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30th
APR
Strange signals in Maori prison plan
Posted by karere under Maori News
Mention Maori-run prisons or anything that allows special arrangements for Maori and a portion of the New Zealand population is instantly up in arms, claiming that race-based favouritism will be the country’s downfall. Such thinking is often ill-founded, with most recent decisions on racial lines being attempts to make up for past injustices and put Maori on a more equal footing with Pakeha. There will have been no surprises for Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples in the reaction to his prison proposal. It hasn’t all been negative, however, and though the idea sends some strange signals, it should not be dismissed as another carriage on the gravy train. It is in fact an attempt to address one of New Zealand’s most pressing and intractable problems, and deserves to be properly examined. The difficulty with any form of prison reform is finding the right balance between punishment, protection and rehabilitation. If prisons could be seen as purely places where wrongdoers are punished and where the dangerous are kept away from the law-abiding, their operation would be much simpler. But they are more than that. If criminals are to become law-abiding citizens, prisons must also be centres of rehabilitation, changing prisoners’ behaviour so that they don’t get into the familiar pattern of crime, time, and then more of both. This is what Dr Sharples is on about and, having worked on the Maori crime imbalance for 35 years, he knows what he is talking about.
Read all the news [here]
How is Iwi running the prisons that incarcerate its own children got to be a good thing for this country there is no good to it, it is a colonial foreign state prison system, designed by the invading britishers to lock iwi up. If they do not get off the land they are rounded up and imprisoned now they want us to run them, thats a crack up. The real question is not who runs the prisons it is what country in its right mind would continue to maintain a system that requires the imprisonment of near to ten to thirty percent of its male and female population. There are obvious problems within these societies that cause people to do things they had been taught was not allowed. This continual referral today’s leaders, politicians officials is to stick steadfastly to the rule set out by their forebears. I say what the hells the point whats the use that the dairy owner who lives next door to you owns all the businesses in the area and ruthlessly raises the price of basics like bread and milk, from these beginnings they can expand to owning the entire suburb and while this one person amasses great wealth and the rest of the community starves then there is inequality this leads to frustration. This is whats is happeninig for iwi where the dairy should be owned by the community that is never the case in capitalist societies as we have here in aotearoa. The ones who are in charge the government, the rich list are hording all the wealth, 99% of people in this country live below the bread line, their power and political rights are extinguished by their rich landlords the council and all those who stole the land off the iwi hapu and whanau between now and 1840, those are the sectors of the society we have here that require so many prisons. The amount of wealth they have horded in the last 200 years is in the millions of trillions, attempts by the poor to wrest some of it away from the main horders, the elites, government, big business and middling investors, amounts to the population of people in prisons. So the real question is that we need to reconstitute this country as that of an iwi state with its own parliament iwi independence is the answer nationalise all the whenua, all claims through the waitangi tribunal are null and voind. The government will give up power and leave our shores and they will take their brutality with them if iwi look after their own tamaiti we will not move from the real issue which is that this is iwi land and we want it back. This National government is an illegal government they have no right to be in power in this country, they must abdicate and leave these shores immediately. Those prisons will keep filling up with our toa because we are at war with the pakeha we are fighting them in the streets in the boardrooms our toa are going at you guys hard out be prepared to build more prisons because we will not let up until yous have left these shores.
Its a bit like the same technique the Germans used in Auschwitz-II mate. The Germans learnt a lesson from the first Auschwitz that it is far more advantagious to have Jewish prisoners as guards and shaparones. It helped the incoming human cattle to accept their new surroundings without question.
Dr Pita Sharples has a long, proven and proud record of prisoner reform and quite frankly, *anything* has to be better than the fiasco we now have. Ignore the “lock ‘em up and throw away the key” brigade as ignorant (at best) and let the man who knows what he’s doing, get on with changing things in this country.
As for the idea that Maori don’t deserve any special consideration – does that mean we abolish all the Deaf Education centres? The Para Olympics? Do we refuse to allow Muslims and Sikhs to build their own places of worship? Do we outlaw everyone who is “not like us” – what a horrible place Aotearoa would be if we did.
