Te Ururoa Flavell
Maori Party MP for Waiariki
Sunday 22 November 2009

Poroporoaki: Hawea Vercoe

Mā te tuku o te roimata me te hupe kia rere, kia ea te ngau o mate, o aitua. Haere ki tua o te arai! Haere ki o tipuna! Haere ki te Po! Haere ki te Po!

The Maori Party has expressed their profound shock at hearing of the death of prominent school principal and local body politician Hawea Vercoe.

“Hawea was a young man with enormous energy for life who had achieved a significant profile across Aotearoa in education, politics and local government,” Maori Party MP for Waiariki Te Ururoa Flavell said.

“Hawea was extremely proud to be principal of Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Rotoiti

“He was committed to ensuring the children attending his kura were educated in the widest sense of the word. He took them to the hikoi against the police raids on terrorism; he involved the kura in the launching of Google Maori; and he advocated for his kura to be allowed Maori signs on their buses – a stand which led to a policy change by Land Transport New Zealand.

“He also called for Maori wards to be established in Rotorua where he had been an active member of Rotorua District Council’s Te Arawa standing committee as well as a councilor for the Environment Bay of Plenty Okurei Maori seat.

“Hawea gave his all in everything he did, be it as a candidate for Destiny Church in the 2005 elections; an outspoken Daily Post columnist and even the recent competition that saw him, Pourotu Ngaropo and Ruiha Ruwhiu take out the winning team for Ngati Awa as New Zealand’s top debating iwi.

“Although there will be those who focus on some of the more recent controversial incidents, we must not lose sight of the fact that Hawea was a brilliant young man with a sharp intellect who was a passionate advocate for Maori.

“Our thoughts are with his whanau, hapu and iwi of Ngati Awa and Te ARawa and the greater community of Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Rotoiti who will greatly feel the loss of this dynamic leader – a young man lost in the prime of his life.”

ENDS

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