Ngāi Te Rangi Iwi Settlement Trust chairman Charlie Tawhiao. Photo /NZME
Ngāi Te Rangi Iwi Settlement Trust chairman Charlie Tawhiao. Photo /NZME
A Māori-led initiative to address low-level offending without the need for prison time has officially launched in the Bay of Plenty.
Te Pae Oranga is an initiative by police and iwi/Māori for dealing with crime and preventing reoffending. It began in 2013 but has expanded with Government funding.
The Bayof Plenty programme, Ngāi Te Rangi Te Pae Oranga, has been operating since November but was officially launched at Waikari Marae in Matapihi yesterday.
The programme is designed for people with underlying issues who need help to get their lives back on track.
Police refer eligible offenders to those running the programme, which is a partnership between Western Bay of Plenty Area Police and Ngāi Te Rangi, run by local officers and Ngāi Te Rangi Settlement Trust.
The offender meets with a panel of local community leaders who support them to create a plan to put things right. It may include support to quit drugs and alcohol, get a driver's licence, job or training, reparation or hearing from and apologising to a victim.
Yesterday's launch was attended by 20 police staff, including Police Commissioner Andrew Coster and Deputy Police Commissioner Wally Haumaha, and acting Bay of Plenty District Commander Tim Anderson.
Haumaha said reports about the over-representation of Māori in the criminal justice system for years had become a "broken record".
Police and iwi representatives at the official launch. Photo / Supplied
"We are now in a position where we can come together. The things you can do as iwi and the things we can do as police join us together to support these people to find their way back home.
"That's the beauty of why we're here today."
In his speech, Coster acknowledged the patron of the programme Kingi Tuheitia (the Māori King) and those who had worked hard to make the launch happen such as Ngāi Te Rangi chief executive Paora Stanley, chairman Charlie Tawhiao, and other kaumātua and facilitators.
"As a Māori-led initiative to address low-level offending, Te Pae Oranga is a great example of police and Māori working together for better outcomes for our communities".
"Around Aotearoa, we have seen the difference that it can make to people's lives when panels like this both hold people to account and also address the underlying issues to put things right and support them and their whanau to make positive changes."
Stanley paid tribute to Coster, who he said was the first police commissioner to visit the marae, and thanked him for all his hard work.
"Te Pae Oranga allows some of our young people an opportunity to be heard in the same way as we get to be heard by the police commissioner.
"Te Pae Oranga is, and we've seen it in the people we work with on day-to-day basis, a very powerful medium of making a difference in the worlds of a lot of our young people."
The launch of Ngai Te Rangi Te Pae Oranga at Waikari Marae.
Anderson said the initiative was an opportunity "to create a framework which helps to increase the wellbeing of everybody".
"We know that when police and the community work together we get better outcomes."
Ngāi Te Rangi Iwi Settlement Trust chairman Charlie Tawhiao. Photo /NZME
Ngāi Te Rangi Iwi Settlement Trust chairman Charlie Tawhiao said he was excited about how this important kaupapa was able to help reconnect people with their whanau, iwi, hapu, and culture.
"I am really proud of being Māori and of what our team has accomplished so far, and proud to be part of such an active dynamic team, led by our dynamic leader Paora.
"This is something we can all be proud of, and I am looking forward to seeing where this takes us and what comes out of this. This is just the start."
At the launch, police gifted a Pou o Te Oranga carving blessed by kaumātua Bobby Rolleston to Ngāi Te Rangi.
Kaumatua Bobby Rolleston blessing the Pou o Te Oranga carving presented to Ngai Te Rangi iwi by the police at the launch.
Te Pae Oranga uses tikanga and kaupapa Māori and restorative justice practices and is available to all ethnicities. Victims are encouraged to take part.
As part of Budget 2021, the Government announced $70 million in new operating funding for the programme to expand to 30 panels in four years. Budget 2022 included an $8m investment to increase the capacity of Te Pae Oranga providers and police. By 2024/25 there will be 30 adult panels and 12 rangatahi panels.
