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Northland Social Worker Arthur Harawira says he hopes suicide isn't made a political issue in spite of the appalling statistics amongst rangatahi in the rohe.
Arthur Harawira, lost his son to suicide 21 years ago and started Fathers Against Suicide.
He is an active member of Riders Against Teenage Suicides.
Northland experienced 19 rangatahi suicides in 2012 and just last year,six people under 25 died of suspected suicide within three months in Kaitaia.
Arthur Harawira says the money started flooding in to different programmes to combat the issue and while it's needed what's more important is inter-agency goodwill and what's not needed is the issue being made an election issue.
"We need a lot of goodwill on the side of the DHB's but let's not make it an election issue. What happens with election issues is that as soon as the election is over those issues are gone. I want this to be stronger after the election than before the election" he says.
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