Welfare worker ashamed of aggressive Maori men

By Carroll Du Chateau

Maori men must stop blaming European culture for their violence, says Kelly Bennett, an adviser and supporter of gang women and victims of violence.

Maori tradition, mana, colonisation and unemployment were no excuse for these crimes, she said. Women and children were being murdered, and the Government needed to act now.

Kelly Bennett, based in Rotorua, said the excuses had to end.

"The traditional way is all rubbish. We were born into the European way. We didn't even know the old Maori ways.

"What right have Maori men to beat up their women because they don't have a dollar in their pocket?

"I'm ashamed and disgusted with my people," she said.

"We have the highest rate of sexual abuse of children, the highest rate of violence, the highest rate of prison, the highest rate of alcoholism and drug abuse in New Zealand. And it's been going on for ages."

Kelly Bennett's formula for stopping the cycle is for the Government to intervene boldly in domestic violence cases. She called for four new measures to run in concert, coordinated by a police-run Violence Taskforce:

* Compulsory custodial sentences rather than periodic detention for wife-beaters, to get them out of the house.

* A one-stop complaints office providing legal, medical and victim support help. This would take control of obtaining evidence, thus diverting danger from victims who would otherwise be required to testify.

* Instant removal of children from violent homes. Such children should be declared state wards. When and if they returned home they would be regularly supervised by the court, backed by child counsellors and doctors.

* Rehabilitation programmes for offenders, including anger management, drug and alcohol abuse programmes and basic education.

Kelly Bennett said all offenders must be banned from alcohol and drugs, and blood-tested to ensure they complied.