Yesterday, Prime Minister Luxon announced that he was sick of crime in Aotearoa New Zealand.

As an Association, we agree with him, but for different reasons.

We are sick of it because we are sick of the needs of our impoverished and marginalised communities being ignored. We are sick of government action which seeks to punish poverty and the impacts of colonisation which are the real drivers behind our crime rates. We are sick of the true issues being ignored. 

The promises that ‘tougher on crime’ initiatives will change crime rates are unfounded when we know, from evidence, that crime rates are unlikely to change and could get even worse long-term using methods announced by Prime Minister Luxon and Minister Chhour yesterday. Methods such as lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 12, sending young people who offend to military-style youth academies and increasing rates of incarceration and enforcement which disproportionately impact tangata whenua and tangata o te moana because of systemic racism in Aotearoa New Zealand.
 
We need a different way. We are all concerned about the involvement of our tamariki and rangatahi in offending. We want better lives for them and we want our communities to feel safe. But there are better ways, evidence-based approaches to changing the trajectory of offending for this generation into the next and beyond.

This is why, together with over 30 other youth advocacy organisations from across Aotearoa New Zealand, we are calling for an end to punitive youth justice policy. We are seeking government support for these children and their whānau, not criminalisation of them.

Children who come to the attention of police have been found to largely come from backgrounds of disadvantage and trauma. This speaks to the core of youth offending and offers insight into effective strategies to reduce it. Address the trauma for these tamariki, rangatahi and whānau through effective local social services. Tackle the determinants of crime at a systemic level through economic and welfare policy which seeks to reduce social inequities and lift whānau out of persistent disadvantage. Ensure better access to mental health and addiction support. Promote places and spaces of belonging for tamariki and rangatahi, where cultural and diverse identities and human rights are affirmed, where young people are accepted completely and have hope for their futures.

 
Join the petition handover at Parliament steps this Wednesday 26 June at 12pm to show the government how we feel about their punitive criminal justice policy for tamariki and rangatahi. Let’s stop the Ram Raid Bill.

 
If you’d like to add your signature to the petition, you can find it at the link below.

Sign the Petition