My mum got the call from the police. My sister died in Australia in a car crash. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) What happened to Mary's son, Stuart? (DOG BARKS) Hello. You Kevin? WOMAN ON PHONE: Uh, never heard of him. Somehow, she fell out of the truck. Maybe he pushed her out. You don't have a brother called Stuart? WOMAN: Oh, heck. Oh! www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2020 (ANTICIPATIVE MUSIC) I'm David Lomas. I'm driving to Manurewa in South Auckland to meet 74-year-old pensioner Martha Manga. Martha, who's the last surviving member of her generation, was mother to seven and now has 26 grand and great-grandchildren. She is looking for my help to set right a regret that's been a burden to her since 1970. Uh, my sister died in Australia in a car crash... Mm. ...50 years ago. She left a son there, and we, um... I've been looking for him. And how can I help you? Well, that boy has ba` um, land here; has, um, culture, whanau,... Yeah. ...and we need him to reconnect with it. Martha's older sister Mary Purcell was 26 and living in Australia with husband Roy and 2-year-old Stuart when tragedy struck in March 1970. Um, my mum, actually, she got the call from the police. Uh, her campervan had hit a, um... kangaroo, uh, when she was driving at the time. Um, ran in front of her vehicle and, um,... tipped the vehicle over. And, yeah. Passed` She passed away. That's all I knew, um, till they brought her body back. We were really hoping that Roy would've come back and brought baby. Roy and Stuart did not return to New Zealand for Mary's tangi. Mary's mother, Emma Phillips, concerned that Roy would struggle to raise his son alone, wrote to him offering to raise her grandson in New Zealand. What happened to Stuart? No word. No, noth` We never heard from the father ` from Roy ` or anything concerning Stuart. He just wanted to keep Stuart with him, you know? I think he had a really strong bond for him. You know? He wouldn't let him go. That was the last thing he would've done. That's why he broke contact with Mum. He was probably just grieving himself at that time. (SIGHS SOFTLY) Martha, then 24, and others in the family repeatedly tried to contact Roy, but they never heard from him again. How did you feel about your sister's son just disappearing? Oh, when it got really, like, serious that he wasn't going to bring him back, I-I said to myself, you know, I'd... (SIGHS) do my best to find him. Cos of his land and that too. There is land that he's entitled to? Yes. It's still in his name. But it` it's his mother's entitlement to... to him, to give. As I got older, I was like, 'Oh, yeah, keep searching...' But it wasn't that easy. Why is finding Stuart so important to you? Um, I want to know, you know? I want to know him. I want to see him. I want to hold him and` you know, in memory of his mother. It's just special if I could, um, find him. And if Stuart was reconnected to the family, how do you think Mary would feel? I-I know she loved him so much. But to come home to his family, I think, would be a thing that she would want ` that he come home. You know? He might not want to meet me. (CHUCKLES) (SIGHS) I hope he does. (POIGNANT MUSIC) (PURPOSEFUL MUSIC) When I search for Stuart Purcell in Australia, nothing turns up, so I decide to look for his father, Roy. On the Ryerson Index, I find a death notice from 2015, and that leads me to a funeral notification in the Northern Territory News. In the newspaper advertisement, I see there is a new wife and children and grandchildren. It's a good discovery. I then look for Tina, but, frustratingly, online, there is no further mention of her. Electoral rolls should be able to provide me with information, but they can only be accessed in Australia. I quickly realise that to further the search, I need to head across the Tasman. So I head to the airport en route to Darwin. When Mary made this journey, back in the late 1960s, she was one of the early Maori migrants across the Tasman. Now about 170,000 Australian residents are Maori, many of them having lost connection with their culture. My journey takes me to what is known as Australia's Top End, and, in the middle of the dry season, I head into Central Darwin, the main city of the Northern Territory. First, I want to find more details about Mary's death, so I head to the newspaper offices, hoping to find old stories giving more information than what Martha told me. But