A leading criminologist has said the crown has been acknowledging and apologising for the racism of its law enforcement agencies ever since Moana Jackson’s He Whaipaanga Hou report in 1987.
“These apologies are all worthless insults to the Māori people as long as the Crown never actually stops its racist violence.”
Those comments were made after New Zealand Police released an independent research project on Wednesday, which showed the disparities in how Police interact with Māori, other ethnic communities, and disabled people.
“This report shows what we have known for decades: the police are a racist, violent, occupying force in Māori communities,” said Emmy Rākete.
The initial data from the report found Māori were 11 percent more likely to be prosecuted than pākeha, and 60 percent of proceedings involving Māori resulted in a prosecution compared to the national average of 56 percent.
“This government tells us that there is no money to build state housing, to run schools, to pay doctors, or do anything that could actually prevent the root causes of crime.
“Then Luxon tells us there are billions of dollars to waste on tax cuts for landlords and an American-style megaprison in Waikeria. The rich get billions, and the poor get bullets.
“The cops are the armed enforcers of capitalist racism. Māori don’t need more reports into police racism: we need social and economic justice and the rangatiratanga promised to our ancestors,” said Rākete.