Harawira not sore over so-called bad year

Maverick Maori MP Hone Harawira says while some may think he has had a bad year he's happy with what his party achieved.

"Queen Elizabeth reckoned that the year Princess Di was killed, and her kids got outed for a number of indiscretions was her year from hell - her annus horribilis - which if your Latin isn't that good, sounds really sore as well," Mr Harawira wrote in a weekly newspaper column.

"And no doubt there's a whole heap of people who'll say that I've just had one as well, given all the recent ructions over my emails and my party leaders calling for my head, but when you look at the whole year, the recent controversies kinda pale into insignificance."

Mr Harawira got into hot water with his party because of an unauthorised trip to Paris while on a parliamentary visit to Brussels and his racially abusive email in defence of it which referred to white people as motherf...ers. He has since paid back part of the cost of the trip at the request of Speaker Lockwood Smith and the party has allowed him to remain in Caucus despite earlier suggesting he'd be better off as an independent.

In his column he thanked his wife and electorate for their support.

Mr Harawira said his party had made big gains over the foreshore and seabed legislation -- which will be repealed, a review of constitutional issues which the party hopes will lead to entrenching Maori seats and a formal inquiry into the tobacco industry.

"And last but not least, after months of consultation all round the country, during which four different options were presented to Maori for consideration, we now also have a national Maori flag!" Mr Harawira said criticism of the flag over its associations with the protest movement was mean-spirited.

"And in response to those petty and malicious lies about this beautiful flag, I'm happy to say that while I really like it, it ain't Hone's flag and neither is it the Maori Party's flag - it's the flag chosen by the Maori nation, it's the choice of the Maori people."