Hon Tariana Turia
Associate Minister of Social Development & Employment

14 April 2009
Media Statement

Turia to carefully consider family violence report

The latest report on family violence will be carefully considered by Tariana Turia who is responsible for the Government’s response to addressing and reducing the impacts of family violence.

"Taking action to prevent domestic violence is of the highest priority to me, and I’m always keen to receive the best wisdom about how we should address these issues," Mrs Turia said.

"It would have been useful to have been able to work with the Leitner Centre to share some of the developments that have occurred, even in the course of the year since they visited New Zealand last May."

One of the key issues emerging from the Leitner study was the failure or delay in serving protection orders.

“Nevertheless, in responding to family violence it'll be really helpful to have these external insights, and my staff are meeting with people from the centre now to ensure we give the recommendations serious consideration.”

Other government-assisted initiatives have been launched since the study began including the work of the Maori reference group to develop a programme of action, so some ground was already being made on the recommendations in the Leitner report, Mrs Turia said.

“What I’m seeing is that most government-assisted anti-violence initiatives focus solely on the victim and perpetrator, and whilst that’s understandable, little attention is given to their whanau despite the violence, in most cases, being intergenerational.”

“There’s no doubt that we need safety standards for whanau – one that treats domestic violence as the serious and criminal breach of human rights that it is.”

ENDS

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