Half inmates ‘are Maoris’

Press, 6 May 1983, Page 4

Half inmates ‘are Maoris’

PA Wellington Half of the country’s prison inmates are Maoris, the Labour member of Parliament for Southern Maori, Mrs Whetu Tirika-tene-Sullivan, said yesterday, calling for a reexamination of police and judicial practices. She said that the proportion of Maoris to non-Maoris rose to two-to-one for inmates in the two women’s prisons.

Her figures were provided by the Minister of Justice, Mr McLay, and made “horrifying reading,” she said.

Mrs Tirikatene-Sullivan said that there were many reasons for the large proportion of inmates who were Maoris, considering that Maoris comprised only 12 per cent of the population.

Maoris were under-repre-sented in the police, the probation service, the court system and judiciary, meaning that arrested Maoris were unlikely to be dealt with by someone understanding their cultural background. Twice as many non-Maori offenders had lawyers than their Maori counterparts. Mrs Tirikatene-Sullivan said

that this meant they were more likely to plead guilty and be convicted. Maori judges had been appointed and in places Maori offenders were dealt with on a marae, but this

was not enough. “We need to ask if imprisonment is acting as a deterrent to those Maoris who transgress European laws. Should we move more completely to deal with them within a Maori setting? Should there be more community sentencing making Maori people serve out their time doing work among fellow Maoris?” Answers had to be found

to these questions and the legal system should operate fairly and equally for all. “I urge the Minister of Justice to re-examine his laws and practices and look

at how he can make the system work for us all.” Detailed figures of inmates include: Arohata — Maori, 31; European, 19; Pacific Island, two; other, none; total, 52. Paparua and Addington — 100; 160; seven, none; 267. Christchurch Women’s — 26, 13; none; none; 39. Dunedin — 11; 22; one; one; 35. Invercargill — 60; 85; seven; none; 152.