KEY POINTS:
As Maori Language Week draws to a close, there are suggestions Te Reo could provide a key to fighting the country's child abuse problem.
There have been calls for leadership from within Maoridom as a three-year-old Rotorua girl remains in Starship Hospital in Auckland.
The whanau of Baby Nia have fallen out after it emerged she was assaulted over a prolonged period. Her ordeal included being shoved into a tumble dryer.
Bentham Ohia, CEO of Te Wananga O Aotearoa, said the diverse realities of Maori people require diverse solutions.
He said he believes learning Te Reo can help Maori, as many who learn the language find they have a greater interest in their own learning and their children's learning.
Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples is horrified at another alleged Maori child abuse case, but says it's too simplistic to blame the issue on ethnicity.
Mr Sharples said Nia's case was very saddening.
"How do I feel when I hear they're Maori? I feel ashamed. I feel guilty," he told a Sunday newspaper.
"Where does this behaviour come from?"
Mr Sharples said the alleged behaviour in this case was "absolutely intolerable".
However, he said problems of child abuse stemmed from a dysfunctional culture which happened among poverty-stricken and underachieving communities, a group in which Maori were too highly represented.
"It's ridiculous to blame this problem on ethnicity and it's equally ridiculous to think Maori aren't doing things about it. To say that it is related to genes or a culture, an ethnic group, is absolutely wrong.
"I don't say that Pakeha have a gene for big business fraud or anything like that... I'm not making excuses.
"I'm just saying that there is a subculture of dysfunction and we've got to look at that whole area of people who have stopped dreaming and are just coping."
The case has prompted Family First National Director Bob McCroskie to call for a non-political commission of inquiry into child abuse, increased support for parenting groups and community organisations working with at-risk families.
He also called for a media shock campaign similar to the one for road safety and greater sentences for child abusers.
"Child abuse is greater than any political agenda, will require a huge amount of honesty, and must be owned and solved by New Zealanders."
- NEWSTALK ZB, NZPA
