'Feral' attack on Far North Maori can't ruffle MPs

Northland leaders have taken on the chin a stinging attack on Far North Maori people by Wanganui Mayor and talkback host Michael Laws.
On his Radio Live show on January 14, Mr Laws let rip about Maori communities in the Far North being an underclass whose children were "feral".
"I think they are beyond help and beyond redemption," Mr Laws said. "They do not have sufficient initiative, intelligence or insight to be able to turn their lives around or the lives of their children."
While Mr Laws' provocative statements were broadcast back in January, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has only recently deemed the comments to have been "extreme" but "did not stray beyond the norms of good taste and decency".
Mr Laws had said the only difference between those Maori communities and the developing nation of Haiti was New Zealand's generous welfare system.
He also said: "I would look at some of those communities in the Far North and I would say the difference between them and the Aboriginal cesspits of North Queensland is what? And the answer is, bugger all."
The  alleged bashing and robbery of French tourists near Mangamuka by three Maori men may have taken the heat out of local reaction to the generalisation about Maori and the BSA's finding.
Mr Laws' tough talk  was echoed by Labour Party MP and tourism spokesman Kelvin Davis who, after last Friday's crime, called the alleged robbers "scum" and "brainless bums".
Mr Davis said their actions undermined the reputation of Maori and kept them all "rooted at the bottom of the ladder to
success".
Outspoken Maori Party MP Hone Harawira said he had been aware of Mr Laws' broadcast but gave an emphatic "no comment" when asked whether he thought the  BSA had been soft on him.
Far North Mayor Wayne Brown also mentioned the recent crime against the French tourists. Mr Brown said it was hard to argue against Mr Laws' comments in the face of that sort of behaviour. He said he didn't think it out of order for Mr Laws to make provocative statements about a Far North population.
"I am aware he makes those kinds of statements about various people all over New Zealand. He's a media personality and he makes his living out of saying things like that," Mr Brown said.
"If you're asking do I feel personally offended by those comments? No. Do I feel offended on behalf of the people he was talking about? No, because I'm not one of them.
"Do we have people who behave badly in our community? Yes. Do we want them? No. Perhaps we could send them to Wanganui."
Meanwhile, Mr Laws is sticking by his comments and even expanding the geographic boundaries.
 "There are 'feral' communities everywhere in New Zealand but the Far North and the East Cape have more than their fair share," he told the Northern Advocate. "Persons who live as a lifestyle on welfare, commit crime, are drink/drugs dependent, and raise their children in Third World conditions ... many involve their children in their evil lifestyles."
Asked whether he had been referring to all Northland or specifically Far North Maori communities, Mr Laws said: "Too many Northland Maori families are  raised in appalling conditions - not a majority but enough of a proportion to cause ongoing work for social workers, CYFS and police."