Sharples Pita: Independent Police Complaints Authority Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Sharples Pita: Independent Police Complaints Authority Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:641;Page:11531] 
Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Chairman. I rise to take a call on the Maori Party amendments to clause 6 and clause 12 of Part 2 which urge the Committee to consider the opportunity for an autonomous Maori investigative branch. The amendments introduce the requirement for an autonomous Maori investigative branch of the Independent Police Complaints Authority to be established in order to review complaints raised by Maori against the police and Maori relationships with the police. 
Two weeks ago the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination released its concluding observations on New Zealand’s performance under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Amongst 26 areas of specific concern the committee reiterated its concern regarding the overrepresentation of Maori and Pacific people in the prison population and more generally at every stage of the criminal justice system. 
This is not breaking news by any means to anybody. I remember back to a report by former Commissioner of Police Doone which showed that Maori are significantly overrepresented in apprehension prosecution and conviction statistics. That report concluded: “… criminal justice agencies including the Police must work to improve their responsiveness to Maori and to overcome any negative perceptions that may inhibit that responsiveness.” The negative perception that Commissioner Doone was referring to is the fact that many police and Maori hold negative perceptions of each other. The problem becomes self-perpetuating and so we end up with a situation in which—and here are the facts—about five times as many Maori as Pakeha Europeans are apprehended prosecuted and convicted; nine times as many Maori are remanded in prison awaiting trial; and nearly seven times as many Maori are given a custodial sentence or are serving prison sentences. 
The Maori Party will not just stand by and say that because the situation has continued for many decades it must continue for many more to come. A fundamentally different approach is required to break this cycle. Perhaps it is time for a Ngati Kahungunu solution to be found. I say this of course in respect of our wonderful Ngati Kahungunu Justice Lowell Goddard who heads the Police Complaints Authority. We need a culture change—a giant step to really make a difference in the ongoing sad story that is the relationship between police and Maori. 
This is something I have had involvement in since the 1970s—Gideon Tait was then the commissioner—and then followed on to the time of Bastion Point right through the ages as a member of the Auckland District Police Maori District Advisory Board and the Tutahitanga Maori/Police Joint Planning Committee for Waitakere City North Shore City and Rodney County and for the last 10 years as a member of the national committee here at national headquarters of the Commissioner of Police’s Maori Focus Forum. 
I remember that in the year 2000 Sir Rodney Gallen’s inquiry recommended that there should be a separate autonomous unit to address complaints pertaining to Maori or at the very minimum specialist Maori staff. Sir Rodney Gallen recommended that the authority should consist of three persons of whom the chairperson should be someone who holds or has held judicial office. The second member of the authority could represent a Maori section of the New Zealand population as recognition of the Treaty partnership. The third member should represent the lay population of New Zealand as a whole. As I am advised Cabinet did not agree to this recommendation so my Supplementary Order Paper brings us back to the original intentions of Sir Rodney Gallen. 
What Mr Chester Borrows has just said—one law for all—is just a joke. What about the foreshore and seabed? One law for all due process—bang get a new law to stop that. We can go on mouthing these platitudes time after time and nothing changes. I have been working with the police for so long to try to get them to deal with their attitude towards Maori and nothing changes. The same things go on and on. I hear it said that police have to be forced into a situation to take cognisance of cultural factors. The reality is that their day-to-day beat does not allow them to do that if they do not have it in their minds or in their thoughts to recognise that Maori have different ways of looking at things. Thank you.