July 13, 2023
Younger court age state violence
National Urban Māori Authority chair Tureiti Lady Moxon says ACT’s proposal to treat 17-year-old offenders as adults is a continuation of the official violence meted out to Māori since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.
She says rather than pushing people into the criminal justice system, the state needs to support whanau so their babies don’t end up before the courts.
New Zealand’s incarceration rate is already scandalously high.
“And here we are, ‘oh, get ’em younger, get ’em younger and push them through, push them through.’ They’ve been doing it, they’ve been whipping us, beating us and being horrifically violent towards us since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and they continue to do it and for some reason everyone in the country thinks that’s OK,” Lady Moxon says.
She says if we don’t look for better ways to support parents and communities, the problems will get far worse.