Howie Tamati - Māori Party Candidate for Te Tai Hauāuru

16 August 2017 - Howie Tamati Backs the Call for Inquiry into Abuse of Children in State Care

Māori Party candidate for Te Tai Hauāuru, Howie Tamati, supports the call by Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy for the United Nations to pressure New Zealand's Government to hold an inquiry into child abuse in state-run institutions.

"One of my four campaign pou or policies is calling for the Government to launch a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the abuse of children in state care, so I completely back Dame Susan Devoy in her request to the UN to push our Government into action on this important issue."

"I have seen first hand the links between child abuse and the high incarceration rates of our people.”

“For seven years, I chaired Te Ihi Tu, a New Plymouth community-based Trust, that pioneered Kaupapa Maori habilitation programmes for Māori prisoners. We worked with long term recidivist offenders who were wanting to change their behaviours. It was an intensive 13-week programme and it was successful.”

“Calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the State abuse of children elevates this issue to a level of seriousness that it urgently needs.”

“The abuse of our children must stop, and I am committed to doing everything that I can to see that happen," he says.

The Māori Party will set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry in to the abuse of state wards and is an important issue that Mr Tamati will take with him and fight for in Parliament.

ENDS

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