I find old copies of the Northern Territory News are no longer kept here, and I'm referred to the State Library. At the library, another roadblock ` renovations are in progress, and the newspaper files are not available. Where else in Darwin can I go to access the records I am after? (RUMINATIVE MUSIC) I look online and find there is a genealogical society that might just be able to help me. Hello. Oh, good morning. How can I help you? Hi. I was told that you might have copies of the Northern Territory news here, archive copies. Yes, we do. We index the local newspaper. ...where the newspaper indexes are kept, and this... Genealogical societies such as these are a godsend for researchers. Run by volunteers, they have records that have been transcribed and indexed. Thank you. Looking back to the date of Mary's death in March 1970, I find what I am looking for. The article mentions Mary died after falling from a truck driven by her husband. It's a completely different story than what Martha told me about a campervan accident and swerving to avoid a kangaroo. I wonder ` why did Roy not tell Mary's family the true story? (DRAMATIC MUSIC) From Domino's. Martha Manga wants to find her lost nephew, Stuart Purcell. I've come to Darwin to try and find him and to discover more about the now-mysterious car accident that killed his mother. In the 2000 electoral roll, I find Stuart's father, Roy, living at 43 Milkwood Cct in the Darwin suburb of Karama along with wife Tina. I look for anyone else living at the address and find a Kelley Ramos Purcell, possibly Roy's daughter, but there is no Stuart Purcell. What happened to him? (PENSIVE MUSIC) I've put a call in to the local coroner's office, requesting a copy of the report on Mary's death in 1970. In the meantime, I head to the address in Milkwood Cct. (DOG BARKS) (LATCH CLINKS) It's a long shot. The electoral roll had Roy's wife and daughter living here almost 20 years ago. (DOGS BARK) (DOG GROWLS) There is no answer, and a couple of excited dogs deter me from hanging around too long. - (BARKING CONTINUES) - (EXHALES) Instead, I decide to see what else I can find online about wife Tina and daughter Kelley. On social media, I find a Kelley Pritchard ` and the maiden name Purcell. She works at a bank in the nearby suburb of Casuarina. I give her a call at work. (RINGING TONE) WOMAN ON PHONE: Hello? Oh, hello, Kelley. Look, my name's David Lomas, and I was trying to get hold of your brother Stuart. Stuart? Uh, never heard of him. Uh` Was your father Roy? Yeah, that's Dad. Well, this is` this is Roy's son, who would be about 50 years old now. Oh. I know who you mean. Yeah, that's my brother Michael. Michael? I now know what happened to Stuart Purcell ` he was adopted after Mary's death. Kelley only found out she had a half-brother about 20 years ago, and he now goes by the name Michael. All right, you'll check and send me a text message? Yeah, cool. OK. Look, thank you so much. Cheers. I head to Darwin's Waterfront while I wait to hear back from Kelley. Martha will be devastated to hear that Stuart was adopted instead of being sent back to family in New Zealand. This is all getting very mysterious. There are conflicting stories about Mary's death, and now I have been told her son was adopted out. Just why did Roy cut all ties with Mary's family? (RINGING TONE) Only an hour after calling her, Kelley has sent me a number for her brother. MAN ON PHONE: Oh, hello. Is that Michael? Michael, it's David Lomas here. I'm from New Zealand. Um, your sister Kelley gave me your number. I'm ringing because your mother's family in New Zealand is trying to find you. I mean, how do you feel about that? Well, I'm in Darwin at the moment, and I was wondering if I could catch up with you. Um, where do you live? Michael tells me he lives 225km south of Darwin, in Pine Creek. There are, he says, many questions he's always wanted answered. Michael tells me his adoptive father is Kevin Manski, a former waterside trade union organiser. I head to Kevin's home in Palmerston, just out of Darwin. It is where Michael grew up. (ANTICIPATIVE MUSIC) (HANDBRAKE GRINDS) Kevin would never talk to Michael about the crash that killed Mary. I'm hoping he'll give me some answers. Oh, hello. You Kevin? Yeah. (CHUCKLES) Gidday. Kevin tells me he and his late wife were good mates with Roy and Mary Purcell. And what were they doing? They were cutting the grass on the road to Katherine? He was