Sharples Pita: Obituaries — Rt Hon David Russell Lange ONZ CH John Finlay Luxton QSO Hon John Howard Falloon CNZM Rod David Donald 
Sharples Pita: Obituaries — Rt Hon David Russell Lange ONZ CH John Finlay Luxton QSO Hon John Howard Falloon CNZM Rod David Donald 
[Volume:628;Page:51] 
Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 It is my privilege to pay respects from the Maori Party to David Lange and to Rod Donald. I do so in the language of my mother and of the ancestors of this country. 
Kai te Manu Korero o te Ata tena koe. Ki a koe te Pirimia tena koe tae atu ki a koe te kaiarahi o te Ropu Nahinara Dr Brash tena koe. Ko koe tena Parekura to matou Minita kai nga rangatira nga mana nga reo o te Whare nei tena koutou tena tatau katoa. 
Tenei ahau e tu ana ki te mihi ki nga mate. He honore maku na te mea kua oti ke taku mohio kaore ano kia korero taku korero tuatahi a ki te Whare nei. Na reira maku tenei honore kai te mihi atu. 
Ko Rawiri Lange tera. Ahakoa i tipu ake ki te Pirimia he Pirimia rongonui mo ana mahi katoa. Kua oti i nga rangatira nei te korero mona i era mahi kua oti i a ia tae noa ki tona tu kia kore ai nga kaipuke nukiria e hara mai ki tenei whenua. 
Ahakoa he Pirimia rongonui korero ahau i tenei rangi e pa ana ki te Rawiri Rongi i mohiotia e au i kite au i te wa ia e ora ana. Korero au mo tona ngakau mahaki. I tipu ake ia i Mangere e noho ana e kuraina ana i reira. Ko tona whanau he whanau Karaitiana he whanau hahi kaha ki te manaaki tangata ratau. I te wa ia e taitama ana ka heke mai nga tangata o nga moutere o Te Moana Nui a Kiwa ki Tamaki-makau-rau ki te noho. Ka tae ratau nga Kuki Airini nga Niue nga Hamoa ki Tamaki ka neke atu ki Mangere noho ai. Tena i tipu ngatahi atu a David me enei tangata no nga moutere. Katahi ka mohio a Rawiri Rongi ki te ahua o enei tangata hou i o ratau hiahia i o ratou wawata i Aotearoa nei. 
I etahi wa ki ana te whare o nga Rongi i enei tangata i hara mai ratou ki te noho tahi ki te kai tahi ki te waiata. He whanau katoa ratou i roto i tena whare. Na reira i kitea e au te tino ngakau mahaki o tenei tangata tona kaha ki te manaaki ki te atawhai ki te tautoko enei tangata. Ko te nuinga o enei tangata he pohara. Nui rawa o ratou raruraru i a ratau e ako ana ki te noho i roto i tetahi taone nui pera i a Tamaki. I kitea e au tona aroha ki a ratau i tona kokiri hanga o te tunga o tetahi whare mo nga roia ma ratau e mahi ana kore he utu mo enei momo tangata. 
Ka hoki aku mahara ki tetahi rangi i noho tahi matau ko Mick Brown ko David Lange a i kaputi te mahi korero pahupahu ana i nga raruraru katoa o te ao. I huri a matau korero ki tenei Whare ki nga tangata pena i a koutou nga MPs e mahi ana i roto. Korero matau mo nga painga me nga kino o nga tangata e mahi ana i roto i te Whare Paremata. Ki mai a Mick Brown kai te pirangi ia ki te uru atu ki ro Paremata nei kare i te pirangi kia noho tonu ki te mahi i te ture. Ki atu a Rawiri ki a ia kare i te pirangi hara mai ki konei ki tenei Whare i te pirangi ia ki te mahi tonu i roto i te ture. Kua oti ke ta tatau mohio i hara mai a David Lange ki konei tipu ake he Pirimia ka noho a Mick Brown ki waho a ka piki ake ia he kaiwhakawa mo te motu. 
I a ia e Pirimia kare i te wareware i a matau wana hoa e mahi tonu ana i roto i te iwi. I tera wa i kaha matau ki te whakatu i te kura kaupapa Maori tuatahi i Te Waipareira kia whangaia te matauranga i ro te reo o nga tipuna matua. Ko te kura kaupapa Maori tenei. Kaha matou ki te whakatu ka mutu ka panuitia te ra whakatuwheratanga ki te ao. Ka kite a David i tenei panui ka waea mai ki a au ko tona pirangi kia hara mai ki te marae mana e whakapuare te kura. Ki atu ahau ki a ia: “Kahore! Ehara mau te whakapuare to tatau kura na te mea ma te kuia e whakapuare te kuaha ma te puhi kotiro uru tuatahi ki roto ma te pihopa e whakahaere karakia. Ko wai ia? He kuia he pihopa he puhi ranei!” Ko tona korero whakahoki ki a au: “Ko au te Pirimia! Maku to kura e whakapuare!”. Kua oti tena! He korero tenei ki te ngakau mahaki i kite au i tenei tangata i te wa e ora ana. Tona manaaki ki te katoa ahakoa ko wai. 
