Hone Harawira & Andrew Little On Agenda – Briefs

See Full Transcript: AGENDA: Andrew Little and Hone Harawira - 2/09/06

LABOUR CAUCUS WANTS FIELD TO GO

A large proportion of Labour’s caucus want Mangere MP Philip Field to resign according to Engineers, Printers, and Manufacturers Union (EPMU) National Secretary Andrew Little.

Interviewed on TVOne’s “Agenda” programme today, Mr Little said:
“I know that there are members of the Labour Party caucus who are in full agreement with that.”

Mr Little wouldn’t be drawn when asked to name who exactly thought Mr Field should go.

“They’re a caucus, they’re a team, and whether they feel some constraint by their support for each other, or solidarity, who knows?”

He defended his own organisation’s call for Mr Field to resign, saying his position was untenable in the union’s eyes.

“Those are things from a union’s point of view that just frankly cut to the quick. There are things that we can’t accept … and as a union we needed to take a stance on it.

“My view is that the issue is now less one about legalities, it is one about ethics and moral standing, which is why we’ve taken that stance.”

FIELD’S TREATMENT ‘BROWN BASHING’

The way in which Taito Phillip Field has been treated is evidence that the Government is an inherently racist institution, says Maori Party MP Hone Harawira.

“Yeah, it’s brown bashing … David Benson-Pope, prima facie case according to the police, Heather Simpson, prima facie case according to the police. Helen Clark and the Labour Party over the pledge card, Auditor-General says they’re in deep trouble. Everyone’s in trouble, who gets the cops thrown at them? The brown boy.

“I’m not trying to defend what Taito’s done, but how come all the white guys get off?”

NOTHING WRONG WITH KOHA

Kohn, or lafo – such as that accepted by Taito Phillip Field, is an integral part of Polynesian society, says Hone Harawira.

Mr Harawira admitted on Agenda that he had accepted gifts and cash in the past, and would continue to do so.

“Yeah, I’ve been offered cash … of course I take it.

”What’s dodgy about it? Do I keep it? Do I spend it on myself? No. My wife takes it off me and gives it to my school.”

The Te Tai Tokerau MP said it was not the place of government or Pakeha society to dictate how such practices should be conducted.

ENDS

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