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Lindsay Mitchell
lindsaymitchell.blogspot.com
According to John Tamihere, who has regrettably in my view taken the Maori Party down a full-blown victimhood track:
Maori make up 60% of the prison population in New Zealand Women’s’ Prisons alone.
“We are the most incarcerated indigenous population in the world. This is a national catastrophe and disgrace,” Tamihere said
“80% of those women are there for crimes of dishonesty. They did not wake up and say to themselves today I’m going to steal and be dishonest,” he said.
“They woke up and said I have to put food on my table. I have to get my kids to the doctors. I have to pay for their uniforms. I have to give them things that others take for granted. So they are in prison for crimes of poverty – not dishonesty.
It’s a self-deluded romantic apologist view.
The following stats are exported from customised NZStat data:
2018-19 sentenced population = 519
Which could be classed as ‘crimes of dishonesty’?
Robbery etc
Burglary etc
Theft etc
Fraud etc
Offences against justice etc
= 327
63 percent
Dancing on a pinhead John might say when all crimes are taken into account his 80% is true. The graph will show the most serious crime sentenced for.
But semantics aside, do you accept that these crimes were perpetrated to acquire school uniforms and doctor visits for children?
Afterall tens of thousands other Maori mums didn’t turn to crime to look after their children.
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