'Fantastic' Maori prison strategy welcomed

Tuari Potiki.
Tuari Potiki.
Sweeping planned changes to the criminal justice system are a "watershed moment", a Maori development director says.

The Hokai Rangi strategy, announced by Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis yesterday, aims to cut the ratio of Maori in prison from 52% to 16% to match the overall Maori population.

While the plans are aimed at Maori, Pakeha prisoners and their families will also benefit if they become law.

A key focus is whanau - prisoners will get more visits with their families, and more people they can call while they are behind bars.

University of Otago office of Maori development director Tuari Potiki said it was the first time such an approach had been taken on a large scale.

"I think that it's fantastic," he said.

"This is the first time we've seen anything as comprehensive as this.

"I think something needs to change; you can't keep doing the same thing and expecting different results."

Maori were more likely to be arrested, prosecuted and convicted as well as sentenced to jail, so the idea would only go so far, he said. However, it was a good first step.

The changes, which included whanau of inmates being able to access rehabilitation programmes in the community, were helping remedy the structural bias in the system which some people might call institutional racism, he said.

"It's acknowledged that we are probably going to need that little bit extra to try and fight that."

Mr Potiki said it would mark a cultural shift away from the punitive, isolating attitude in the criminal justice system.

However, his views are not shared by everyone. University of Canterbury criminologist and former Paremoremo Prison inmate Professor Greg Newbold slammed the proposals in the five-year strategy as naive, and said the goal of achieving 16 % was "ridiculous".

Family support when it came to preventing reoffending was crucial, but it had to begin in childhood, before the person got involved in the judicial system.

Research showed weak or abusive whanau relationships were the major factor behind Maori being in prison, he said.

"Most of the damage ... is done when they are children."

While the criminal justice system had its place when it came to bringing about societal change, he said it should not be the Government's main focus when it came to preventing crime.

Mr Potiki said he agreed there needed to be "prevention at the top of the cliff" - but that should not mean doing nothing for the 5000 Maori prisoners who were in jail already.

"He's quite right - just focusing on prison would be foolish. But it doesn't mean you don't do it."

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