cuttin' grass, just drivin' a tractor... and the slasher. And she got the job of, uh, drivin'` takin' the petrol to him and, you know, whatever else they carried in the car to eat and stuff, I think. So 330-odd kilometres of road, they were cutting the grass? Yeah. And where did they live? On the side o' the road, or sometimes maybe they could get into pubs and that between here and Katherine. There weren't too many then. But they lived` At the weekend, they used to come back to my place. When Mary and Roy were working on the road, I mean, Michael stayed here? My missus said, 'Well, what are you gonna do with the (BLEEP) baby?' And Mary looked at her and.... looked at me, and,... 'Yeah, I know it,' and we... (CHUCKLES) said, 'We'll look after it.' We looked after him. (CHUCKLES) My missus took over. She looked after him, and he was only a baby. He was only about that big. Kevin was married to Frida, and they were raising her children from a previous relationship on their large rural property. They looked after Michael during the week; then Mary and Roy would return at the weekends and stay with them. There was an accident. What` What happened? I don't know what happened, to tell you the truth, really. All I know is he come and say to me, he said, 'Mary's dead. She fell out of the truck.' I dunno how it happened. He never discussed it with me. He... (SCOFFS SOFTLY) I don't think he pushed her out. Maybe he did. I don't know, but I can't say that. I don't think he did. But somehow or other, she fell out of the truck. They could've been having an argument, or` Anything could've happened. She might've just opened the door and fell out. I dunno. (SNIFFS) The baby, Michael ` what happened to him? Nothing. (CHUCKLES) He stayed with us. He just stayed with us. We... Well, Roy couldn't do anything with him. And, uh, when he started to grow up, he grew up with the other kids. He was ours. I've never said anything different. We were lookin' after him, feedin' him,... and that was all right. It is all starting to make sense now. Michael wasn't given away; he was simply just left with the people who had helped raise him since he was born. But did Michael ever know that his family in New Zealand also wanted to raise him so he could stay connected with his Maori culture? Martha Manga's sister Mary Purcell died in Darwin when her son was just 2 years old. For 50 years, Mary's family in New Zealand has wanted to know what happened to her little boy. I've now found him, and I'm on my way to meet Mary's son, Michael Manski. I head out of Darwin on the Stuart Highway. It's the road that cuts through the centre of Australia, running down to Alice Springs and then on to the coast and the Southern Ocean. It's on this road that Mary lost her life. Pine Creek, once a mining town, has just 300 residents. 51-year-old Michael lives here with his wife, Jenny Tambling. Michael is a fly-in, fly-out worker on a zinc mine 600km to the north-west. Hello. Are you Michael? Yeah, mate. Yep. Oh, great. David. How you going? Nice to meet you. Cheers. This is my wife, Jennifer. Hello, Jennifer. Nice to meet you. Hi. How are you? My son Michael. Gidday. Nice to meet you. Hi. Nice to meet you. That's my granddaughter Zoanna. Hello. Hello. (CHUCKLING) Their son, also named Michael, is one of their four boys. He and other family are here today to support their dad. Well, as I said on the phone, your family back in New Zealand are looking for you. Yep. Yeah. OK. Your childhood ` what was that like? Uh, childhood was good. Yeah, like any other child, um, I was out playin'. I had a bike. And we had a big property, five-acre property, so I was brought up pretty good. So, yeah, they really looked after me. No, they did, yeah. When did you find out you were adopted? Well, I sort of noticed, because... cos with my other family, like, with the colour and all that, you know, I-I had some idea something was wrong. And what happened that led you to find that out? Um, (CHUCKLES) well... Well, we were havin' a bit of a birthday party ` 6th birthday party. I had all me friends around, blah-blah ` kids are kids, you know? And I just` Big tall fella walks in with a pushbike, and he's talkin' to Kevin. 