How sad, too bad, never mind.

**Skyryder** · 28th August 2005, 20:27

Sunday The TV show had a story on the Huata's. It seems that they have nicked far more than they were charged with. It appears that the Huata buisness may have recived some of our taxpayer money. This too the tune of a million dollars. There is an on going investigation about their finances concerning their getting legal aid. This saga is not over yet.

The media might get a bashing on some issues but when it comes to where our money goes.........thank god we have them.

Skyryder

**Lou Girardin** · 29th August 2005, 08:14

It seems that Wee and Poo, sorry, Donna are being investigated for fraud. It appears that they salted away some dosh secretly so that they could get legal aid.
These two are the very definition of hubris. They get caught once and still believe they can get away with conning everyone.
As for Harawira and Sharples, the more they spout this mindless crap, they more loathed they will be by the majority population. They should keep it up.

**MSTRS:Me** · 29th August 2005, 09:27

Originally Posted by Skyryder

There is an on going investigation about their finances concerning their getting legal aid. This saga is not over yet.

Skyryder

See my post (#12). And Lou, you are right. Nothing these two do/have done surprises me. Leeches the pair of them. Oh - and another thing - I can confidently predict that they didn't do it without help. What I do have trouble with is the support from supposedly highly educated & intelligent people like Sharples etc. Seems to me that he/they could be implicit in the events that lead us to this point.

**kerryg** · 30th August 2005, 15:47

Originally Posted by Beemer

"Donna Awatere Huata is the victim of a racist justice system, say Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples and candidate Hone Harawira.

"

Got no sympathy for an MP (!!) who cynically steals $80k of taxpayer money from a reading scheme she promulgated targeted at educationally under-achieving Maori children. It's contemptible. It's worse than contemptible. Better she robbed a bank. Nothing personal against Donna Awatere-Huata, don't know the woman and don't care what race she is. That Pita Sharples et al would compare her offence with David Henderson's buying a small quantity of cocaine for his personal use is patently ludicrous. That they should see this as an example of racism is nothing short of lunatic.

Funny thing was that I was (dare I confess this) thinking ...just considering as one of my voting options now that we have this damn complicated MMP system....of slinging a vote the way of Pita Sharples who's standing for the Maori party out my way. Always seemed a moderate and intelligent fella, and well-educated too...but this has poisoned me against him now.

I once met Don Brash in his kiwifruit days and he came across as a pompous self-important over-bearing twat...but he's got my vote now after reading how that arsehole Hone Harawira (son of that bitch Titewhai...) likened some elements in Brash's speech at Orewa yesterday to "Hitler's plans for the Jews...."!!!!!!!!!! WTF. You may not agree with Brash or the policies he represents but it's a long way from looking at cutting funding to Te Puni Kokiri (or whatever the f**K it is) to.... the gas ovens of Auschwitz, the Beast of Belsen, Josef Mengele...It's so stupid, it's beyond stupid. Who do they buys into this shite??

I dunno. Mebbe Harawira and Sharples think they will get into Parliament this way...but not with my vote, sunshine..Let's have a Pakeha backlash!!!

**Lou Girardin** · 30th August 2005, 15:53

What's cristal nacht in Maori?

**Beemer** · 30th August 2005, 16:05

Originally Posted by bane

although im not buying this racist line crap, I do wonder why Donna was remanded to prison to wait for sentencing - Im no expert, but isnt this unusual step for the type of offending?

I think if the sentence (no matter what the crime) is one that involves jail time, remand in custody is automatic.

**kerryg** · 30th August 2005, 16:14

Originally Posted by Lou Girardin

What's cristal nacht in Maori?

I dunno..but I think if I was Jewish (or a gypsy or gay) I think I might find Harawira's analogy insulting to those who suffered at the hands of the Nazis. It trivialises something very terrible in our recent history for the sake of making a crude, self-serving political point, and actually feeds the very sort of racial hatred that it pretends to criticise. Who's for setting up a NZ chapter of the KKK???? (No...I don't really mean that...but that's one of the risks of promoting racial hatred, isn't it?)

**Beemer** · 30th August 2005, 23:38

Bloody hell, do any of these Maori party politicians (especially this one, who was either unemployed or on the DPB when she got into Parliament) realise how stupid they are making themselves appear by supporting Huata? This is the latest - from Tariana Turia:

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia today protested convicted fraudster Donna Awatere Huata's innocence claiming the court got it wrong.

