Te Ururoa Flavell MP for Waiariki www.waiariki.maori.nz

Tēnā koutou katoa. Firstly, I must acknowledge two recent tangi that I have attended: that of Rongomaianiwaniwa (Niwa) Milroy and also that of John Haunui. Haerekōrua.

John was a senior Māori orator and chief spokesperson for the Tainui tribe. He had been in this position since Kingi Koroki and Dame Te Atairangikaahu, and was well known throughout Aotearoa and the Pacific Islands.

WhaeaNiwa, well, what can I say about her. She was one of our top students at Te Puawananga o Te Arawa, and spent this past year attending our weekend wānanga in spite of ill health at times. Niwa leaves behind her loving husband, Wharehuia, and a large whānau and many friends who will miss her dearly.

This time of year in particular is a terrible time to lose a whānau member or a friend. Everyone is usually rushing around, buying gifts and making plans for the holidays, and it takes the tangi of a loved one to just stop everything immediately in its tracks, and you spend time grieving and remembering the person you have lost. It sort of makes all the rushing and the material things seem so unimportant.

On that note, my message for my final column of the year is to spend the time you have over the holidays with your whānau, your children, your parents, your grandparents. Enjoy the summer weather, make the most of the time that you have with your whānau and friends and try not to let the material things or the commercial pressures of Christmas get on top of you and your whānau.

I hope that 2011 brings you positivity and prosperity.

Ngāmihimaioha o tewa, Na Te Ururoa.

I welcome your feedback: e-mail: mpwaiariki@parliament.govt.nz, phone: 07 3503261, PO Box 12028 Rotorua 3045