'Blah-blah.' You know, I'm not takin' much notice. Next minute, he comes up with the pushbike, and I'm lookin' up at him like this, and he's patting me on the head, going, 'This is for you.' So, 'Oh, great! This guy's giving me this pushbike,' and I'm... I'm gone with all me mates with a pushbike. And, yeah, that's... that's it. That's the last time I saw him. Michael never forgot about the man who gave him his bike, but it was almost a decade later before he questioned Kevin about who the man was. Cos I always had it in my head about that. but, yeah, it came back to me. I just sort of worked it out myself, actually. Yeah, I thought, 'He's gotta be my father.' And, yeah, I said to Kevin, and Kevin sort of just laughed at me ` 'Yeah, yeah, he's your father,' and he walked off, (CHUCKLES) Kevin. So, yeah` Well, that's why I say I sort of worked it out meself. Yeah. Put A and B together and... Yeah. It wasn't until Michael was in his early 20s that he decided to look for his birth father. He found Roy Purcell's address in the White Pages, and one day, Michael, along with Jenny, unannounced, knocked on Roy's door. Like, he was happy to see me. I could see it, that he was glad to see me, you know, and... And he, like, said, 'Come in, come in,' and, yeah, we sat down and had a yarn, had a bit of a talk. And I-I did ask him about my mother, um, he` and he gave me a name. Um, but then again, he wasn't really full-on with it. Like, he was sort of` changed the subject and... and just, like` Well... But, um, yeah, at the end of it, never really got much information on her. The only story Michael ever heard about how his mother died was told to him by a family friend just after Roy's death four years ago. Well, I was told, um, she's asleep on the back of the truck, and, um, yeah, that's she's rolled off. And he doesn't know, and, um` Yeah, he doesn't know, so he's travelled so far before he realised that she's... she's fallen off the truck. So, yeah, that's what I've been told for her. So... And then he's gone back lookin' for her and, obviously, he's found her, and by that time, it was, yeah, too late, and, um... Yeah. It's a different story yet again ` to what I read in the newspaper and to the accounts Martha and Kevin Manski have told me. Michael has always wanted to know more about his birth mother and his Maori heritage, but he did not know how to find Mary's family. How does it feel to be part of a culture but know nothing of it? Well, I feel proud of bein' a Maori. And, um, yeah, I just... I dunno, I just... just got no idea of it, though. So I know more Indigenous culture than I know the Maori culture. Or` Yeah. Jenny, for Michael, how important is it for him to find his background? Very. Like, myself being an Aboriginal person, I know our culture and our way of living is so valuable towards our children, so I think, myself, too, that my children should be given a chance, you know, to learn on their dad's side. I think it's very, very important to any kid, you know, with a background that's been lost for a long time. Your birth mother, Mary ` have you ever seen a photo of her? Do you know what she looked like? I've never... Yeah, I haven't seen a photo of her or... No, so I really don't know what she looks like. And I haven't been told anything, so, (SCOFFS) yeah. Would you like to see what your mum looked like? Yeah, I would. (CHUCKLES SOFTLY) Yeah. - Well,... - (BAG UNZIPS) ...this is a photograph of her when she was a bit younger. OK. CHUCKLES: Oh, goodness. OK. Yeah. That's... That's great, yeah. Yep. That's great, yeah. Can I keep it? (CHUCKLES) (CHUCKLES) Absolutely. No, thank you. That's` Yeah. That's the first I've seen any of` Cos` Yeah. Um... Yeah, no, it's... That's nice. Thank you. And this one here is, um, of you, your dad and your mum. This is also the first photo Michael has ever seen of himself with his mum and dad. (CHUCKLES) Oh, yeah. That's nice. No, thank you. Yeah, I've` I don't know what to say, actually. (CHUCKLES) No, it's good. Yeah, thank you. Well, obviously, over all these years, I had no idea, but` No, it's great. I'll frame them, and... (CHUCKLES) But, yeah. (PENSIVE MUSIC) Your grandmother in New Zealand wanted to adopt you after your mother died. Oh, OK. I didn't know that. