January 24, 2023
Feeding whānau cause for rise in drownings
The head of Water Safety New Zealand says the message doesn’t seem to be getting through to older Māori men to keep safe in the water.
Daniel Gerrard says 18 people have drown already this month – and the figure could have been even higher but for bad weather at the start of the month.
He says there were 93 water deaths last year, with six out of seven being male and three quartersof those being over 40.
Māori males are over-representedin the figures, and he suspects tight economic conditions means many are in the water to put food on the table, which changes the risk profile.
“People will go for a dive by themselves. They will go for a dive on days where perhaps the conditions really aren’t suited. They may be up rock fishing on a day when there’s a huge surge and ‘wow, I shouldn’t really be here, but there’s that real need to put off on the table,'” Mr Gerrard says.
The message needs to go out that Māori men need to think more carefully about the situations they are putting themselves in.