Pita Sharples admits to domestic violence

Pita Sharples

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples has admitted to domestic violence when he was younger, but says it does not make a mockery of his 40 years working against such behaviour in Maori communities.

Last night on TV3's 60 Minutes, Dr Sharples said there had been violence in his own home when he had had a young family.

"There's been violence in my family, in my household. Domestic violence, words said."

Asked if it was violence that he took responsibility for, Dr Sharples said: "Yes. That I take ownership of."

Dr Sharples is a leading advocate against violence in Maori communities and stepped in to speak when the Kahui twins were killed.

On the programme Dr Sharples spoke of his own upbringing, breaking into tears as he described how his father beat his mother. He said it made him determined never to visit violence upon his own family.

Last night, he told the Herald it was 30 to 40 years ago, and the details were hazy. "There was violence in my home, I regret that I was ahead of some of it, leading in it, and that's it, full stop.

"I don't even know the details. I've left it behind me. For 40 years I've been working against violence and I'm going to keep doing that."

The 65-year-old said he had never hit any of his children, was young and had a young family at the time.

"I never admitted hitting anybody. I just said there was violence around. There are times it happens in every household and I know that. But I've never hit my kids.

"I just know I was mixed up in all sorts of things in the community, trying to do this and to do that, and that's how it was in Maori society in those early days.

"It's just there was a lot of violence in those early days when you're trying to do everything, be at varsity and make ends meet with kids and stuff like that and you're in the working class."

He said he had worked with gangs for the police "to identify people with their heads shot half off in my own culture group. That kind of violence. And it was all around you in those days, in the '70s."

Dr Sharples told 60 Minutes he had locked it out of his mind, and was ashamed it happened but he did not believe he had painted a false picture of himself as someone who had broken the cycle of violence.

"If I've been found to have stuff like we've revealed here [in the programme], then I own them, I own them 100 per cent and I'd tell everybody I've moved on. Now I can work with people and tell them you must move on, you must move on."

Dr Sharples made the admission in a second interview with 60 Minutes which had earlier asked him in an initial meeting whether he had ever been violent to his own family.

When first asked if he had stuck to that commitment 100 per cent, he said "to the best of my knowledge, yes".

"I know I never hit my wife, I've had two, both wives, and my kids."

After 60 Minutes investigated further, Dr Sharples returned for a second interview and said: "I've come to the conclusion that there's been violence in my past and I'm ashamed that that's happened and I just felt it necessary to come and tell you that."