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. The family in New Zealand want you to go back to New Zealand. Yep. They want to welcome you to one of your maraes. Yeah, I'd be happy to do that. Yep. See` See the family. Yeah, that'd be great. We've waited this long. (CHUCKLES) Yeah, well, I've waited this long, so don't think it can wait any longer. (CHUCKLES) Yeah. But, nah, that` Yeah, I'd love to. Yeah, love to see the family. Yeah. That'd be great. Hey, boys? Michael proudly shows the photo of his birth mother to three of his sons, Michael Jr, Lachlan and Ethan, and to their children. This is your grandmother. OK. This` That's Pop, Nanna, and that's me there. You see that? That's him as a baby. Whoa. There's me when I was a baby. (CHILD GIGGLES) There's your great-grandfather. There's your great-grandmother. I reckon Dad looks like Raoul when he was a baby. (CHUCKLES) Well, I think it's good we've finally` We've finally found her. Yeah. Family. Family. Yeah. Just can't wait to meet them, huh? Mm. Yeah. I head back to Auckland to see Martha to put her mind at ease now that I have the answer she has been looking for for nearly 50 years. But how will she react when I tell her that Roy, after Mary's death, did not raise her son? I know these roads pretty well too, and I'm doing everything in my power (SOMBRE MUSIC) Everyone thinks they drive well. (HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRR, POLICE RADIO CHATTER) But I've never seen anyone crash well. (MACHINERY WHIRRS) MAN: Oh, that speed's fine along here. I know these roads. I know these roads pretty well too, and I'm doing everything in my power to stop you from seeing the things I've seen on them. Martha Manga has been looking for her sister's son for nearly 50 years. I've found the nephew she knew as Stuart living in outback Australia, and now I'm back in Auckland to tell her the news. She is joined by granddaughter Natalie Cook. I know last time, (SIGHS) you told me that you really wanted to find him. What would it mean to you to find Stuart? It's` It's like a big void. That place needs to be filled. With him. Your sister ` I mean, she loved that boy, didn't she? Yes. I know she did. So I-I believe that... she wouldn't have wanted not to have him in... in our lives, you know, because of the love she had for him. (POIGNANT MUSIC) Well, I've done extensive searching, and I cannot find anyone in Australia called Stuart Purcell who had a mother called Mary. So I turned my attention to his dad, Roy Purcell, and... sadly, he's passed away, but I did find on his funeral notice that he had a daughter called Kelley. Mmm. And when I found Kelley, she said she had a half-brother called Michael,... and that Michael is your sister's son. SOFTLY: Mm. Wow. He was adopted as a baby by one of Roy's best friends. VOICE BREAKS: So the father didn't bring him up? He didn't know anything about his father, and he only found Roy when he was in his late 20s. (INHALES DEEPLY) SIGHS: Oh, heck. (SOMBRE MUSIC) Wow. Should've been here. (SNIFFLES) His father should've left him here. He's always wanted to know about his mother and would really like to come to New Zealand and meet you. TEARFULLY: Oh. (SNIFFLES) WHISPERS: I'm sorry. (BREATHES SHAKILY) Oh, I'm sorry. (CLEARS THROAT) (SIGHS) So would you be happy if I brought him to New Zealand to meet you? Oh, heck, yes. Um, (CHUCKLES TEARFULLY) we all would be. (SNIFFLES, SIGHS) Oh, man. I can't believe it. Mm. Love to see that boy. Love to. (PENSIVE MUSIC) The week before Michael is to fly to New Zealand, I at last hear back from the Northern Territory Coroner's Office. The file for the inquest into Mary's death has been found and sent to me. After reading and hearing four different versions of how Mary died, finally, I have the official version ` and I'm shocked. Roy told police that his son was actually sitting in the truck when his mother was killed. Michael was actually in Mary's arms just seconds before she fell to her death. (BIRDS TWITTER) (HOPEFUL MUSIC) The following weekend, Michael, his wife, Jenny, and two of their sons arrive in New Zealand. Nice building, eh? Mm. A lot of buildings. (CHUCKLES) Michael and Michael Jr pushed aside jetlag to take in the sights of Auckland City. A nice place, eh? Yeah, nice place. Really nice. Great day. Yes. Beautiful weather. Nice. So, what's it like to be in the land of your heritage? Oh, it's a culture shock for me. I've never been out of Australia. Well, since I saw you in Pine Creek, I've been doing a bit of work, and, um... Yep? But if you come over here, we'll sit down, and I'll show you something there. Yep. The coroner's report on how his mother died will be a shock to Michael. It's a very different story to the one he was told about her being asleep on the back of the truck. I've selected a few key sentences for him to read. Uh, 'We went back to the tractor and put the part in 'and then decided to go to Coomalie Creek, to the caravan, and have tea. 