Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Prisons No Place For Maori

The Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon is pushing for prisons to be run by Iwi. This is reckless and ill thought out.

Iwi-run prisons will transfer the punitive functions of the state to Māori. Running prisons is leveraging off the oppression of our people. Indigenous Pacific Uprising (IPU) will oppose this all the way.

The handing over of prison control is not about restoration of Indigenous models of justice, or just-ness. Iwi-run prisons just transfer the punitive functions of the state to Māori. Meng Foon’s statements serve only to continue the incarceration of Māori, while also distancing the Crown from accountability. IPU is against all forms of incarceration, and supports only the decarceration and defunding of prisons, with a clear intent for abolishment. Running prisons is leveraging off the oppression of our people, and Iwi have no ethical or cultural standing in investing in the ongoing oppression of our people. The investment needs to be in changing the lock-down mentality of the existing system. The mass incarceration and locking up of our people in cages is not a solution for anything, Māori run or otherwise.

“It’s a whole process of dehumanisation. The criminal justice system and the prison system are key in the colonial project within the armoury of the settler colonial state,” says Sina Brown-Davis.

“Prisoners are human beings, with human rights, we are sick of the sadistic and vengeful attitude that this country has towards prisoners. We are sick of a racist and punitive system that has resulted in the mass incarceration of Māori.”

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

The UN has released report after report after report about the dire human rights conditions of incarcerated people in Aotearoa. And it’s getting worse. Systemic racism, colonisation, and neoliberalism have declared these people disposable, and Foon’s call for iwi-run prisons does nothing to change, or even counter this.

We have a system of mass incarceration, a wide variety of laws and institutional practices ranging from racial profiling to biased sentencing policies. Māori are trapped in a virtual and very literal cage, where we live in a closed circuit of perpetual marginality.

Spokesperson for IPU, Tāwhana Chadwick states "at the end of the day I don't believe this is the future our tupuna dreamed for us. It's not what they had in mind for us to continue being a fodder of an oppressive state and an oppressive system."

Mass incarceration has been normalised, as an experience for us, and all the assumptions that give rise to that system are embraced and internalised by people from all walks of life, and in every major political party. Mass incarceration is the most thoroughly implemented government social programme of our time.

The prison industrial complex cannot be reformed or brown-washed; it can only be abolished.

Abolition is about dismantling oppressive systems of social control and returning those resources to rebuild and support out communities. Decolonisation must include the dismantling of the prison-industrial complex. It is not only decarceration, but it’s dismantling all those systems of social control.

Our freedom cannot replicate the systems that have abused and oppressed us. As prison abolitionists we agree with Angela Davis that “[Prison] relieves us of the responsibility of seriously engaging with the problems of our society especially those produced by racism and capitalism.” Meng Foon’s sentiments indicate no real intentions for transformation, or for justice. And IPU rejects them completely.

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines



Gordon Campbell: On Dune 2, And Images Of Islam


Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture tends to be hostile to Islam when we’re sitting in the dark, with popcorn.
Any number of movie examples come to mind, beginning with Rudolf Valentino’s role (over a century ago) as the romantic Arab hero in The Sheik...
More


 
 


Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track

The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More

ALSO:


Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More

ALSO:

Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.