Members of Ngati Porou living overseas are paying tribute to Parekura Horomia as a staunch supporter of the Labour Party.
The former Maori Affairs Minister, aged 62, passed away at his home on Monday.
A Ngati Porou man, Te Atawhai Tibble, is based in Thailand's capital Bangkok, and has been following Mr Horomia's political career since he entered parliament in 1999.
He says Mr Horomia was loyal to the Labour Party in spite of the flack he got from Maori over his party's implementation of the Foreshore and Seabed Act in 2004.
Mr Tibble says Parekura Horomia believed Labour offered the best way for Maoridom to progress.
He says Mr Horomia got a lot of heat from Maori over Labour's Foreshore and Seabed law, but if he was worried about it he didn't show it.
Mr Tibble says it was like water off a duck's back.
Mr Tibble says that showed Mr Horomia's loyalty to, and faith in, the Labour Party.