Her outburst comes three days after co-leader Pita Sharples and fellow Maori Party candidate Hone Harawira caused an outcry when they said the treatment of the former ACT MP was racist.

The duo said she was treated more harshly than white people on similar charges but Mrs Turia went even further today saying Awatere Huata had committed no crime.

Awatere Huata is facing a jail term after being found guilty of fleecing the Pipi Foundation - a trust set up to improve the literacy skills of Maori children - of more than $80,000.

Mrs Turia said on National Radio today that Awatere Huata had been treated unfairly and had done more for Maori than many others.

She said Awatere Huata was paid to write reading books and she "earned that money from the Ministry of Education."

Questioned about how she could say Awatere Huata had done nothing wrong when a court found her guilty of "ripping off" Maori children, Mrs Turia replied: "How dare you say she ripped our people off." (Oh yeah, I bet she'd be dancing to a different tune if the offender had been white)

She added that the courts were not always right.

"We've seen people go to jail for life when the courts have got it wrong."

Mrs Turia also said it was unfair that Awatere Huata was refused bail when it was granted to paedophiles.

Justice Minister Phil Goff has rejected comments that race was an issue in the case.

"Awatere Huata abused her position to rip money off from kids who should have been the beneficiaries of it," he said.

"It is a tragedy that someone who could have used her leadership skills to benefit these kids fell victim to self-interest and greed."

Lawyer Philip Morgan QC said today it was not unusual for people who were likely to be sentenced to jail to be refused bail.

The high number of Maori in jails was more about education and employment issues than a problem with the justice system, he said.

**James Deuce** · 31st August 2005, 00:02

Blimey. I'd been considering a Maori Party vote because I thought Pita (even though it was spelt "Peter" when I met him) Sharples would be a good bloke to have in Parliament, a moderating force in the ongoing development of an integrated NZ culture. I hate being proved wrong, especially this way. That Harawira woman has always been mental, but I'd rather her in the public eye, than scheming in secret.

Sigh.

**Hitcher** · 31st August 2005, 08:48

Like Jim, I had recently been impressed by some of the utterances coming from the mouths of Maori Party members. But that has all changed given Mrs Turia's latest utterances regarding the Huatas. The scary thing is that here is a woman, potentially capable of holding the balance of power after the election, who has no concept or understanding of right and wrong as framed by New Zealand law.

**spudchucka** · 31st August 2005, 08:58

Originally Posted by Beemer

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia today protested convicted fraudster Donna Awatere Huata's innocence claiming the court got it wrong.

She has history for meddling with the justice system. She was accussed in the past of using her ministerial influence to get her imprisoned rellies transferred to minimum security facilities and to prisons that were closer to their families.

**Beemer** · 31st August 2005, 09:03

I only hope all those who had considered voting for them now take a second look and realise they are guilty of double standards. Unfortunately Turia will most likely hold her seat so we have to put up with her stupid ravings again, but I think the rest of the candidates will be hard pressed to make up a posse, let alone a cabinet.

I'm sick of all the whinging about how many of 'their' people are in jail undeservedly - I'm sorry, but they are in there because they got caught doing wrong, not because they are Maori. I'm also sick of them blaming all their ills on the Europeans because they get the same opportunities as the rest of us (often more) and it's not our fault they choose not to take advantage of them. How long have Europeans been here? Have no Maori people ever achieved greatness through education in that time?

Hell, it's getting to the stage that the words 'All Black' refer to the makeup of the team, not its name - and you don't hear any complaints about how racist that is!

**spudchucka** · 31st August 2005, 09:03

Originally Posted by Jim2

Blimey. I'd been considering a Maori Party vote because I thought Pita (even though it was spelt "Peter" when I met him) Sharples would be a good bloke to have in Parliament, a moderating force in the ongoing development of an integrated NZ culture. I hate being proved wrong, especially this way. That Harawira woman has always been mental, but I'd rather her in the public eye, than scheming in secret.

Sigh.

I've met Pita once about six years ago and I would have to say that he was a really decent guy. It seems however that politics brings out sides of people you simply can't see in a one off meeting.

As a Maori leader I still prefer him to Turia or Harawera.