Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader
15 November 2012

Whanau Ora Provides a Drug Dealing Paradise

New Zealand First says the four-year jail sentence of a Dunedin gang member who syphoned $20,000 of Whanau Ora money to buy cannabis is further proof that the scheme should be scrapped.

Rt Hon Winston Peters says the Dunedin Notorious Mongrel Mob was considered by the underworld as a model for how other criminal gangs could access Whanau Ora funding.

“Whanau Ora Minister Tariana Turia chose to ignore concerns that gang families had access to funding under the scheme. She can no longer hide her head in the sand.

“She must face up to the fact that Whanau Ora has no basic data on participation levels, and glaring monitoring gaps on where millions of taxpayer dollars are going.

“This means the Minister has no way of knowing how many other gangs are using Whanau Ora to fund drug deals and other criminal activity.

“The scheme has no transparency and must be scrapped,” says Mr Peters.

ENDS

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