He has also indicated he continues to have a positive relationship with controversial German millionaire and Internet Party founder Kim Dotcom, despite the widely held belief the deal between the two parties cost him his seat.
Mr Harawira narrowly lost to Labour's Kelvin Davis at the September 20 election, with many commentators citing strategic voting aimed at preventing Internet Party MPs getting into Parliament on his coat-tails.
Asked yesterday morning on TVNZ's Q+A whether he would run again, Mr Harawira said: "Unless this Government is going to be good enough to take giant steps towards eliminating poverty and housing the homeless, I think there's going to be a need for a voice stridently pushing for those kinds of issues ... and yes, it will be me."
He would "absolutely" stand in 2017, he said.
Mr Harawira acknowledged what he told Mana members three weeks ago - that he had little appetite for another term in Parliament as Mana's sole MP.
"If I went back in and it was just me, then I probably would have resigned because it's a tough enough job doing it just by yourself."
However, he qualified that by saying he would have seen out the term and tried to build the party in other ways.
He said the tie-up with Dotcom's Internet Party was a risk worth taking to try to increase Mana's presence in Parliament.
The two parties would go through the formal review process within a few weeks that was specified in their agreement. He had been in discussions with Dotcom about working together in the future on IT scholarships for young Maori.
But Mr Harawira said Dotcom's ongoing involvement in Internet-Mana's election campaign, which Dotcom himself acknowledged was "poison", did not help it.
Specifically, he said Dotcom's "Moment of Truth" could have been better timed.
- By Adam Bennett of NZ Herald
