"We are really in a bad way. We have to respond and take what he has said seriously."
Progress can only be made when "we get out of the square" and involve the people in poverty themselves, he said.
"We have to form a 50/50 relationship between the system, for a bicultural process to occur. Whanganui would be ideal, because it's small and there's much goodwill there."
He'd like to see a big hui to talk about the issue, fewer punitive prison sentences, and parenting and life skills taught in the community by long-term and committed staff.
"In the end, nothing is going to happen unless people are given a chance."
Effective initiatives could come from the regions, he said, for the Government to emulate. The Government's only role would be to find the money and evaluate the outcomes.
Some years ago he spent two weeks in Bootle, the area around Liverpool's docks. When shipping became containerised lots of dock workers lost their jobs and Bootle had one of the highest poverty and unemployment levels in Europe.
"45 million [NZ$72 million] was spent to assist the mostly Irish dock workers to adjust to unemployment and child poverty - a total failure from top-down community development."
The people asked for poison to kill the rats infesting the streets but, Mr Magill said, the bureaucrats didn't have the patience or understanding to listen to their Irish brogue.
"Perhaps Aotearoa/New Zealand can learn from this arrogance by involving the real citizens we show concern for."