Maori Party welcomes chief justice comments

The Maori Party has backed the call by Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias for public education and debate on justice and penal issues.

“We couldn’t agree with her more when she says the current system isn’t working, that prisons are a bottom of the cliff solution and we must take another approach to tackling crime,” Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia said.

“Dame Sian has confirmed what we in the Maori Party have been saying for a while now – ‘that there’s no evidence that locking people up or lengthening sentences reduces the crime rate,’” fellow co-leader Dr Pita Sharples said.

“Our country’s prison population has almost doubled since the mid-1980s which in itself tells us that the way we deal with crime isn’t working.”

While the Maori Party agreed with Dame Sian, Mrs Turia said families also needed to take responsibility.

“Whanau are the greatest leaders in aiming to achieve mauri ora and they need to step up to the plate too and strive for mauri ora so they can keep their children safe and secure and transform their lives and their futures,” Mrs Turia said.

"Dame Sian's most important point is that this is an issue for all New Zealanders to debate, not just politicians or legal experts because change will only start to happen when we all take responsibility for how we treat offenders,” Dr Sharples said.