Kelvin Davis reckons his cuzzies in Ngapuhi are the most incarcerated tribe in the world: Quote:
Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says his Ngāpuhi iwi is probably the most incarcerated tribe in the world and he has a goal to change that.
Tonight, the government’s criminal justice summit kicks off at Parliament, before running for two days in Porirua, north of Wellington.
It will bring together all interested parties across justice, Corrections and police to talk about the government’s plan for reform in the system, and how best to achieve it.
Mr Davis said Māori make up over 50 percent of the prison population, and he wants that number reduced.
“Of that 50 percent, half again, are from Ngāpuhi, my own tribe, so this is personal.
“My tribe of Ngāpuhi is probably the most incarcerated tribe in the world, per head of population, so we really have to look at what we’re going to do differently as a country, to turn these figures around.”
Mr Davis said Māori must be included in the conversation, and is pleased half of the justice advisory group, set up by the Justice Minister Andrew Little and headed by the former National MP Chester Burrows, are Māori.
“If Māori make up more than 50 percent of the prison population, we should actually be talking to Māori about what the solutions are too.”
One of the big issues is institutional racism, and Mr Davis said he had been impressed with Police Commissioner Mike Bush’s actions, in particular, in acknowledging unconscious bias in the police force.
“The question then becomes, ‘so, what do we do about it?’
“Because if it’s not unconscious bias, well then it’s conscious bias and we’ve got to make changes to make sure that Māori aren’t particularly picked on, or seen as the ones that are committing all the crime.” End quote.
How do we do it? If Ngapuhi don’t want to keep getting locked up them perhaps they should stop committing crimes. It is quite simply really, but obviously beyond the feeble mind of Kelvin Davis.
There is a problem with his claims too, Lindsay Mitchell proves Davis was making it up: Quote:
At June 2015 only half of Maori inmates expressed an affiliation.
Of these 24% are Ngapuhi.
At the 1999 prison census Ngapuhi made up 17% of sentenced prisoners and 20% of rendered prisoners. So the percentage is rising.But not fast enough to be at half in 2018.
There may be many more prisoners who express an affiliation with Ngapuhi but not as their primary. Also many who have an affiliation but clearly aren’t expressing it.
But what does Mr Davis know that the rest of us don’t? End quote.
Maybe Davis means 50% of 50%, or he’s just dumb?
In any case the government is looking at this from the wrong end of the telescope. The answer isn’t to stop sending Maori to prison, the answer is to get Maori to stop committing crime. Same as the solution to bashed children. Good luck trying to stop Maori bashing kids and stop committing crime with this soft on crime government.
At some point responsibility has to be sheeted home to iwi.