Speaker’s Observations — Hon Koro Wētere—Response from Family

Members, I have received a response from the whānau of the late Hon Koro Wētere, which I shall now read to the House: “To the House of Representatives. The wife and family of the late Koro Tainui Wētere, former MP for Western Māori, wish to thank the House for your expressions of sympathy during the tangi. Our dad and grandad spent 26 years of his life in Parliament. You were his other family. All MPs’ families share one thing in common: we share our mothers and fathers with the House, and we share our whānau time with the entire country. This was our dad’s other home, his other family, his other marae. So from one whānau to the other, we, the Wētere whānau, wish to thank you for your kind words. We know our loss is your loss and our memories are your memories.

When our dad resigned from Parliament, he quoted a Māori proverb about the importance and status of the whānau both young and old: ‘ka pū te ruha, ka hao te rangatahi.’ It means ‘When one elder steps down, the young step up and take hold of the reins.’—the proverb our dad quoted the day he stood and announced his resignation. He was saying, ‘Give our young people a chance to take the reins. Give them the homes that flourish with the Māori language, give them the jobs to put kai on the table, and give all men and women an equal wage so that we can pick up the reins, when our time comes, to be responsible members of our whānau.’

We wish to thank the Prime Minister for giving her newly-born daughter a Māori name, thereby recognising the indigenous language of this country. Ka pū te ruha, ka hao te rangatahi.

Thank you all for looking after our dad in his 26 years in Parliament.”

The Hon Mr Wētere is survived by his wife, Girlie, their two daughters, three sons, 16 grandkids, and 14 great-grandchildren.