June 26, 2014
Culture missing from social policy
Labour’s Waiariki candidate believes the cultural dimension is missing from social policy.
Rawiri Waititi, whose background is in community development in west Auckland and the eastern Bay of Plenty, says while there is a lot of talk about holistic services, he’s not seeing it in practice.
Education, health, welfare and justice are still being seen in isolation, and Maori don’t see where they fit in the bigger picture.
The result is social dislocation.
"The more babies that die and the more babies that are killed and the more babies living in poverty, the more whanau that are out of work and don't have access to the resources, the more work we have to do. But I think we have to start looking at things from a bird's eye view rather than a worm's eye view. That's the strategy the National Party uses. They look at a person and their problems and not looking at the societal view of why our families are struggling out there," Mr Waititi says.
He didn't seek a place on Labour's list becase he wants to get a mandate first from the people of Waiariki.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH RAWIRI WAITITI CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MTk1Mjg=
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