People often need something that is special to their spirit, race, religion or ability – because we are NOT all the same.
Kia Kaha Papa Pita – he taonga koe
Dr Pita Sharples and the Maori Party have got this wrong the idea of Maori Iwi owning and running private prisons for Maori and making a profit out of Maori misery is adhorent and stupid.We already have Maori focus units for Maori prisoners in our prisons and at the end of the day only the inmate can decide if he wants to go straight no matter how much assistance he gets and sadly alot dont or wont. The National Government must be having a good laugh at their coalition partners the Maori Party taking the flak.The only reason the National Government wants private prisons is because it is cheaper and private prisons will have to make profit for their owners that means prisoners will get less or people working in them will be paid less like back in the 90s when National was last in power their private prison would only take well behaved compliant prisoners what a joke thats why the only other private prisons in Australia are looking after illegal immigrants”The Boat People” not mainstream population prisoners,killers,rapist,Armed robbers burglers etc so will you feel safer with private prisons Yeah Right.
Hi Friends,
Interesting response from the Minister underneath.
There are no elected committees and no access as of right by community representatives. Doesn’t sound like a very correcting environment with walls to keep people out rather than in.
Our media release is being prepared now.
Cheers,
Brett
Brett Collins
JUSTICE ACTION
Trades Hall, Suite 204, 4 Goulburn St, Sydney NSW 2000
PO Box 386, Broadway NSW 2007
T 02 9283 0123 ext 14 | F 02 9283 0112 | M 0438 705003
E brett@justiceaction.org.au
http://www.justiceaction.org.au
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From: “REEVE, Kelley (WELLHO)”
Date: Fri, 1 May 2009 14:23:06 +1200
To: Brett Collins
Subject: FW: NZ prisoner consultation/privatisation
1 May 2009
Brett Collins
Coordinator
Justice Action
Brett@justiceaction.org.au
Dear Mr Collins
Thank you for your email of 26 April 2009 to the Minister of Corrections regarding prisoner consultation on the privatisation of prisons.
I have been asked to respond in regards to your request for a meeting with Mt Eden and Auckland prisoners, between 3 to 5 May. Unfortunately this is not possible to arrange at short notice. A meeting would mean the interruption of employment and scheduled programmes and a disruption to the regular routine of the prison. Advance preparation would be required to facilitate any such event. To maintain security and good order of the prison, adequate staffing arrangements would be required. A suitable venue would need to be found within the prison along with a representative group of prisoners as these prisons do not have ‘elected committees’.
Additionally, all potential visitors need to apply and undergo security checks; only approved visitors are allowed access into prison.
Hon Judith Collins, Minister for Corrections, will respond in due course to the wider issues you have raised.
Yours sincerely
Kelley Reeve
Executive Services, Manager
Prison Services
The information in this message is the property of the
New Zealand Department of Corrections. It is intended
only for the person or entity to which it is addressed
and may contain confidential or privileged material.
Any review, storage, copying, editing, summarising,
transmission, retransmission, dissemination or other
use of, by any means, in whole or part, or taking any
action in reliance upon, this information by persons
or entities other than intended recipient are prohibited.
If you received this in error, please contact the sender
and delete the material from all computers.
—— End of Forwarded Message
Auckland Public Debate: Privatisation of Prisons
Monday, May 4, 7.30pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Road, Grey Lynn
GPJA’s invited line-up was:
For: Judith Collins (Minister of Corrections) Hone Harawira (Maori Party MP)
Against: Brett Collins (Justice Action Australia) Metiria Turei (Green Party MP)
Chair: John Minto
Hone Harawira has yet to reply. Minister Collins declined the challenge fast and has not yet supplied a substitute.
Metiria Turei responded: Absolutely! Brett Collins, expatriate Kiwi, ex-prisoner, an activist and educator who has represented prisoners’ interests nationally and internationally for over thirty years – a co-ordinator for Justice Action (JA) and a spokesperson for the Prisoners Action Group – who’ll travel from Sydney, said: Are you sure that someone will take the affirmative?
Don’t miss this urgent public debate.