'We set off towards Darwin on the Stuart Highway. I was driving. 'Also with us was my son, aged 2 and a half years.' (PENSIVE MUSIC) 'He was sitting between us. We were laughing and joking. 'Then, all of a sudden, she... 'uttered a cry. The next thing I knew, she just wasn't there. 'I actually saw her falling from the vehicle. 'I was unable to grab her or anything, 'as my son was sitting next to me. 'Then the boy started to cry. I was grabbing him and trying to stop the vehicle.' (SOMBRE MUSIC) (BIRDS TWITTER IN DISTANCE) And if you would just turn over a page... and you look just down about there, there's a... someone who's just talking a little bit about... about your mother. Yep. 'There is nothing else I could think of to tell to the court 'except that she was very, very devoted to the little boy.' Yeah, it's been, what, 50-odd years. Yeah, it goes straight to the heart, I think. Um... Yeah. Obviously, Mum... Mum, um, was` Oh, I can't say it. Yeah. It's... Yeah. It's hard, but, yeah. To me, it's very touching, and, um, sounds like she was a very lovin', carin' mother. Yeah. Yeah. Taken from her son way too early. And from Pine Creek, I drive past there to go to Darwin, and so` I never knew that. I never knew she actually had the accident there. And for the last... eight, nine years, I've been drivin' up and down that road, up and down that road from Darwin to Pine Creek, blah-blah, and, um... Yeah, I just never knew until now I read the report. And with my mother... Like, saying that she, um... that she's devoted to me ` like, I respect that. Well, that` I just picked out a few bits there, but I've got the full coroner's report here, which is yours to keep. Some of it is possibly not great reading, but I think it's your right to be able to have a look at it. Also, it just goes to show how loving and caring she really was towards Dad, and I'd like to meet the rest of the family and get to... get to know her through the family. 50 years ` it's... (CHUCKLES) it's a long time, you know? Not knowin' anything, all this. And... And seein' this, well, it's` Yeah. It's great. Yeah. (POIGNANT MUSIC) Even when you're not outside, you can still move like you are. 'Cause even when space is limited, you can still move without limits. But after leaving our 250-degree ovens, the only hands that touch them are yours. Try any large pizza from just 15 bucks delivered with Zero Contact Delivery. Michael Manski was born and raised in Darwin, Australia, never knowing his New Zealand family or anything of his Maori culture. Today, Michael is on his way to be welcomed by whanau on to the Maurea Marae near Te Kauwhata on the banks of the Waikato River. He's accompanied by wife Jenny and two of their sons, Michael and Lachlan. - (BIRDS TWITTER) - How's he been, Jenny? I mean (CHUCKLES) leading up to this. Yeah, really nervous, but we're very lucky to have our boys on board with us. And Michael and Lachlan, for you, I mean, this is` Also, you're getting to know your culture here. I mean, for you, what does that mean? Mixed emotions, I'd say. And, um, exciting. CHUCKLES: Nerve-racking. Um, cos we basically grew up on our mum's side. Um, it'd be good to get to know Dad's side. Your Maori side ` when we talked in Australia, you said you'd always known about it but not... Yeah, I've always known about it. I didn't quite know how to... how to approach it. Yeah. Like, how to actually` Yeah, 'Who do I talk to?' Or` Yeah, but... It was hard, but now I'm just happy I'm here. My heartbeat's going, (IMITATES HEART POUNDING, CHUCKLES) but, yeah, no, it's... Yeah, it's a great experience for all of us as a family and myself. Yeah. Yeah. As Michael and his family wait at the waharoa, the marae entrance, two cousins emerge. They are the first whanau Michael meets. Hello. Hello. How are you? Along with the marae kaumatua, the cousins will guide the Australian contingent through the protocols and responses of the welcome. My name's Natalie. Michael, yeah. Hi, Michael. Nice to meet you. (CHUCKLES) Same, yeah. I'm Pania. Michael. I'm your cousin. Yeah. (BOTH CHUCKLE) I have here what we call a korowai ` it's a cloak, and it's made by my nanna, your auntie Martha, and today we would love if you would wear it, as our guest of honour. I'd love to wear it, yeah. (POIGNANT MUSIC) (BIRDS TWITTER) So, what will happen now is we have a traditional Maori