Peters gives credit to Destiny's work

Destiny Church appears to have a new fan in Parliament - New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters.

He departed from official speech notes yesterday at the NZ First annual conference on Auckland's North Shore to praise Destiny Church members for their responsibility and commitment to their families.

His words came during a section of the speech calling for greater responsibility from families and community groups to help prevent young people from turning to violent crime.

Led by Bishop Brian Tamaki, Destiny Church has built up a significant following in recent years, especially among Maori, and specifically promotes "traditional family values".

Mr Peters said many members had turned their lives around since joining the church.

They had smartened themselves up and provided good examples to their families at a time when many were failing to discipline their children.

"I'm not saying you should all go and join up," Mr Peters said.

"I'm not making any comment on their politics but we should give credit where credit's due."

Destiny New Zealand, a political party which has close links to the church, contested last year's election, winning 0.62 per cent of the party vote.

Mr Peters' comments came while discussing what he labelled "the scourge of violence", saying it had become a way of life for too many.

Attempts from the left and right of politics to address the problem had failed.

"The left's attempts to replace our families and communities with government agencies were always doomed to failure as was the far right's mantra of individual hedonism and self-interest," he said.

"Neither understands that the core of a good society is built on families and communities."

Mr Peters said the country needed to strengthen the family and core institutions, improve parenting and education of young children to ensure they did not become delinquents, and deal harshly with a small group of serious violent criminals.

He also called on men to take more responsibility to stop their friends from heading in violent directions.

"The New Zealand way is not only about self-discipline but it is also about mates stepping in and saying violence is not right," Mr Peters said.

"Sometimes only a real mate can calm someone down when they are out of control. Sometimes only a mate can deter someone from joining the degradation of drugs."

- NZPA