Harawira Hone: General Debate 
Harawira Hone: General Debate 
[Volume:646;Page:15279] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Kia ora tatou e te Whare. Last night Parliament lost one of its more distinguished members: Tumu Putaura—one of our security officers. Actually I never knew what his real name was until today because like many others I just called him “Uncle”. Tumu was a real gentleman. He was always polite always courteous always pleasant and always respectful. He came from the great city of Avarua in Rarotonga where he was one of the pioneers who helped launch Radio Cook Islands. He was also in a band back then and noted for switching his radio station on to automatic so he could sneak off to whatever gig he and his band had booked for the night. Not long after that he moved to Aotearoa where he took up employment here in Parliament and just last year he celebrated 20 years with parliamentary security. Tumu was one of that rare breed of men—very rare around here particularly—whom everybody liked and everybody respected. He was a humble man and never said anything bad about anyone—not even about us politicians. He never lost touch with his music and he was often heard quietly singing or humming around Parliament. So uncle haere koe hoki atu ki tou ukaipo hoki atu ki te okioki. 
[ 
Farewell uncle return to your earthly mother to the place of rest 
.] 
We love you we miss you farewell. 
Tumu’s passing also made me think about how we are all affected in some way or another by the many personalities and experiences that make up this place. Today I would like to mention another one of them. Nandor Tanczos has been a real inspiration to me—a politician who lives by his principles and a man who cares deeply about the world and he stands by his love for Papatuanuku and our role as caretakers of her future. He is famous for his dreads and being our first and only Rastafarian MP Nandor has also taken a few knocks for indulging in the herb but he has always carried his beliefs with dignity and honour never ramming them down anyone else’s throat but never apologising for them either. 
When I first saw him skateboarding I laughed up large. I mean who else here gets a kick out of doing things that our young people enjoy? Mind you who else for that matter can even ride a skateboard? 
Nandor has a genuine love for people particularly those from the street and his compassion for those in need has always warmed my heart. He argues passionately for peace and for justice and has a long and proud history of confronting prejudice and fighting discrimination. 
He speaks beautiful Maori. On Waitangi Day I recall him doing his whole mihi in Maori right after I had just welcomed everyone in English—shame on me and big ups to him! The thing about Nandor is that he does not speak Maori to get votes; he speaks Maori because his children are Maori his friends are Maori and his whanau is Maori—as well as Hungarian South African Khoi Dutch German and Kiwi. Nandor shook up this place when he first came in here with his dreadlock turban his hemp suit and his crazy ways and this Parliament is a better place for his having graced our presence. 
Nandor and I had a good korero up at Parihaka about his leaving and I respect his reasons for moving on. Parliament ain’t the centre of power in Aotearoa; it is just a place that passes laws. Real power lies outside these walls in the hands of those who choose to either live by those laws or challenge them for a higher standard and I wish my brother well in shaking up our world from the outside. 
Tumu’s passing reminded me that we often do not get the chance to say what we really think about people who mean a lot to us while they are still with us. Nandor’s leaving gives me the chance to change that. I am not sure when he is going but I am going to miss him when he does—his humility his passion his depth his searching mind his love his humour and the peace that always surrounds him in this world of madness and mayhem. His lovely daughter Pirimaia is going to be happy to have her daddy back and if he is lucky Sharney will be happy to have him back too. So go well I say to my brother. He has a long life ahead of him and many challenges still to face. I say to him: “Fight the good fight and never ever forget to keep challenging us to remember who we are where we have come from and what our dreams are.” 
There is one last thing Mr Assistant Speaker. I say to mum: “Happy birthday. I love you too.” Kia ora tatou.