Dr. Rawiri Waretini-Karena critiques Gangs Act

Atereano Mateariki Rawiri Waretini-Karena | Dr. Rawiri Waretini-Karena critiques Gangs Act

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Dr Rawiri Waretini-Karena, a former state ward, says the new Gangs Act is discriminatory against mōrehu, who the Government apologized to a week prior.

The new act, which came into effect last week, grants police powers to confiscate gang insignia displayed in public, disperse gang gatherings, and treat gang membership as an aggravating factor in sentencing.

Waretini-Karena, a Māori social science researcher at Wintec and Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, says the public apology following the Royal Commission of Abuse in State and Faith-based Care is disingenuous and comes off as ignorant of New Zealand history.

“I’m not too sure if I’ve shared this with you previously, but when you understand where state care comes from, it was established in 1837 to a group called the House of Commons to the Committee of Aboriginals, they were responsible for establishing assimilation templates and applying it across the Commonwealth, and so they couldn’t change the mindsets of the Indigenous people. So they actually decided that the children with a better bet to be assimilated. So for me, all the whakapapa and abuse in state care comes out of that particular act,” says Waretini-Karena.

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