Hon Tariana Turia
Associate Minister of Social Development and Employment
Chair, Government’s Ministerial Committee on Family Violence

11 September 2009
Media Statement

Minister welcomes review on warrior gene

Tariana Turia has welcomed a review which dismisses the claim that Maori commit acts of violence because of a ‘warrior gene.’

A review by scientist Dr Gary Hook titled ‘Warrior genes and the disease of being Māori’ challenges the claim, by Dr Rod Lea and Dr Geoffrey Chambers, that the high criminality of Māori was due to the expression of the monoamine oxidase gene – also referred to as the ‘warrior gene’ – and that Maori were more prone to violence because of it.

“I applaud Dr Hook for his line by line review and I‘m particularly surprised to learn how the hypothesis could have got any serious attention in the New Zealand Medical Journal and public when it was based on a sample of 17 individuals not representative of the general Māori population,” Mrs Turia said.

While Mrs Turia welcomed research that would help the Government understand the drivers of violence and crime, she did not support research that was fundamentally flawed.

“I’m disappointed that two reputed scientists have done a disservice to a vulnerable part of our society and science by claiming they have come up with a break-through when all they have really done is make our job of finding solutions even harder,” she said.

“The Government, our communities and our whanau are looking for solutions, not the reinforcement of discriminatory stereotypes.

“I welcome scientists and academics to join us in making social change for the good of our country, but there will be no room on this waka for bias and stereotypes.”

ENDS

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