The response of those who heard her was encouraging. More than 50 people volunteered on the spot to convene gatherings of local people to discuss the problems that need a government response, or more properly a community response empowered by the government, and by so doing contribute to a report that Ms Bennett wants to see completed before the end of the year. This is an opportunity that the people of Te Hiku cannot afford to let slip, and hopefully more convenors will put their hands up over coming weeks.
The very process by which Ms Bennett expects this information to be obtained is revolutionary. She does not want to see public meetings and hui, which traditionally attract those already involved in addressing social issues and, no offence intended, may have patches to protect. Her hope is that people will sit down in smoko rooms, school staff rooms, around kitchen tables and wherever else they are most comfortable, and simply talk about what's needed, what's working and what's not. All going well this will attract input from people who rarely have the chance to speak, and will pave the way for a whole new means of delivering services that may not be working especially well or are more expensive than they should or need to be.
Millions of taxpayer dollars find their way to Te Hiku every year, and it would be surprising if anyone believes that that money could not be invested to better effect. At the very least there is likely to be duplication, which offers the chance to get more out of the money available.
While the process is in its early stages a good deal of groundwork has already been done, however, via the social accord signed by a raft of government agencies and three of the Te Hiku iwi earlier this year. It would be no exaggeration to say that this new approach to the delivering of social services is not so much supported as driven by Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri and Ngai Takoto, and that augurs well for the success of this proposal.
That is one aspect of the treaty grievance settlement process within Te Hiku that everyone, regardless of their politics or views on the settlement process per se, should celebrate. It is an expression of the genuine desire these iwi have not only for the betterment of their people but of the community in its entirety, a community of which they are part but by no means the whole.
This is a time for those who still hold to prejudices regarding the settlement process to abandon them, and to accept an opportunity to contribute to a process with the potential to make huge changes for the better for everyone within Te Hiku, Maori or Pakeha, rich or poor. Everyone will be a winner.
Te Hiku is the perfect community to test this approach. It is very well defined, geographically and socially, and has many times shown itself to have the ability to unite over a common cause. At times it might appear to be riven by differences born of ethnicity and politics, but the differences between those who live here do not run as deep as they appear to elsewhere in this country, and there is a fundamental level of goodwill that this process can tap into and build upon.
This is a golden opportunity that must be taken. The offer that has been extended by Ms Bennett is unique and of inestimable value, and failing to make the most of it would be a tragedy. The gauntlet has been thrown down, and it is up to the people of this community to pick it up. If they don't it will be a very long time before they have any right to complain about politicians and bureaucrats who do not understand the people they purport to serve.
Much the same arguments can be used to support the response from the whanau of Te Rangi Aniwaniwa to the violence offered to some of its students in Kaitaia's main street on July 5 by what the police described as a mob of drunken youths.
The kura's response has been exemplary, parents and teachers adopting sensible measures to ensure the immediate safety of everyone in Kaitaia's streets, followed by plans to address the root causes of such abominable behaviour, focusing very much on the families of the children responsible.
To their great credit they began by dampening any potential for retribution, and are putting their time and energy where their mouths are by organising street patrols and exploring ways and means of dealing with violence and general misbehaviour longer-term.
They clearly have the support of the police, the council and community board, which should go without saying, but the challenge will be to ensure that this is not just another flash in the pan.
Kaitaia has been here before. Remember the response to the death some years ago of the young man, Hamish Cameron, as the result of an act of stupid, mindless violence in the town's main street? The town reacted with horror, and a determination to denounce violence. The outrage didn't last.
Nothing that happened on July 5 put lives in danger, but it is a small step from aggravated hooliganism to murder. Drunken youths have little control over their actions, or how those actions might escalate. The lid that has been put on Kaitaia's street violence in the past keeps slipping off, and needs to be attached permanently.
All power to the whanau of Te Rangi Aniwaniwa in what they are doing, but they need and deserve support, and an on-going commitment to addressing issues that invariably start with families, often effectively beyond the reach of the police and other government agencies.
Kaitaia has to do that for itself, and this time hopefully it will. Like talking about how government funding might best be spent, good people need to do their bit to build a better, safer community, and accepting that they will never reach the point where they can relax, sit back and say "Job done".