welcome to you on to the marae. Uh, what happens ` the women will call to each other first, and that's for three reasons. One, to welcome you to this place; second, to pay tribute to those who have passed away ` and of course our auntie, your mum, is one of those that will be paid tribute to in that time ` and then to welcome us to the gathering for today. Martha's daughter Nitana calls them on to the marae. CALLS: Haere mai, haere mai, haere mai ra. CALLS: Haere mai! Karanga mai! Karanga mai ra! Karanga mai kia... JENNY: When I heard the cry, just reminds me of my people back at home and how they welcomed us. Yeah, my throat was dry, and I just started crying, you know, cos I knew Michael was whole. MAN CHANTS: A hei runga, hei raro! ALL CHANT: Hi ha, hi ha! A ha toia mai! I te waka. Ki te urunga! Te waka. Tangihia ra nga mate o te marama, o te wiki, o te tau, e... (HAKA CONTINUES) MICHAEL: The walk-in, as I walked in, that really went to the heart, I think. The welcome as I was walkin' down towards Auntie Martha ` yeah, that's when it hit me most, I think, yeah. ALL CHANT: Aue, aue, aue ha! Hi! (SNIFFLES) My boy. (POIGNANT MUSIC) (WHIMPERS, SOBS) Haere mai. (KARANGA CONTINUES) (SNIFFLES, WHIMPERS) Haere mai. Hi, Nanna. (SNIFFLES) Mm. MARTHA: I just couldn't believe it. I was crying. It was just emotions. I just welled up just seeing him coming. VOICE BREAKS: Beautiful sight that I thought I'd never see. (POIGNANT MUSIC CONTINUES) (WHIMPERS) Well, Nanna... (SNIFFLES) Yeah. Been a long time, hasn't it? Yeah. (SNIFFLES) Mm. (RECITES KARAKIA) (KARAKIA CONTINUES) (SNIFFLES) Amene. ALL: Amene. (UPBEAT GUITAR MUSIC PLAYS) (SINGS WAIATA) (ALL SING IN TE REO) (POIGNANT MUSIC) SOBS: Your grandma is home. Mm. Grandma's home. (SNIFFLES, SWALLOWS) And you are? Lachlan. No way! (CHUCKLES TEARFULLY, SNIFFLES) Nice to meet you. Lovely to see you. (SNIFFLES, EXHALES HEAVILY) Mm. Mm. Hey, Dad. Hello. Jenny. (CHUCKLES) Nice to meet you, Jenny. Nice to meet you too. Thank you for having us here. Oh, lovely to... (CHUCKLES) Lovely to have you here. Hello. Hi. This is the oldest girl. Nice to meet you. Same here. Nice to meet you. (POIGNANT MUSIC) (UPBEAT GUITAR MUSIC PLAYS) # Haere mai. # Haere mai. # Haere mai. # Haere mai. E nga iwi e. # Haere mai. # Ki runga o... MAN: Hi! Hi! Hi! # ...te marae. # That's all right. We got our young fulla for us. (LAUGHS) Over a shared meal, Michael learns there is an inheritance from his mother. You got your mum's land. Oh, OK. Yep. Both sides. Both sides ` she left them all to you. Oh, right, OK. Yep. Yeah. Beautiful lady, apparently. Beautiful lady. Had an open heart, welcomed anybody and everybody into her life, I guess. Um... (CHATTER) Oh, I can't explain that feeling, but... inside of me. It's lovely. You know, I've done the work that I wanted for my sister. We've found him, and, um, just fills my heart with... love. (GENTLE MUSIC) The family spend the night on the marae. The next morning, it's clear they are now part of the whanau. (CHATTER) It's wonderful to meet you. Um, I hope you guys have enjoyed ` like we have ` you know, having you guys. I'm happy. I made the trip. I've visited the family that I always knew that I had here. But... But also I'm sad, cos my mother's not here. Um, yeah, I'm just glad at here. I've finally made it, after 50-odd years. Just always remember that this is home. To you guys, this is home now. You know? So we're all whanau. More than welcome to come back, stay with us any time. And, um, yeah, look forward to meeting the rest of your whanau. During his visit to New Zealand, Michael visited the grave of his grandmother, the woman who wanted to raise him. He also went to his mother's grave on a private urupa in Tauranga and also there got to stand on the land he has partly inherited. The family plan to return to their marae again next year. Yeah, with the welcome I've got, yeah, it's great. And comin' here, it's clicked into me now that I'm a Maori. (CHUCKLES) Yeah. Born in Australia, but deep inside, I'm-I'm a Maori. Yeah. (UPLIFTING MUSIC) (DRAMATIC MUSIC) WOMAN: He took me from my cot. An abusive dad deported to Spain. The picture, from what you've been told, is of a violent man. Now Jasmine wants her own answers. Mum said that he did love me very much. But where in Europe is her elusive dad? He's just gone AWOL. Right. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2020 Supporting local content so you can see more of NZ On Air.