Hone Harawiras' Column 22 August: Taiharuru

A column published in the Northern Advocate By Hone Harawira MP for Tai Tokerau Friday

22 August 2008

A couple weeks ago I attended a resource consent hearing in Whangarei for whanau wanting to build a marae out at Taiharuru. Chantez Connor led their case, and although she began rather tentatively, she presented a good case for the whanau to be able to develop their marae.

Submitters raised concerns like traffic and sewerage, but given that those issues were already subject to council review anyway, it just seemed like their concerns were more about the fact there might be a bunch of Maori obstructing their million dollar ocean views. One submitter hoped the marae might give a written commitment to having no alcohol at the marae for example – even though he wasn’t prepared to give a similar commitment for his own home.

In her closing remarks, Ms Connor was strong, clear and positive about working with local Pakeha to allay any concerns they had.

A decision wasn’t given, but the judge pointed out that the land had already been set aside for a marae reservation some time ago. If the judge does give a positive ruling, I look forward to attending the opening of Taiharuru’s whare hui in a couple of years.

EXERCISE FOR MATURE ADULTS

The life of a politician can be very demanding, both mentally and physically, and being constantly on the road zaps your energy too, so you have to do something to keep in shape.

There’s a million exercise programmes out there to choose from, including this one that a friend from Whangarei sent me. It did wonders for my sense of humour, even though it didn’t do much for my fitness. I hope it does for you what it did for me.

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, with plenty of room at each side. With a 5kg potato sack in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can, and then relax.

Each day, you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10kg potato sacks. After a couple more weeks, try to move up to 50kg potato sacks. Eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100kg potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight out for a full minute (I'm at this level now) After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each of the sacks, and start again.

ENDS

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