Harawira taking advice on disciplinary meeting

Hone Harawira says he will take advice before deciding whether to attend next week's disciplinary hearing over a complaint laid against him.

Fellow MP Te Ururoa Flavell laid a formal complaint against Mr Harawira last month, after Mr Harawira wrote in a newspaper column that the Maori Party was too wrapped up in its coalition with National and was supporting anti-Maori policies.

The two MPs met at a hui in Rotorua on Tuesday, and a disciplinary and disputes committee is due to meet next Wednesday to discuss the complaint.

Both men have been invited to the meeting, but Mr Harawira today told NZPA he was waiting on advice from his elders in his Te Tai Tokerau electorate on whether to attend.

"At this stage, I leave that completely up to the discussions between my kaumatua and those others that are hoping to engage in that," Mr Harawira said.

"I take advice from them on what it is that I should be doing, because at the end of the day they are the people that provided the cover for me to go into Parliament, they're the people that voted for me to go into Parliament, they're the people that will vote against me if they ever think that I've gone beyond what it is that I should be doing.

"I would expect them to probably say to me to stand down if it ever gets to that, but we're nowhere near that stage."

Mr Harawira said the problems between him and colleagues were overshadowing Maori issues, and that he wanted legal processes put aside and for the party to find a resolution through a kaupapa Maori process.

"There are many people trying to deal with the issue. I've been talking with some of my kaumatua from up home who are desperate to resolve this according to kaupapa Maori," he said.

"I'm looking at doing my best in terms of kaupapa Maori, to resolve the differences between myself and my colleagues to enable us to be a force in politics this year and in the run-up to the election."

Questions were raised about Mr Harawira's commitment to resolving the complaint yesterday following comments he wrote on his Facebook page, reportedly referring to other Maori Party members.

"It looks like these dickheads only have expulsion on their mind, if that's their plan then we may need to refocus," Mr Harawira wrote.

However, he would not say who the comments related to when spoken to today.

Meanwhile, his fiercely loyal Te Tai Tokerau electorate committee said it organised a second hui yesterday to allow a second round of talks between Mr Harawira and Mr Flavell, but Mr Flavell would not attend.

Electorate chairwoman Lisa McNab said it appeared some people in the party were determined to get rid of the MP and were being directed by the party leadership.

Mr Flavell told NZPA he had been prepared to meet Mr Harawira one-on-one, and had made that clear to Mr Harawira and his electorate committee earlier this week.