KEY POINTS:
How is it that we never have any problem distinguishing Maori from the rest of the population when it comes to child abuse? We argue frequently over what constitutes a real Maori, and who should be entitled to benefits under the Treaty of Waitangi on the basis of their "Maoriness". I hear people say many Maori are Maori only when it suits them, say, when they're applying for scholarships.
Yet in the past few days, as two more abused and neglected children lay seriously ill in Starship Hospital, the victims of sickening abuse and neglect, we had no trouble defining the suspected abusers as Maori.
Amid the outrage about New Zealand's scandalous child abuse statistics come the calls for jackbooted solutions, a la John Howard, declarations that the repeal of Section 59 of the Crimes Act hasn't worked, and a call for more draconian welfare measures.
Suddenly, everyone has a licence to ask: what's wrong with Maori and Maori culture? As scholarship applicants know, being considered Maori enough to qualify for most scholarships isn't just about ethnicity. In most cases, they have to demonstrate some affinity with Maori culture, show some proof of being Maori in the cultural sense of the word.
I doubt that any of the suspected child abusers would qualify. Their culture of alcohol-riddled households, noisy parties and fatherless babies has little to do with traditional Maori culture.
Auckland kaumatua Bert McLean points out that large numbers of Maori don't know their hapu, iwi, language or culture - 102,000 or 18 per cent of all Maori, according to last year's Census.
One academic said Maori have many realities, and one of them is on the margins of society, where some are characterised by the same potent mix of poverty, low educational attainment, unemployment, poor choices and drug and alcohol abuse.
Labour MP Shane Jones says they're a minority "gripped by a poverty of spirit and an impoverished morality". Although studies have shown abuse occurs predominantly in the context of poverty, psychological stress and limited support, it's clear this isn't just a question of less money equals more abuse.
Some commentators say if it's poverty we'd expect to see more abuse among Pacific Islanders, given Government statistics show that 27 per cent of PIs are in "severe hardship" compared to 17 per cent of Maori.
But the incidence of child abuse appears much lower. According to the 2004 Social Report, Pacific Island children are not over-represented in abuse and neglect statistics.
If the figures are true, there are obvious differences. Pacific Islanders don't have the degree of cultural dislocation that Maori have; we are more likely to be plugged into our families, churches and communities.
The authors of the Little Children Are Sacred report that led to John Howard's intervention in the Northern Territories, noted that many of the crippling problems that beset Aboriginal communities today are the symptoms of a breakdown in Aboriginal culture and society.
But it seems to me it's not just the loss of traditional culture that's been so devastating for Aboriginal people but the fact that the culture they've replaced it with is barren and dispiriting, and neither sustains nor enriches them. Trapped in a no-man's land by poverty, low educational achievement, and their own limited horizons, they are alienated from traditional culture and the best of mainstream culture.
Some commentators have blamed the welfare system and the excesses of our contemporary secular society. Australian academic John Hirst wrote in the Australian Book Review in 2002 that no-strings welfare and the "social indulgence of drug-taking and sexual promiscuity have brought disaster to marginal groups, white and black". "
Howard's hard-headed military solution to the problem of alcohol-fuelled sexual abuse of children in Aboriginal communities has its admirers in this country, but it's not that simple.
Many Aborigines are fiercely opposed, arguing that Howard's election year ploy is a land-grab in disguise, that many of the abusers of Aboriginal children are white Australians who'll now gain easier access to these communities, and that Howard's Government has underfunded schools, and drug and alcohol programmes in indigenous communities.
Those who favour a similar approach to Maori child abusers might claim that only political correctness is standing in the way, but the problem isn't that simple either. We shouldn't turn our faces from uncomfortable truths, but neither should we focus on just one part of the truth. We won't solve the problem of child abuse and violence in our families until we're prepared to see it in its entirety.
In yesterday's Herald, Simon Collins reported that the number of children being killed in New Zealand is falling. According to an analysis of police data the rate for Maori children, which had more than doubled in the 1990s to a peak of 2.4 killings for every 100,000 children, had dropped ro 1.34 - still more than twice the national rate, but falling.
Interestingly, it had been comparable to the rest of the population up to 1987.
* Tapu.Misa@gmail.com
