Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Leader of the House) Link to this
I seek leave to move a motion without notice marking the death of Sir Howard Morrison OBE.
Mr SPEAKERHon GERRY BROWNLEE Link to this
I move, That the House mark the passing of the prominent New Zealander Sir Howard Morrison. It is with great sadness that I have to inform the House that Sir Howard Morrison has passed away. He will be immediately remembered by most New Zealanders as a great entertainer, a man who could raise the hairs on the back of one’s neck when he sang “How Great Thou Art”.
Sir Howard was a leading New Zealander. He was born in 1935 in Rotorua, of Te Arawa and Irish ancestry. He was a son of Māori All Black Tem Morrison. Sir Howard started from a humble beginning. One early job was as a meter reader, and he was also a surveyor’s chainman, and he played rugby at his local club, Waikite, at the back of the scrum.
Sir Howard’s musical career started by putting vocal groups together for rugby club socials, before he started the Ohinemutu Quartet, which evolved into something that will be remembered fondly by many New Zealanders, the Howard Morrison Quartet. What started as a humble quartet became so much bigger. From the 1950s through the 1960s Sir Howard Morrison’s quartet sold hit records, performed all over the country, and toured Australia extensively. When the band retired, Sir Howard launched into what was to become a highly successful solo career. He went international, and played in clubs and shows extensively throughout Asia, Australia, and the United States. He performed with big names in show business, like Sammy Davis Jr and Glen Campbell.
Possibly the highlight, though, of Sir Howard’s career was when he took a simple hymn and turned it into something magnificent. This was his version of “How Great Thou Art”. He performed it in a way that nobody had predicted a royal command performance would produce, when the Queen returned to New Zealand in 1981. It became an instant hit, holding the No. 1 spot in national charts for some 5 weeks.
There are far too many highlights in Sir Howard’s 50-year music career to list, but in the brief time we have today we can consider that he was, indeed, a great entertainer and truly the mighty kauri of the New Zealand entertainment scene, the Tāne Māhuta of New Zealand music.
But there was far more to Sir Howard Morrison than his musical talents and the glitz of his performing career. He was almost always foremost a New Zealander, with a deep-seated bond with, and love for, his country, for his home town, and for his people. Sir Howard held a strong desire to be constructive for Māori, and always was willing to do something, or to work with anyone willing, to tackle Māori underachievement. Sir Howard was never shy with his time and talent to help Māori or the Government in a positive way.
His achievements have been recognised along the way, but perhaps the biggest was his knighthood in 1999. The ceremony was held at Sir Howard’s home marae of Ohinemutu, where he was given the title “Sir Howard”. He is a New Zealander whose passing will be mourned by us all. There will be a song that will be played to mark his death, and that song will be the aptly named “Whakaaria Mai”—“How Great Thou Art”
Hon SHANE JONES (Labour) Link to this
Tēnei anō te āmiomio o te whakaaro. Tēnei anō te raruraru o te wairua, e kara, mōhou e Tā Hauata, ka ngaro nei. He ahu tō wairua ki te tāhuhu o te rangi. Tō tinana ki te kōpū a Papatūānuku. E kara, nāhau te ao i whakatopatopa, nāhau ngā taonga mai i ō mātua ā-Rēhia, ā-Nuku i hari ki ngā tōpito o te ao. Nāhau te iti me te rahi i whakaāhuareka, otirā, i tēnei rā auē taukuri ē, ko tō reo ka wahangū. Ngā marae kua mōrehurehutia, ngā whare e tū kau ana. E kara, e moe, e moe, moe oti atu e.
[Oh friend, Sir Howard, the mind is in a whirl, the spirit is troubled as well, for you we have lost. Your spirit soars to Sky Father above, while your body is committed to Mother Earth. Oh friend, you soared over the world, you took the entertainment arts of your parents, Rēhia and Nuku, to the very extremities of the planet. The meek and the mighty were entertained by you, and today there is utter devastation because your voice has been silenced. The marae are left without, the buildings stand empty. Oh friend, rest there, slumber there, and sleep on for ever.]
It is a privilege and an honour to stand in this House and offer testimony to Sir Howard Morrison. He is a revered figure who was beyond colour and beyond prejudice, and he brought us together with a brilliant sense of humour, often at his own expense. He joins the legions of other Māori entertainers, not the least of which are Tui Teka and Billy T James, who enabled our country and its Māori personality to mature. As I said in Māori, Sir Howard’s singing made us, as Kiwis, feel proud when we went overseas and heard his voice, and become far more familiar with hymns and tunes that we actually did not want to hear.
