Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visits a renovated Hawke's Bay Opera House. Made with funding from NZ On Air.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the blueprint for solving the region's gang problem lies in the work done by "the aunties" in troubled communities.
She was referring to the concept in general, not the charity The Aunties.
Speaking exclusively to Hawke's Bay Today on Thursday, Ardern said she's looked athow to stop a burgeoning number of gang members from warring on the streets of Hawke's Bay from her point of view as Child Poverty Reduction Minister.
It comes in a week where two men in their 90s knocked on the door of the Mongrel Mob Aotearoa pad on Percy Spiller Ave, to plead with those inside it to sign a "peace treaty", for the sake of Napier's kids.
Veteran social justice campaigner Pat Magill, 94, said on Wednesday it was only when "s*** hit the fan" that people got up and took notice, but it was time to change that.
Ardern said, for the sake of the long term, the Government needed to start acting like an "aunty" from the moment kids in vulnerable communities are born.
"What do we do when kids are born? What do we do to put supports around whanau when they have none?" Ardern said.
"When you see some of the work some of those that have come through gangs and who now work within communities to address those issues, they always go back to a model where you have those support systems around."
Ardern said the work of the aunties might sound "very simplistic" but from what she had seen, it was that sort of thing that created a successful community.
"The aunties, they're checking the kids are going to school, that everyone's fed, that everyone is staying out of trouble," Ardern said.
"It takes a while to rebuild, but that is exactly the focus we have with the work we have been doing with child wellbeing."
Mongrel Mob members were involved in a brawl in Percy Spiller Ave, just off Masefield Ave, Maraenui on February 16. Photo / NZME
She said it was not a problem that could be solved overnight or in two year's time, but the long-term nature was not a reason to put off attempting to make a dent in it.
"We have an entire strategy around lifting the wellbeing of children, but we are not going to fix this in two years," Ardern said.
"That is not a reason not to start the investment and the effort, by offering early support when babies arrive.
"We are investing in every part of the spectrum from ensuring families have adequate income and housing, to food in their bellies, and training and support for future employment," she said.
Ardern said an example of government at work was the announcement of 200 new houses in Hastings in December last year to address the shortage of affordable houses, rental properties and emergency housing, as well as free lunches in schools.
Ardern said Hawke's Bay's transitional housing system at the moment was inefficient, displaced people, and was not a good long-term option.
"We are turning the focus away from the loss of public housing to the rebuilding of public housing," she said.
Reverend Matt Eru (left) and Pat Magill take on gangs to make Napier more child-friendly. Photo / Paul Taylor
Hastings ambassador and Flaxmere councillor Henare O'Keefe said babies were not born bad, and agreed with Ardern's solutions.
"People in gangs, they were babies once. They're a symptom of a deep-rooted problem."
O'Keefe said, as a foster father he'd also noted a lack of good, consistent parenting was another issue that needed tackling.
