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Archived Press Releases 2007 26th June 2007

Maori sick of excuses

(26th June 2007)

I respond to the speech to "Criminal Justice Reform Bill: Second Reading" by Te Ururoa Flavell on 19 June 2007.

It's a sad day for Maoridom when our Maori parliamentary leaders specifically the "Maori Party" are blaming the nation's legal system and forever making excuses for the alarming high prison rate of tangata whenua.

Our people as many others in society make choices – as a result of our choices are consequences.

Unfortunately, Maori are 51 percent of the prison population through the consequences of negative choices.

By pampering and making excuses for our people we will only feed the negative implications of the choices they make.

This country is imprisoning large numbers of our people for protection and safety of all New Zealanders – that is rightfully deserved.

We must take into account that among our own people, we have many offenders and victims in the same whanau and there is a desperate need for the courts to protect these victims.

Whanau hapu and iwi are calling for protection to rid our own of the scourge. The crime rate is at an all time high with the "P" epidemic, gangs and up and coming young ones going down the same pathway. This has a potential for being explosive. What will become of us? Many Maori are leaving in high numbers for Australia. The question needs to be asked - Why? I have asked this question of many. They are grieved, ashamed and embarrassed of our own.

They leave for safety and protection and better opportunities.

My previous role as truancy officer gave me an insight to the high number of our young ones not taking the chance in life through education; to make matters worse some parents condoned it

We cannot blame the nation for our people's poor education, low wages, no employment and a high rate of welfare dependency and imprisonment.

Education and qualifications are a personal choice. The saying goes. "You can provide water but you can't force them to drink it" Then "hello" they blame everyone else when the water passes them by because of the wrong choices made.

We cannot blame the nation for our people's drug addiction, alcohol addiction and crimes committed. The reality once again is it is a personal choice.

The prison rate of Maori offenders will decrease when they stop breaking the law. Until such time that this happens they deserve to be locked up to ensure they do not harm people and property in society.

For prisoners with mental health issues the government must bring back secure mental health facilities. To put them into mainstream prison is irresponsible taking into account corrections staff are not qualified to care for these inmates and it imposes high risk on staff and other inmates.

For the sake of Maoridom our Maori parliamentary leaders must act in our best interest by providing prevention and deterrence measures to ensure our people are choosing positive respectful choices.

Regards,

Kelly Te Heuheu
Maori Crime Issues Specialist,
Taupo Co-ordinator and Media Spokeperson
Sensible Sentencing Trust
Aotearoa