Alcohol Causes Violence: An historic conference
Te Papa, Wellington, Tuesday 23 March 2010; 1.30pm
Rahui Katene; MP for Te Tai Tonga

There was one very strong reason why I rushed at the opportunity to speak at this hui – and that was the title. The thought that the correlation between alcohol and violence would be part of our history, rather than continuing on unabated into our future, is a thought that I find extremely uplifting.

As a member of the church of the Latterday Saints, alcohol has never featured highly in my life priorities – but the impacts are never far away.

Approximately three in every four Maori over eighteen years of age with identify as drinkers; with about one third of these identifying themselves as binge drinkers. This profile translates into a relationship with violence that occurs at many levels – violence against oneself; violence against one’s family; violence against one’s community.

Year in, year out, thousands of New Zealanders are harmed by other people’s drinking; and many more are intimidated; or made to feel vulnerable in their own homes.

The ultimate outcomes of the association between alcohol and violence is played out in prisons throughout Aotearoa; in the life-stories of inmates who have experienced drug and alcohol problems in their lives.

The costs to our economy of this association was estimated to have cost approximately $716million across the combined justice sector – that is police, courts, prison and probation services.

But of course the social cost of the burden of alcohol fuelled violence is the one we see in our hospital wards, our rehabilitation centres, our urupa. It is a cost which strips individuals of their dignity; robs families of their loved ones; deprives this nation of future leaders.

And so I came to this hui, feeling frustrated with the futility of these facts; and knowing we have certainly been barking up the wrong tree.
I came also, feeling heartened that the aim of this conference is to contribute to a change in the public discourse from a punitive, blame the individual approach to violence; to a preventative environmental stance.

I welcome an approach which moves from the blame and shame game, to focusing on solutions which can address the harm and encourage leadership across our communities.

For the reality is that the explicit connection between alcohol and violence impacts not just on individuals but on families and communities too.

One of the most depressing statistics in the 2007/2008 alcohol and drug use survey was that almost one in ten Maori had been assaulted, physically and /or sexually in the past year as a result of actual force or violence by someone who was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

In particular, Maori women were almost four times more likely than non-Maori women to have been assaulted in the past year by someone under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

I want these statistics to be quickly lodged in our history, and for us all to create a new future for our mokopuna.

I have been influenced in my vision of a world without the negative impact of violence, by the ideas encompassed in He Tete Kura: Maori addiction treatment from 1980-2008.

In that book, the researchers speak of a vital and core element of Maori focused addiction treatment as being in the relationship between providers, agencies and whanau. They speak of the need to build a collective foundation through three important steps:

• To build, maintain and strengthen links between whanau, hapu, iwi, community and the sector;

• To explicitly foster a collective whanau approach in the Maori addiction treatment sector and workforce; and

• To work more as a unified and collective sector to achieve whanau ora for Maori with addiction related issues.

The commitment to collective responsibility is then given further shape in the Maori Action Plan put together by the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand. That action plan is described, and I quote directly from it, as

“doing what will make a difference to enhance whanau ora for whanau/hapu/iwi Maori by reducing alcohol harms experienced by Maori”.

This is the tree of life that I want to be nurturing – the family tree; the source of growth and strength for generations to come.

And so, yes, I absolutely contend that in failing to bring our families aboard, we have been barking up the wrong tree, expecting individuals to succeed on their own when all their experience tells us such an approach is doomed.

Whanau ora is an approach which flows from a vision of wellbeing for all. It is an approach based on Maori strengths; nurtured by Maori traditions and immersed in the belief of solutions which encompass the whole whanau.

The Maori Party policy manifesto is driven by the commitment to whanau ora, and it is an approach which we believe offers hope in any policy setting. A vital part of the approach is the recognition that reclaiming tikanga, fostering pride and affirming identity is integral to the achievement of outcomes which actually mean something to whanau.

What we know from all the research around self-destructive behaviours – whether it be alcohol addiction; violence; or the toxic combination of both – is that Maori throughout Aotearoa are calling for a more positive approach to the issue which takes them from a place in which the only focus is that of ill-health and misery to a conscious focus on what do we have within our whanau capacity to achieve a better future.

In the specific industry associated with alcohol there are a range of amazing initiatives including bush detox; community outreach; waka ama which provide us with some exciting examples of how to make a difference. If you scratch the surface of any of these initiatives you will see that whanau, hapu and iwi have an essential role in restoring the role of the collective.

Across my own electorate of Te Tai Tonga I am aware of many examples where the power and potential of whanau are being called upon in the context of creating our own solutions to violence and alcohol related issues.

A couple of months back whanau in Murihiku and Oraka Aparima in Southland called a hui to try to devise some meaningful strategies for support whanau members who were flocking to the Wakatipu area.

The whanau were concerned that family members were heading to Queenstown for work and getting into trouble, and so it was decided to introduce volunteer Maori Wardens in high visibility jackets to be a literal beacon of hope on busy nights and at major events. The concept was that the Wardens would help to get whanau members off the streets, and take them back home, away from the potent troublespots.

I attended the original hui and was thrilled not only with the immediate volunteering offered up by the whanau, but also by the strength of connections made between Public Health South, Te Puni Kokiri, the police, the Queenstown Lakes District Council and Wakatipu Maori advocates.

That to me, is a great example of taking a whanau ora approach in integrating services to meet the needs of whanau. It is about focusing on the situation for whanau as central to any development. It is about bringing together different agencies and departments; collaborating about the things that matter the most – the outcomes that our whanau can achieve, in making the difference in their lives.

It is time for us to begin to change that which is ours to change. We can take on the double whammy of violence and alcohol; and we must. We must take responsibility and we must build on the successes that we know are all around us.

Finally, I notice in looking over the agenda, that there is a fabulous coalition of the willing appearing to emerge from the Judiciary; the School of Medicine; the Police; physicians; the New Zealand Drug Foundation; politicians; researchers; managers; academics; health professionals; advocates.

This is a brilliant foundation upon which to base our policy, research, management, workforce and clinical development to build success in the field of Maori addiction treatment and violence prevention.

But all of the strategies and treatment plans will come to nothing unless they are generated from the aspirations of whanau; and modelled and influenced by their worldviews.

We can no longer afford to develop ideas in isolation of the very people we are targeting. Our whanau are essential to every strategy we must take in eliminating violence and alcohol abuse from our lives. They must be firmly at the heart of every funding decision; every policy action; every political strategy.

Thank you again for the opportunity for the Maori Party to share some our excitement about the potential that whanau ora offers us all, to truly determine a future in the interests of our next generations.

Tena tatou katoa.

ENDS

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