www.waynemapp.co.nz
Education is New Zealand's hard hitting solution
Politics is supposed to be about the ideas and solutions that shape society (though it is often about power!).
Two recent events put sharp focus on the evolution of our country. The first is that the number of people, especially
Maori, who are in poverty has nearly doubled since Labour took office in 2000. The second is the tragedy of the Kahui
twins. This has led to intense discussion about families and welfare and the balance of responsibility between family
and community.
Many of the commentators are all too ready to absolve the Kahui family, not from being actually accountable for the
murders, but for not realising they have better choices for their lives.
Honesty is essential in these discussions. Naivety about the aroha of extended whanau will blind us to facing the
problems of welfarism, culture and violence.
Alan Duff, has written a very thoughtful piece on Maori under-performance for the New Zealand Centre for Political
Debate (www.nzcpd.com). As Duff notes, “Maori MP Dover Samuels had the courage to publicly state that Maori accept
violence”. Duff says that it is fundamentally a question of attitude and education:
“Since Maori have not opted in large numbers to get a higher education, so do the outlooks and attitudes remain
unchanged because enlightenment of self and the collective can only come from educated minds. After all, you don’t see
Maori with university degrees beating up anyone. There is a disturbing anger common to far too many Maori that needs to
be deeply investigated, like some permanently affected wound, as to its true cause”.
The politically correct left will, of course, say this anger comes from colonialism and past injustice. But, as Duff
says, education breaks the link. After all the educated Maori person shares the same historic past as any other member
of the whanau.
It is possible to change attitudes within people. One of the good things that Wananga o Aotearoa did was to get many
more Maori into education – especially those who missed out at school. However, I guarantee that none of the Kahui
family took advantage of any of these opportunities. To undertake extra education, you actually have to see a better
future.
There is a common thread between the issues of poverty and violence. Breaking out of poverty means getting a job, but
getting a job, especially with a reasonable income, requires education. The key is education, since this breaks the
whole cycle of poverty, welfareism, crime, violence and dependency.
It requires standards at schools, it requires dealing with truancy, it requires parents and the community to make a
wholehearted effort at changing attitudes towards educational success.
New Zealand has an excellent education system, but the gap between good schools and schools where students’ routinely
fail is among the highest in the developed world. We can’t afford to have the bottom 20 percent be virtually illiterate,
with no prospects of self-improvement.
Alan Duff’s “Book in Schools”, Lesley Max’s “Hippy”, the Waipareira Trust (before it ran of control) are programmes all
about breaking the poverty and violence cycle. We need more of these private initiatives, which often have a greater
impact than state run bureaucratic programmes. The Labour government believes all solutions lie in the state, but the
truth is that innovative programmes rarely come from the state.
Giving more freedom of choice and more opportunities for education will mean a stronger future for our country.
Health issue gets a lifeline
On Tuesday evening IM Health arranged a presentation led by Allison Roe on sustainable health. Geoff Sewell (founder of
Amici Forever) spoke of the struggle to improve the health of his daughter who suffers from autism. The audience was
fortunate and enthralled to be able to also hear him sing.
An Australian doctor and nutritionist, Professor Brighthorpe floated the idea of “A Centre of Excellence” on the
inter-linkage of nutrition, natural health products and environmental diseases. The whole purpose is not to put all the
health focus on sickness, but also on wellness.
North Shore National Party is holding a policy meeting on “A Sustainable Health Economy” on 14 August at 7.30pm at Mary
Thomas Centre at Takapuna. Speakers will include Dr Paul Butler and John Appleton of IM Health. This will be a great
opportunity to hear a fresh initiative to improve the wellness of New Zealanders and subsequently create economic
opportunities for our country.
14 July 2006
Dr Wayne Mapp
Visit my website for more information at: www.waynemapp.co.nz
ENDS