March 08, 2017
Inquiry would highlight Maori treatment
Justice reform advocate Kim Workman says a review of historic abuse in state care is needed to shine a light on today’s prison population.
The former police youth aid officer worked with boys and young men coming out of Kohitere near Levin in the early 1970s, and remembers it as a horrific place with undertrained staff and a lot of violence.
He says even today four out of five young men under 20 in prison have a background in state care.
That’s why he’s backing a call from the Human Rights Commissioner and Race Relations Conciliator Dame Susan Devoy for an inquiry.
"Long term this is going to make a huge difference to the way we think about the treatment of Maori and Pacific youth It may see some improvements in our inherent racism in New Zealand and see people behaving differently and that's the outcome that we're looking," he says.
Kim Workman says the Government wants to make relations invisible and deny social problems may include racial elements.
FULL INTERVIEW WITH KIM WORKMAN
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