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Kāre i ārikarika te kaha o te pai o tēnei mema pāremata. He kaitautohe pūkenga, ā, i ngā wā e tū ana ia ki te kōrero, kikī ana i te tangata ngā ahurewa mātaki o te Pāremata. Pono ngākaunui ana ia ki āna mahi, ā, paparetia ana e ia te nuinga o ngā hui whakangahau i te Pāremata.
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In 1905 Ngata contested the Eastern Maori parliamentary seat against the long-standing incumbent, Wi Pere. With solid support from Ngati Porou, Ngata won by over 750 votes. He was to retain the seat, surviving challenge after challenge, until 1943, becoming in that time 'father' of the House. He was a superb parliamentarian. A skilled debater, he could fill the parliamentary galleries whenever he rose to speak. He took his duties very seriously and shunned much of the social side of parliamentary life. He was a diligent member of the Native Affairs Committee and soon became Carroll's right-hand man. He served with the chief justice, Sir Robert Stout, on the 1907–8 Native Land Commission. They were critical of the government's use of pre-emption to purchase Maori land below value, and recommended that tribes with very little remaining land should have it permanently reserved. However, they conceded that other tribes with ample lands, for instance in the central North Island, could be encouraged to sell or lease some of it. Finally, they castigated governments of the past for having done nothing to encourage or assist Maori to farm their own land.
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