a voice that took the prestige of the Maori to the world. It was a singing voice that was sent by the high chiefs heads and powerful tribal and land forces throughout.  
Now you are silent. Oh how the pain gnaws within accompanied by the sobs of the heart. Lie there Sir Howard grandfather. Lie there in the bosom of your family your marae and your people. Sleep the long sleep of no awakening and no ending. That is you now following the path walked upon already by Atareta Taini and others. Those two will welcome you as will others. Depart go forth and journey on to the night. Disappear from view grandfather 
.] 
I am told that the very first release of the Howard Morrison Quartet in 1958 would be a fitting tribute to the life of this remarkable man. “There’s Only One of You”/“Big Man” says it all about Ta Howard Morrison. Sir Howard Morrison is a name that every New Zealander can identify with. Older New Zealanders remember the stunning songs of the Howard Morrison Quartet the likes of “Hoki Mai” “Haere Ra A Hine” “Little Darlin’ ” and the legendary “My Old Man’s an All Black”. The matter of being the son of an All Black is something worth considering in terms of Sir Howard Morrison. He was the son of Maori All Black Temuera Morrison and he was angered at the time of the decision in 1960 that Maori were not allowed to tour South Africa with the All Black tour. Now others campaigned with the slogan: “No Maori—no tour”. There was a petition with 150000 signatures. There were protests. And Sir Howard Morrison sang. 
That was something special about Sir Howard and some might call it that “Morrison magic”. He had a wicked smile a neat sense of humour and he had of course a wonderful talent—the professional entertainer—but boy he could cut you like a knife if you were not up to standard. That can happen in te ao Maori. He was like that because he always wanted the very best for his people and for the nation. To that end I believe Sir Howard Morrison became a powerful figure in the nation’s history with his ability to persuade to challenge and to move us all.  
He made Ngati Whakaue proud to be Ngati Whakaue. He made us all proud to be Te Arawa. He made us all proud to be Maori. He made us proud of Aotearoa. “Howie the Maori” as he was often called pioneered along with many others that Maori entertainer style with that wicked sense of humour that endeared him to audiences and often made him centre stage even when he was not performing. But his talents extended way beyond the concert hall in the way that he was determined to express his love for his people across many spheres of influence.  
When the Howard Morrison Quartet was in full flight their manager Harry Miller wanted to take them to Las Vegas and London where no doubt their talents would have been fully appreciated. But Sir Howard was reluctant to leave the home shores and the people he loved. The show business circuit was a long way away from his upbringings in Rotorua and Ruatahuna. Sir Howard always spoke of the days of isolation in Te Urewera as providing him with the space to dream big. In a documentary last year he reflected: “As I was an audience of one I fell in love with the way I sounded.” Ko ia a Ta Howard Morrison. With the security of his whanau around him and the solid foundation provided at both the Urewera native school and Te Aute College Sir Howard developed the confidence that would take his big dreams to the world.  
Before the fame of the world stage he worked as a storeman in the Hawke’s Bay on the line at the Whakatu freezing works as a survey chainman and as an electricity meter reader. These experiences remained a powerful influence with him and no doubt influenced his decision to take up a role of director of youth development in the Department of Maori Affairs. Under his leadership the programme called Tu Tangata evolved including true to form a nationwide tour with the entire Morrison family touring party alongside included his beloved mother Kahu a distinguished singer herself.  
This is another aspect of the man: the love and commitment he expressed for his family his whanau across the many areas of influence. The Morrison magnetism is a fundamental expression of Te Arawa of Ngati Whakaue of Rotorua and of Waiariki. We often say that deaths come in threes. Today the loss is even more profound. Recently of course his sister Atareta Maxwell passed away a year or two ago—and she will never be forgotten—and no more than probably four months ago now his niece Taini. They will all be sadly missed.  
And so today is a very dark day for us at home as we begin to mourn this remarkable man. Maori Television had the wisdom to preserve special memories with Sir Howard Morrison in a series they dubbed  
He kotuku rerenga tahi 
. It literally means that the flight of the kotuku the white heron is seen but once. Sir Howard will be remembered as an extraordinary entrepreneur a brilliant showman a sophisticated diplomat and a distinguished ambassador for Aotearoa. But we will miss him most for his generosity of laughter the breadth of his love and the way he made us all feel. There will only ever ever be one Ta Howard Morrison. Kia ora tatou. 
Waiata 
Motion agreed to. 
Honourable members stood as a mark of respect.