Prime Minister Helen Clark took time to address child abuse while paying tribute to Maori achievements at the anniversary of the Maori King's coronation yesterday.
Speaking at Turangawaewae Marae shortly before King Tuheitia's first public speech, Helen Clark paid tribute to the King and to numerous strides made
by his Tainui people in recent years.
She also addressed child abuse, though she emphasised it was an issue "in all our communities". Community solutions were needed to end child abuse, she said.
"While the rate of child death is falling, we all know and feel that one death is one too many.
"We need to pool the information we have to identify where our families are struggling and children are at risk, and as a senior kuia said to me last week, maybe we need to become nosey parkers again if we think something is not right.
"I believe through networking, through talking to each other, we can commit to getting this right for the sake of our children."
Despite addressing this controversial issue - which was also touched upon by Maori Party leader Pita Sharples - the Prime Minister said Maoridom was on the whole making progress.
"I said earlier that this is a time of hope and I believe it is. I believe Maoridom is on the move, I believe the achievements can be seen by all."
She paid tribute to the late Maori Queen, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, and to the new king. "King Tuheitia has strolled in Te Arikinui's footsteps these past 12 months, and he's discovered she had many footsteps, she had many places that she went to, so many organisations that she related to," she said. "The important work of the kingitanga goes on, with new initiative but with continuity."
The Prime Minister praised Tainui - which recently signed an agreement in principle over guardianship of the Waikato River - and greater understanding of Maori issues by New Zealand as a whole.
"In the past one can imagine the hysteria such an agreement may have stirred, but all is quiet," she said of the deal. "I believe there is better public understanding of the relationship between Tainui and the river, past, present and future."
- NZPA
