Hone Pani Tamati Waka Nene Harawira is a New Zealand Māori activist and former parliamentarian. He was elected to parliament as the member for the Māori electorate of Te Tai Tokerau in 2005 as the Māori Party candidate.
Hone Harawira in 2011
Harawira speaking with University of Otago academic Bryce Edwards at a pre-election event in 2011.
In New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially known as the Māori seats, are a special category of electorate that give reserved positions to representatives of Māori in the New Zealand Parliament. Every area in New Zealand is covered by both a general and a Māori electorate; as of 2020, there are seven Māori electorates. Since 1967, candidates in Māori electorates have not needed to be Māori themselves, but to register as a voter in the Māori electorates people need to declare that they are of Māori descent.
Four long-standing representatives of the Māori electorates, pictured in the 1970s. From left to right: Koro Wētere (Western Maori), Matiu Rata (Northern Maori), Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan (Southern Maori) and Paraone Reweti (Eastern Maori).