Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Editorial: Solutions please, not semantics

Whanganui Chronicle
28 Dec, 2011 10:42 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

As sure as night follows day, every so often an academic will come out with a statement challenging the accepted norm around an issue, before sitting back and watching chaos ensue.

It's particularly effective around issues of race or race relations, as has been evidenced again this week by the outcry following comments by Auckland University of Technology professor Paul Moon, who tagged the phrase "Maori child abuse" as racist, and one which placed a stigma on all Maori.

Professor Moon has asked media and government agencies to stop using the term.

His statement has been supported by Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres, although it has been criticised by Ngapuhi elder David Rankin, who claims the phrase is an "accurate reflection of what some Maori are doing to their children".

The key word here is "some".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr de Bres' assertion that the phrase immediately implies that all Maori are somehow guilty of, or are prone to, child abuse is questionable at best.

A more realistic desciptor might be to label the wording as a clumsy turn of phrase, open to misinterpretation and broad generalisations around how Maori parents treat their children.

Certainly in New Zealand, anyone who gave the issue half a thought would quickly realise that the vast majority of Maori parents in this country are good parents, who don't abuse their children.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

For any individual to automatically interpret the term "Maori child abuse" as an inference that all Maori are abusers is indicative only of their own prejudices and stereotypes.

While even Professor Moon has acknowledged that Maori children suffer abuse at a higher rate than other ethnicities, he also illuminates a glaring double standard in making the point that media and government organisations never use the term "Pakeha corporate criminal" for white-collar criminals who were Pakeha New Zealanders.

However, surely the biggest tragedy around this whole discussion is that while some of this country's sharpest minds are engaged with issues of semantics, we're seemingly no closer to coming up with an effective method of reducing this country's shocking rate of child abuse, be it by Maori or Pakeha parents.

Talkfests are all well and good, but at this time of year when parents of all ethnic backgrounds are traditionally under the sort of pressure that can lead to them lashing out at their loved ones, surely it would be more valuable for thoughts to turn to practical solutions?

Feedback: editor@wanganuichronicle.co.nz

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

'S*** happens': Injured motorcyclist's gracious response to being hit by car

11 Jul 08:00 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Why Ruapehu voted against bigger water model

11 Jul 05:02 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Search for missing man continues after car pulled from river

10 Jul 11:09 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

'S*** happens': Injured motorcyclist's gracious response to being hit by car

'S*** happens': Injured motorcyclist's gracious response to being hit by car

11 Jul 08:00 AM

A moment’s inattention by a driver at an intersection led to severe consequences.

Why Ruapehu voted against bigger water model

Why Ruapehu voted against bigger water model

11 Jul 05:02 AM
Search for missing man continues after car pulled from river

Search for missing man continues after car pulled from river

10 Jul 11:09 PM
Community group seeks to manage historic reserve

Community group seeks to manage historic reserve

10 Jul 06:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP