Hon Tariana Turia

Associate Minister of Social Development

Chair of Ministerial Committee on Family Violence

Wednesday 17 November 2010; 7.30am Speech

White Ribbon Campaign cross-party parliamentary breakfast; Grand Hall Parliament Buildings; Wellington

(Speaking notes only: Check against delivery)

I want to thank Alfred Ngaro for opening our proceedings today, in order for us to approach this special event with the right thoughts guiding us forward.

And I want to extend my special acknowledgements to the Chief Commissioner of the Families Commissioner, Carl Davidson, for your support in establishing the expectation in all of our minds, that all of us here in Parliament can join together to address the tragedy of family violence within our midst.

I am especially grateful for all of our honoured guests who have made the effort - despite the pressures of urgency – to get out bed even earlier to be here at this breakfast!

The timing of this event is especially important.

Many of you will have experienced the special significance of dawn ceremonies – to open a new whare; to join in the blessing of an auspicious occasion; traditional karakia to welcome in the new day.

The silence of the night will be punctuated by the sound of the putatara; followed by the haunting call of the karanga. As the shivers tingle up your spine, the prayers begin, and together, you are united as one.

It is with those thoughts in mind, that I have been thinking about the White Ribbon campaign, and the magnitude of this moment in time.

Without naming names – I was delighted that when I looked at the RSVPs for this event I counted up 21 MPs from National; 15 from Labour; 4 from Greens; two from the Maori Party and one each of ACT and United Future.

That seemed to me, proportionally, a pretty good representation of our parliament that would come together in a unique political consensus to address family violence. In know that politicians often to struggle with what we can do, and it is huge.

I remember that in a previous term, we used to have a cross party reform group, and maybe this is something that we could look at again, to help address the issues.

I’m thinking about one meaning of the word ata – early morning – which is to represent the soul.

That is what we are doing here today; thinking about the loss of loved ones that continue to haunt the families of our nation. We are thinking about the aspirations of our ancestors, for a new day in which violence is simply unacceptable at all levels.

Indeed, the menu for this breakfast is soulfood – the call to make a difference, to herald a new day ahead for the families of our land.

I was taken yesterday with the breaking news that Rotorua’s Team Zest Zumba group have danced their way to becoming world champions, in an online video contest.

Team Zest have taken out the international Zumba competition through sheer exuberance, talents and good old fashioned hard work.

It was fantastic to see their victory being celebrated across all the various media sites, topping the category of ‘good news’.

And I just wondered why it was that when in early June New Zealand was awarded the world's most peaceful nation, topping the Global Peace Index for the second year running, we didn’t see the same jubilation trumpeted across the nation.’

New Zealand was identified as the most peaceful of 149 nations – surely a positive message that all of us can acclaim.

In fact, I’d be interested to even know how well known our world-topping status is amongst New Zealanders.

And yet, if we were to think of the impact of violence within some families amongst our communities, I would hasten to suggest that it would be all to easy to name names; to describe the gory details of violent incidents; to remind ourselves how violent our nation is.

So how is it, then, that other nations celebrate our progress in peace-making; and yet we appear to be unable to take on that same message ourselves. And that’s where it comes back to this wonderful guest list – with representatives from right across Parliament.

The White Ribbon Campaign is all about reminding ourselves that our vision and our aspirations are about the wellbeing of families. White Ribbon day is a chance to remember that every day is an opportunity to focus on creating a safe environment for our children to grow up in.

Carl has outlined the chilling reality of family violence as recorded in our statistics; and the words of David White; Shane Henry and Lesley Elliot demonstrate the traumatic experiences that will forever shape their lives.

It is up to all of us to take the stand, men and women, children and elders; and to unite in the message that violence is not about to be tolerated; to be normalised; to be accommodated in our lives.

And I want to praise the work of those dedicated advocates in our communities who do such a good job and need support. I have a very firm view that resources need to be in the frontline – and a concern that this work has been under-resourced in the past.

I visited the Family Violence courts out at Porirua recently and I was really humbled by the amazing work they do. Quite simply, there is an expectation that all agencies will come together to focus on the potential of the person.

If I have any criticism, it would be when people appear to come through a revolving door and the reason that happens is that they are not referred to the appropriate support or the relevant helping agencies.

There is nothing more frustrating than to learn that it is a barrage of rules and accreditation which get in the way when sometimes what is most needed is loving arms and a caring voice.

So the White Ribbon campaign is about a mass action, in which we let New Zealanders know what amazing efforts they are making, within their families, to nurture healthy, happy children.

This is about promoting peace as the norm; it is about all of taking on the leadership to allow our families to thrive.
It is about planting the expectation that every family deserves to be safe; to be confident; to value and respect all who belong to them.
I have to say – I have never really been an advocate for interventions which single out perpetrators from victims; or separate men from women; or children from adults. And I have to say, I am particularly concerned about growing violence against young women and women in relationships.
I have not had the personal experience of family violence, but my brothers, and sisters and mother suffered from the violence of my stepfather, who was badly damaged by the war and lacked the support to know another way. At that time there was almost an understanding that violence was accepted; they knew no different.

I truly believe in whanau ora – and that our collective strength as families is about creating the environment in which happy, healthy relationships are valued.

It takes great courage, formidable strength; and amazing optimism to be an ambassador of peace – and so I want to mihi to both Ruben Wiki and our new White Ribbon Ambassador, Stan Walker who have made the decision to talk about the turmoil that family violence wreaked in their lives.

And in acknowledging them – I also acknowledge their families for the unexpected media spotlight that their stories have meant for them.

I have to share a secret with you all about our relationship with Stan Walker

He just happens to be a very special person in the eyes of my mokopuna, Piata – and so day upon day, we are listening to his lyrics light up our lives.

In fact, truth be known, I have also had the odd occasion to sing along to Hallelujah with Stan – again, and again, and again.

And in many ways, I guess that is the message I would like to leave with you today. That all of our families deserve to sing Hallelujah at the top of their voice – to be proud of their efforts they are making to restore the home as a place of safety.

This White Ribbon day – let us celebrate the energy that so many New Zealanders are making to achieve healthy partnerships; to find our own solutions to violence; to foster pride and build on our success.

ENDS

© Scoop Media