November 15, 2015
Change call for Corrections
A retired probation officer says winning the chance to challenge the crown’s policies around imprisonment is like winning a million dollars.
Tom Hemopo of Maniapoto, Rongomaiwahine and Kahungunu has won an urgent Waitangi tribunal hearing for his Corrections Claim, which has the backing of Ngati Kahungunu, Ngati Pahauwera and the Takitimu District Maori Council.
He demonstrated to the tribunal that many Maori people were suffering or were likely to suffer from policies of the crown around arrests, sentencing and imprisonment.
He says the statistics point to disproportionate treatment of Maori at every level, leading to half the male prison muster and 63 percent of female prisoners being Maori.
Mr Hemopo would like to see the Corrections department take a tikanga Maori approach.
"We talk about 'He aha te mea nui o te Ao?' Maku e ki atu, 'He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.' What's the most important thing to us, it is people. If you apply that structure to the department, I think the whole structure of the department will change, but they need to have the gonads to actually do it," he says.
The Corrections Claim will be heard in the middle of 2016.
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com