Leading from the front issuu

PAT IN ACTION
by russell fairbrother
queen’s counsel and
former napier labour mp
Pat is the most loyal, kind, sincere and doggedly determined
person I’ve ever had the privilege to know. I’ve
known Pat for 50 years. I’ve seen him move on but, never
in the process, forgetting his life as a married family man
and background of running a successful business. He
is most likely the most well-known individual in Napier.
He is the living conscience of Napier.
The causes he champions are many and varied. None
is too unpopular or too small. Underlying each is a drive
to make better an individual, a group or a city. He does
not do that by imposing any set beliefs. Instead, he
shines a light on processes that from within generate a
respect for difference, diversity and community connections.
His skill is to enable the individual or collective to
convince itself of its own self-worth. Everybody is improved
by Pat’s processes.
I have seen Pat courageously address hostile audiences
about alternatives to the expressed kaupapa of the
gathering. Whilst Pat’s remarks may be dismissed or trivialised
by the mood of the meeting, some attendees will
have left that meeting with a nagging thought that perhaps
things were not as the meeting was meant to show.
Pat does not get his point across through stirring oratory.
He drives his message home with an innate sense
of timing. With two exceptions, he thinks well of his critics.
If their behaviour or words are hypocritical or if they
have the power to make a difference and refuse to use it,
Pat will say so and why.
Pat lives a biblically Christian approach to personal
wealth or accumulation of assets. He has moved from a
home of architectural value in a wealthy inner city area
to a humble home alongside a busy road. The vehicle
he drives is the one available to him at the time, albeit
not running quite as designed. If he was a capitalist, he
would be a Warren Buffet.
I often reflect on the irony that Pat, once a staunch
rugby administrator, played first five-eighth for the
Hawke’s Bay provincial rugby team; the “Magpies”. The
first five-eight is both a playmaker and a first line of defence.
I am sure he was selected for the vision and bravery
required for that position. I can just imagine a fierce
tackle by Pat followed up with an immediate inquiry as
to the welfare of the tackled player; meanwhile the game
pounding on around them.
Pat appreciates the importance of gesture. In tough
personal times, it is not uncommon to arrive home to
a gift of handpicked flowers or fruit or vegetables left
anonymously on the doorstep.
I believe Pat is able to walk into any gathering of a
community focussed meeting and be immediately welcomed
in the knowledge that he brings with him an important
presence. Although Pat works with groups, his
message defies organisation into the formalisation of a
committee. Many have tried. Some have learned Pat is
an inspiration. He cannot be contained within the agenda
of a meeting.
I cannot offer any humorous anecdotes about Pat.
There will be some, but to make humour out of Pat’s
contribution is to debase that work. I have often thought
Pat should be knighted, but I think his gifts to Napier
defy summation in a manner necessary for a knighthood
and anything less would be a travesty of the man.
Above: Painting, Mountain Stream, by John Ruth.
Restorative Justice – for an unjust justice system 167