Restoration, not punishment, is key to criminal justice reform for Māori

A new report from the justice advisory group Te Uepū Hāpai i te Ora challenges the government to find solutions in te ao Māori that restore relationships and mana instead of continuing to feed Māori into the criminal justice system.  Grief. That was the overwhelming emotion people expressed to us when talking about the criminal … Read more

Politics podcast: did Bridges’ spadework turn a little leak into a big hole?

Team Gone By Lunchtime gathers to discuss the important political issues of the day, from Clare Curran getting the boot to Party of Five. A relatively forgettable leak has transmogrified into a long-running story around the leak of the National leader’s expense details. Annabelle Lee of The Hui and Ben Thomas of Exceltium chew over the … Read more

The Criminal Justice Summit: a ‘talk-fest’ where Māori men went largely unheard

Journalist Aaron Smale went along to the Criminal Justice Summit hosted in Porirua last week, and discovered one crucial missing voice. “All those people are looking at me like I shouldn’t be here.” It was a comment made in a whisper but it spoke volumes. Sam* did stand out in this particular crowd. With full … Read more

Media are crucial in criminal justice thinking. So how did they cover the big summit?

The news media are routinely criticised as part of the problem in perceptions of crime, justice and the prison system. So what angles would reporters pursue at the government’s much heralded criminal justice summit? Asher Emanuel went along to the event in Porirua to find out. In a departure from the carefully managed schedule, the … Read more