We think fondly of his whānau up in Te Arawa, and his iwi, Te Arawa, but also of the entirety of the country, because when he stood before the Queen and sang with those other kauri trees of the Māori and Pākehā entertainment world, all of our spirits were uplifted. His is a great example, and, as I said in Māori, Sir Howard will not wholly die. His more cherished qualities will find sweet repose in our ngākau, our hearts; our hinengaro, our minds; and our wairua, our spirits. The bird may be quiet and the tree may have fallen, but his finer sentiments will live on in our personality as New Zealanders. I farewell Sir Howard.
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Green) Link to this
The Green Party joins with others in the House to celebrate the life of Sir Howard Morrison, to express our sadness at his death, and to offer our condolence to his whānau and to Ngāti Whakauē of Te Arawa.
For half a century Sir Howard entertained and inspired New Zealanders and made us laugh. That is a great gift, and it is one for which he was greatly loved. As long ago as 1956 he formed the Howard Morrison Quartet, which was the start of a brilliant musical career. I can still remember hearing as a child around that time the Howard Morrison Quartet on an old valve radio. He received many awards as a musician—the HMV Entertainer of the Year in 1986, the Entertainer of the Decade in 1989, and the Feltex Award for Best Television Entertainer in 1983—and he was presented in 2007 with Creative New Zealand’s premier award for Māori artists, Te Tohu Tiketike a Te Waka Toi. It is awarded to Māori artists who have demonstrated a lifetime commitment to their art and who are leaders in their field.
Sir Howard was always proud to be Māori; his quartet recorded “My Old Man’s an All Black” in protest against the Māori players being barred from the tour to South Africa. As he grew older, his commitment to Māori, Māori youth, and the education of Māori youth came to the fore. He established programmes for at-risk youth, set up the Sir Howard Morrison Education Foundation for Te Arawa rangatahi, and was a trustee of the Manaakitanga Aotearoa Trust and the Tū Tangata business studies programme for young Māori. His was a life of service in so many ways. He will be greatly missed. Kia ora.
Hon HEATHER ROY (Deputy Leader—ACT) Link to this
I stand today on behalf of the ACT Party to join with all members of this Parliament in paying tribute to one of the greatest and most loved entertainers this country has seen. From his early days as a member of the Aotearoa Maori Concert Party to the enormously popular Howard Morrison Quartet, and throughout his illustrious solo career, Sir Howard Morrison took New Zealand and Māori culture to the world. Sir Howard was no ordinary entertainer. As well as using music to cross national and cultural boundaries, he devoted much of his life to his people, and made enormous contributions, as we have just heard from the previous speaker, to Māori youth programmes around the country. He was an entertainer, a statesman, and a true New Zealand icon who led by example. In his lifetime Sir Howard touched the hearts of people throughout the world and with his passing, New Zealand as a nation has lost one of its beloved sons. The ACT Party mourns the loss of this great man. Our hearts and thoughts go out to his wife, Lady Kuia, his children, his whānau, his loved ones. Sir Howard will live on in our hearts. May he rest in peace.
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Māori Party—Waiariki) Link to this
E te Kaihautū o te Whare, otirā, tātau e hui nei i tēnei rāngi, e te Whare Pāremata, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora tātau. Kua pōkarekare ngā wai o te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe. Kua pahū ngā waiariki o Ōhinemutu. Kua tāiri te kohu ki runga o Tamatekapua. Kua rū Te Papaiouru i te hinganga o Tā Howard Morrison, uri o Whakauē Kaipapa, reo rongonui o te ao Māori ki ngā tōpito katoa o te ao.
E te rangatira, ka pā mai te rongo kino nei, ka pakaru mai te tangi o ngā iwi huri noa, Māori mai, Pākehā mai i te mamae, i te arohanui ki a koe. Nōu te reo aroha. He reo whakapai i te wairua, whakamāmā i te taumahatanga. He reo whakamenemene, whakakatakata. He reo whakakotahi i ngā iwi. He reo kawe i te mana Māori ki te ao, he reo waiata i tonoa mai e ngā ariki, e ngā upoko, e ngā mana nui o ngā iwi, o ngā whenua puta noa.
I nāianei, kua wahangū koe, kua ngau mai a mamae, hāunga anō te hotuhotu o te tangi o te ngākau. Tā Hauata, takoto mai rā e koro, takoto mai rā i te poho o tō whānau, o tō marae, o tō iwi. Moe mai rā i te moenga tē whakaarahia, i te urunga tē taka. Ko koe tera e whai nei i te huarahi kua oti i a Atareta mā, i a Taini mā te takahi. Mā rāua, mā rātou koe e pōhiri. Haere, haere, haere ki te pō. E koro, whakangaro atu rā.
[Mr Speaker of the House, and indeed we who are gathered here today, greetings to you, greetings to you, and greetings to us, the House. The waters of Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe have rippled. The geysers at Ōhinemutu have become active. Fog hangs over Tamatekapua. The marae of Te Papaiouru shudders as Sir Howard Morrison, descendant of Whakauē Kaipapa, and famed voice of Māoridom to all corners of the world, is felled.
