Horan Brendan: Obituaries — Hon Parekura HoromiaText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHoran Brendan: Obituaries — Hon Parekura Horomia[Sitting date: 07 May 2013. Volume:689;Page:9607. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]BRENDAN HORAN (Independent): He hōnore he korōria ki Te Atua he maungarongo ki runga i te whenua. Āmine. E mihi ana ki a rātou mā kua ngaro atu ki te pō ki te pō uriuri ki te pō tangotango. Moe mai moe mai moe mai tihei mauri ora. He mihi tonu atu ki a koe e te matua Parekura te tangata mana te tangata hūmarie te tangata tautoko. He tangata rangatira.[Honour and glory to God peace upon the nation and goodwill to all mankind. Amen. I acknowledge those who have gone to the place where the dead assemble to the dark and holding void. Sleep slumber and repose there behold the breath of life. A huge appreciation to you the fatherly figure Parekura the man of integrity with a pleasant disposition and who was supportive. He was a leader of the highest order.]He was a man of mana he was a man of great humility and he was a man of sincere and awesome leadership for his people. Much has been said about that leadership and his work ethic and his presence. Only 2½ weeks ago we had the Pacific Parliamentary and Political Leaders Forum and he was in Parliament here welcoming MPs from all over the Pacific. For many of those MPs they met him just the once and yet thatpresence resonated throughout the Pacific. I would like to share some of these tributes from some of those Pacific MPs.This tribute is from the Hon Archie Soliai from American Samoa: “This is sad news for the people of New Zealand and the Pacific as well as he was a Māori icon. Please accept my deepest condolences for the loss of such a great leader.”This one is from Arnold Prasad from the Republic of Vanuatu: “It is with great sadness that I have been informed about the sudden passing of MP Parekura Horomia. He did an excellent job as the orator leading the pōwhiri that opened the forum at Parliament of which I was a delegate. The many activities and achievements done on behalf of Māori will always be remembered by the Māori people in New Zealand. Please pass our sincere condolences to MP Horomia’s family.”And this one is from the Hon Martin Moreti MP from Kiribati: “I with my family and fellow Kiribati people working in New Zealand and here in Kiribati offer our great honour to convey words of sadness to Parekura Horomia’s family for the mystery of life. We know on our daily life and the moment of taking away our beloved one and our brother and sister as we are Pacific parliamentarians. I pray to our God to welcome MP Parekura Horomia to everlasting life. May God bless him and his family.”This is one from an MP in Fiji: “It is with great sadness that we hear of the passing of the Hon Parekura Horomia. I was part of the group of five Fijians selected to be part of this historic event in your Parliament. The welcome and words of kindness by Hon Parekura continues to resonate in my mind and hopefully one day when we do return to parliamentary democracy in Fiji that we will reciprocate the love of our Māori and New Zealand brothers and never forget the seed sown at the inaugural forum. Farewell Hon Parekura Horomia. The Almighty give you rest and blessings to your family.”And here is another one from another Pacific Island: “I am deeply saddened at the news of the passing away of the Mighty Tōtara. I can still vividly recall the powerful and moving pōwhiri ceremony in which he played a key role. His authority at that momentous ceremony was no doubt a measure of his immense contributions to the Māori community and the nation of New Zealand. I understand that it will be a difficult thing for the MPs and his constituents to farewell him this Saturday when he will be laid to rest. I must offer my deep condolences to his family members. I pray with all of you in New Zealand that may his soul rest in peace and his family and friends gather the courage to perform his last rites as per his wishes.”And although there were many I would just mention this last one. It is: “On behalf of the Legislative Assembly of the Kingdom of Tonga I would like to express our heartfelt condolences to the family of Parekura Horomia on his untimely passing. His dedication hard work and leadership as a parliamentarian will not be forgotten. With deepest sympathy Lord Fakafanua Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga Kingdom of Tonga.” For many of those MPs that was from just hearing Parekura and meeting him just once such was his mighty presence.I would like to acknowledge on behalf of Tainui the very special relationship that Tainui have with the East Coast cemented by Māhinarangi. Parekura continued with that support for the people of Tainui. His support of Kīngitanga and his continued presence at Tūrangawaewae throughout his tenure garnered so much respect from Maniapoto and Tainui to all members of the East Coast. On behalf of Tainui thank you thank you thank you. To everyone who has travelled here kia ora. It is great to see so many people here and it has been difficult for many of you to get here and yet all of us here represent so many thousands of people—Kiwis—all over who cannot be here today.I would like to share a little moment and again it is from 2½ weeks ago because for all the Māori MPs in here Parekura was also a kaitiaki. He took it upon himself to lookafter all the Māori MPs and the new MPs who came. But last week after the pōwhiri we sat outside on the bench waiting for his car to arrive and it started raining. I went to get an umbrella but he said: “No no.” He said “The old people knew.” We sat there—and it was great—because he just wanted to feel the wind in his hair and the rain on his face. So we sat there and we got wet but he loved it. It was a measure of the man because he faced everything and he stood tall and proud.To Desmond Wallace Tūrei and the grandchildren although we here in Parliament have lost a colleague and a friend you have lost a father and we thank you for sharing him with us. Although he probably would have said: “Look at all this hoo-ha.” stand tall and proud as we here are all proud to have been able to call him our friend. To Parekura: your work is done. Rest in peace.