Sio William: Obituaries — Hon Parekura HoromiaText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSio William: Obituaries — Hon Parekura Horomia[Sitting date: 07 May 2013. Volume:689;Page:9610. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Su’a WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Māngere): It is my privilege to join with the rest of the House here to pay our tributes and final farewell to Parekura Horomia. I want to firstly acknowledge the presence of so many tribal leaders from Ngati Porou and other iwi who are present as well as the members of Parekura Horomia’s family.The last time I saw Parekura was when as Brendan said he conducted and led a pōwhiri on behalf of all Parliament to welcome to this House the parliamentary leaders from the Pacific. I know that Tau Henare had asked him to do this and that morning he asked me what time he needed to be there. I could hear in his voice that he was weak. In fact we had seen him earlier in the week and you could see life ebbing away from his body. So I said to him: “You don’t have to do it Pare. You can stay home.” But no no he insisted. He insisted on coming.Most of the House will not know that when Pare was a Minister he was elected by the Ministers of Education of the Pacific Islands Forum to chair that forum. In fact he said to me that Trevor did not like it but he did not know about it. So even when we lost Government even when Labour was out of Government for some reason or other the Ministers of Education from the Pacific Islands Forum continued to ask him to chair those forums.When he died that week members of the Pacific community from across the nation called up. Former colleagues of his and many others wanted to pay tribute wanted to offer something on behalf of the Pacific community. I was reluctant at first because of the cultures that I practise but also not fully understanding how Hauiti Marae Ngati Porou would receive it and for all the range of political reasons. But in the end my colleagues from Auckland came up and we were privileged—and I want to acknowledge Hauiti Marae and the elders there for receiving us—to acknowledge Parekura as a chief by presenting to the marae and to his whānau a Samoan fine mat a tapa from Tonga called the pulupulu and a basket of food that did not have any food. I suppose in the end we decided not to include the food because when Parekura was alive he was on a diet and we felt instead that that basket would symbolise the love and appreciation of members of the Pacific community who knew Parekura even before he became a member of Parliament.Those of us who were privileged to be part of the tangi and the final days and final hours with the family and Ngati Porou felt that that was perhaps our finest hour that Parekura brought together people from all walks of life from the four corners of Aotearoa New Zealand that he was not just a politician that he was a father he was a koro he was an uncle and indeed he was a friend to many of us here in this House.When we reflected at a meeting last night in Māngere upon what had occurred in the life of Parekura one of the Tongan leaders said to me that this Tongan proverb best reflects how things occurred at the tangi and it goes like this: ‘Ōku ‘ilonga hoto ‘ulungaanga ‘i he’ete mate. The translation is: the reputation or mana of a person is revealed for all to see when they die.I suppose we were all captivated by the way New Zealand as a whole from Kīngi Tuheitia from the Prime Minister from the Speaker from the Ministers from politicians from both sides of the House from chief executive officers of business from farmers from students from rugby players—it did not matter what they were but they all felt that Parekura had touched them throughout their lives and they came to pay their respects offer their condolences and convey their genuine and sincere love for the man called Parekura. I think that reflects in my personal opinion our finest hour of what is possible for a place called Aotearoa New Zealand.Many of us reflect on Parekura’s role with the Community Employment Group how he was a staunch advocate for communities for local solutions and how he was a staunch advocate for the young people our youth. I share with him the belief that we have a role to play in preparing our youth Māori and Pacific in particular to take up leadership roles in whatever forum in this country of ours. There is a Māori proverb that I think sums up his desire for young people: “Whāia te iti kahuranga ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei”—aim for the highest cloud so that if you miss it you will hit a loftymountain. I am not sure whether Parekura shared that with me but certainly in our conversations he was a staunch staunch advocate of our young people.As I conclude I think above all Parekura knew more than most of us his role in this House and that is at the end of the day when all has been done and said the question will be asked: “What was your purpose here?” and his answer would be: “It was about people it was about people it was about people.” I agree with the minister at the funeral service when he said Pare’s legacy was to feed the people to feed the children. I hope as others here in the House have expressed that there are times in this House that we take on board what Pare’s life means for all of us and that is that we need to forget about the politics and do the right thing because it is the right thing for the people. Fa’auma atu se mātou fa’amatalaga. Ia vave taape le ao pouliuli ua ufitia ai Ngati Porou ma le aiga fa’anoanoa o Parekura. May the dark clouds that hover over Ngati Porou and the bereaved family of Parekura quickly dissipate. Ia manuia lau malaga Parekura; safe journey.