[1] He was the first Māori to write an original television drama: his 1979 work The Gathering looked at tensions around an elderly woman's tangihanga.

[2] This play marks a beginning point for contemporary Māori theatre, the company Te Ika a Maui Players was formed to present it, which they did around the country in community halls, and marae.

The cast of The Protesters included Merata Mita, Jim Moriarty, Billy T. James and Don Selwyn.

[1] In the field of short story writing, from 1956 to 1971 Habib was a regular contributor to Te Ao Hou / The New World, a magazine for Māori.

[8] In 2013, Creative New Zealand awarded him a Ngā Tohu a Tā Kingi Ihaka Te Waka Toi Award in recognition of his lifetime of service to Māori arts,[9] describing his play Death of the Land as a "landmark in the development of Māori theatre.