Tatau ma! Apopo kei te haere matau me etahi o kotou ki Otautahi ki te tangihanga mo Rod Donald apopo. Ko te pai o tenei tangata i kaha ia ki te whai i ona take erangi ehara tenei i te tangata ngau tuara. Kaore tenei tangata e takahi i te mana o tetahi atu tangata. Ko tetahi atu ko tona kaha ki te whai i ona take ahakoa he aha i mua i a ia he kaha ki te whai i tona whai tonu kia ea ia i tona whainga pera he rottweiler tenei tangata. 
Na reira tenei ahau e tangi atu ki a raua me nga tini mate o te wa ko Tahu Asher tenei i te mahi i roto i te Whare nei kaore ano kia poroporoakihia e te Whare nei. Ko tetahi atu he rangatira no Te Aupouri a ko Puti Murray tona ingoa. 
Na reira kotou ma ko nga mate haere atu ra haere! Takahia te huarahi kua wharikitia e te mana o te tini haere! Haere me nga tini korero kua uhia kei runga i a kotou kia whakapaia ai to kotou hikoi i mua o te Kaihanga. Tenei matau e kawe atu nga taonga mo kotou te mate te hupe te roimata kia ringihia ki raro kei runga i a kotou. Erangi kai ahau e tangi atu ki a kotou kua oti ke taku mohio e kore kotou e hoki mai i waenganui i a matau. Na reira ko te korero: kotou ki a kotou haere! Na reira tatau ma o tatau te hunga ora ki a tatau tena kotou tena tatau katoa. 
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
Greetings to you Madam Speaker. Greetings as well to you Prime Minister and to you Dr Brash leader of the National Party. I acknowledge your presence Parekura our Minister of Maori Affairs and representatives authorities and voices of this House. Greetings to you and indeed to all of us. 
And so I stand here before you to pay tribute to the dead. It is a privilege indeed as I have yet to deliver my maiden speech to this House. The honour indeed is mine and I acknowledge it. 
David Lange even though he grew into the role of Prime Minister became a famous Prime Minister because of all the things he did. The leaders who spoke before me have touched on the things he achieved including the stand he took to ensure that nuclear ships would not visit this country.  
Although he was a famous Prime Minister today I want to address the things about Rawiri Rongi that I knew and saw in his lifetime. I refer to his easygoing nature. He grew up in Mangere lived there and was educated there. His family were Christian and church-going and were terrific hosts. Indeed they were! At the time he was a young man people from the Pacific Islands were coming to live in Auckland. People from the Cook Islands Niue and Samoa settled in at Tamaki and moved to live at Mangere. That is how David and those people from the Islands grew up together side by side. Rawiri Rongi got to know those new people and their aspirations and hopes for this New Zealand. 
There were times when the Rongi household was full of these people. They came to share their company with each other to eat and sing together. In that house they were all family. So I have seen the real humble and mild side of this person and his efforts to treat these people with kindness and care and to support them. The majority of those people were poor. They encountered many problems as they learnt to live and cope in an area such as Tamaki. I saw his compassion for them when he brokered the construction of a building for lawyers who were to serve those kinds of people free of charge.  
I recall a day also when we Mick Brown and David Lange were sitting about having a cuppa and talking about all the problems in the world. Our discussions turned to this House to the people like the MPs working in here. We talked about the positives and negatives in relation to the people working here in Parliament House. Mick Brown related that he wanted to get into this Parliament. He didn’t want to stay in law forever. David said to him that he did not want to come to this House and that he wanted to remain in the field of law. We know now that David Lange came here and eventually became Prime Minister. Mick Brown on the other hand remained outside of Parliament to eventually become a high judge for this country. 
Even while he was Prime Minister David Lange never forgot us his colleagues who were still working in society. During that time we were hard at work building the first Maori-medium school at Te Waipareira that would feed knowledge through the language of the ancestors. This then is te kura kaupapa Maori. We worked hard completed it and announced its opening to the world. David saw this notice phoned me and said that he really wanted to come to the marae and that he would open the kura. I said to him: “No! It is not your right to open our kura because it is for the kuia to open the door for the young virgin to go through it first and for the bishop to conduct the prayers. Which one was he? A kuia bishop or young virgin?”! His response to me was: “ I am the Prime Minister! 1 will open your school!”. That was it! This eulogy is about the humble side of this person that I observed when he was alive—his care for all regardless of who they were. 
I say to us all: tomorrow we are going including some who are here to Christchurch to the mourning for Rod Donald. What was great about this man was that while he pursued issues of significance to him he was never a spiteful person. He did not put people down. Another trait of his was his tenacity. Whatever was put up in front of him he explored every avenue to overcome the barrier. He was like a rottweiler. 
So here I stand at this point in time mourning those two and a host of others like Tahu Asher who worked here in this House and has not yet been acknowledged by it; also a highly respected leading figure from Te Aupouri: Puti Murray was her name.  
Therefore to you the dead farewell depart! Depart with the many tributes that have been bestowed upon you to bless your journey to the Creator. Tread the pathway adorned by the integrity of the multitude who have gone before you depart! Here we are bearing the treasures of tears and mucus for you the dead to cast down upon you. On the other hand and while I mourn you I know full well that you will never come back to us. And so to the saying: you the dead to yourselves depart! And we the living to ourselves; so greetings to you and to all of us. 
]  
Lament