When this devastating news came, oh chiefly one, cries broke out throughout, from Māori and Pākehā, because of the pain and their great compassion towards you. Your voice was a loving one, soothing to the spirit and easing difficulties. It brought smiles to people, humoured and united them. It was a voice that took the prestige of the Māori to the world. It was a singing voice that was sent by the high chiefs, heads, and powerful tribal and land forces throughout.
Now you are silent. Oh, how the pain gnaws within, accompanied by the sobs of the heart. Lie there, Sir Howard, grandfather. Lie there in the bosom of your family, your marae, and your people. Sleep the long sleep of no awakening and no ending. That is you now, following the path walked upon already by Atareta, Taini, and others. Those two will welcome you, as will others. Depart, go forth, and journey on to the night. Disappear from view, grandfather .]
I am told that the very first release of the Howard Morrison Quartet in 1958 would be a fitting tribute to the life of this remarkable man. “There’s Only One of You”/“Big Man”, says it all about Tā Howard Morrison. Sir Howard Morrison is a name that every New Zealander can identify with. Older New Zealanders remember the stunning songs of the Howard Morrison Quartet, the likes of “Hoki Mai”, “Haere Ra A Hine”, “Little Darlin’ ”, and the legendary “My Old Man’s an All Black”. The matter of being the son of an All Black is something worth considering in terms of Sir Howard Morrison. He was the son of Māori All Black Temuera Morrison, and he was angered at the time of the decision in 1960 that Māori were not allowed to tour South Africa with the All Black tour. Now, others campaigned with the slogan: “No Māori—no tour”. There was a petition with 150,000 signatures. There were protests. And Sir Howard Morrison sang.
That was something special about Sir Howard, and some might call it that “Morrison magic”. He had a wicked smile, a neat sense of humour, and he had, of course, a wonderful talent—the professional entertainer—but, boy, he could cut you like a knife if you were not up to standard. That can happen in te ao Māori. He was like that because he always wanted the very best for his people and for the nation. To that end, I believe Sir Howard Morrison became a powerful figure in the nation’s history with his ability to persuade, to challenge, and to move us all.
He made Ngāti Whakauē proud to be Ngāti Whakauē. He made us all proud to be Te Arawa. He made us all proud to be Māori. He made us proud of Aotearoa. “Howie the Māori” as he was often called, pioneered, along with many others, that Māori entertainer style, with that wicked sense of humour that endeared him to audiences and often made him centre stage even when he was not performing. But his talents extended way beyond the concert hall in the way that he was determined to express his love for his people across many spheres of influence.
When the Howard Morrison Quartet was in full flight, their manager, Harry Miller, wanted to take them to Las Vegas and London, where, no doubt, their talents would have been fully appreciated. But Sir Howard was reluctant to leave the home shores and the people he loved. The show business circuit was a long way away from his upbringings in Rotorua and Ruatāhuna. Sir Howard always spoke of the days of isolation in Te Urewera as providing him with the space to dream big. In a documentary last year he reflected: “As I was an audience of one, I fell in love with the way I sounded.” Ko ia a Tā Howard Morrison. With the security of his whānau around him and the solid foundation provided at both the Urewera native school and Te Aute College, Sir Howard developed the confidence that would take his big dreams to the world.
Before the fame of the world stage, he worked as a storeman in the Hawke’s Bay on the line at the Whakatū freezing works, as a survey chainman, and as an electricity meter reader. These experiences remained a powerful influence with him and no doubt influenced his decision to take up a role of director of youth development in the Department of Māori Affairs. Under his leadership, the programme called Tū Tangata evolved, including, true to form, a nationwide tour with the entire Morrison family touring party alongside, included his beloved mother, Kāhu, a distinguished singer herself.
This is another aspect of the man: the love and commitment he expressed for his family, his whānau, across the many areas of influence. The Morrison magnetism is a fundamental expression of Te Arawa, of Ngāti Whakauē, of Rotorua, and of Waiariki. We often say that deaths come in threes. Today the loss is even more profound. Recently, of course, his sister Atareta Maxwell passed away, a year or two ago—and she will never be forgotten—and no more than probably four months ago now, his niece Taini. They will all be sadly missed.
And so today is a very dark day for us at home as we begin to mourn this remarkable man. Māori Television had the wisdom to preserve special memories with Sir Howard Morrison in a series they dubbed, He kotuku rerenga tahi. It literally means that the flight of the kotuku, the white heron, is seen but once. Sir Howard will be remembered as an extraordinary entrepreneur, a brilliant showman, a sophisticated diplomat, and a distinguished ambassador for Aotearoa. But we will miss him most for his generosity of laughter, the breadth of his love, and the way he made us all feel. There will only ever, ever be one Tā Howard Morrison. Kia ora tātou.