PRESS RELEASE

Māori Efforts To Stem Whānau Violence Undermined

Despite the efforts of Māori organizations and their initiatives to stem the tide of whānau violence, government support remains minimal.

“Of the $60 million committed by government to family violence prevention over the next 4 years only $2 million has been allocated to Māori specific initiatives and interventions for 2007”, stated Mrs. Jozie Karanga, CEO of Te Korowai Aroha o Aotearoa Indigenous Education and Training, today.

Mrs Karanga went on to say that, “As far as we know, of the $2 million dollars allocated, $1 million has been committed to the whole of northland, a further $500,000 to training up 60 specialist violence prevention practitioners in Auckland, King Country, Manawatū and Taranaki, and the remaining $500,000 to Māori and mainstream non-government organizations numbering over 200”.

Te Korowai Aroha o Aotearoa Incorporated has been responsible for the implementation of Project Mauri Ora throughout the country since 2003. The project has trained over 270 whānau violence intervention practitioners from almost 60 organisations nationwide.

“This kind of work is burn-out material and organizations are wondering how they’re going to continue to support these practitioners especially if struggling already on what they receive in funding. $500,000 shared out amongst 200 agencies ends up being a pittance and there’s no guarantee that they’ll get funding once they’ve applied”.

Most referrals to these community organizations come from government agencies and especially those from the ‘too-hard’ basket where government agencies have given up on them. Highly skilled and dedicated practitioners are now being expected to make a difference in their communities on minimal pay and minimal support from their respective organisations.

“We hear comments from MPs like Dover Samuels to the effect that we shouldn’t be haggling over government pūtea, is he implying that these people should be working for nothing? This is both unjust and unfair considering the huge allocation going back to beef up government initiatives which historically have failed us anyway,” Mrs Karanga concluded.

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