June 23, 2022
Mahi tahi path for gang youth
A long-term worker with gangs says rewarding work is the key to keeping rangatahi out of trouble.
Former New Zealand First MP Edwin Perry worked for many years as a coordinator for at-risk Māori youth for the Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre, and he’s now running programmes in Minginui in the eastern Bay of Plenty.
He told Radio Waatea talk host Shane Te Pou that the Provincial Growth Fund has been transformative, with funding for Ngati Whare’s native plant nursery and for marae restoration projects providing much-needed jobs.
One project he supervised a Waikotikoti marae near Te Whaiti involved a team of five young gang members working for seven months.
“In those seven months I never had one altercation with them, they never had one altercation among themselves, they were so respectful to me, and even the president of the Mongrel Mob came to see me and said ‘if you have any problems Ed, give me a yell.’ I have the utmost respect for these young people here,” Mr Perry says.