Indian Newslink 15th May 2017 Digital Edition

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The English Fortnightly (Since November 1999)
Issue 369 | May 15, 2017
Immigration faucet needs safety valves
It is unfortunate that Immigration
is becoming an emotional issue of
supporting the migration of families
and friends rather than a policy that
drives to bring the best of talents and
people who will be effective economic
partners.
Worse, it is also being mentioned as
the only alternative to get ‘labourers to
do jobs that in which New Zealanders
are no longer interested.’
Immigration should be a process that
brings skills and drives them to become
successful residents, begetting the next
generation of skilled people.
That is how countries that are constituted
by immigrants have progressed
over the past century or so. And New
Zealand has been a part of that process.
Indians abroad
People in India would know that
young graduates left their shores
from the 1940s through to the 1970s
primarily to obtain high qualifications
such as scientists, engineers, medical
practitioners. Some of them returned
home to become proficient in their
professions; those who remained
overseas (mainly in the USA, UK and
later in Canada and Europe) pursued
research with state or private funding
not available in India at that time. They
became innovators and wealth creators
in organisations such as space research
centres, institutes of Engineering,
Medicine and Research and lately as
software developers accentuating digital
technology. Multinationals have thrived
because of the human capital developed
through migrant workforce- with high
degrees obtained at internationally
reputed institutions.
Remove the cause not the symptoms
The recent outbreak of robbery,
aggravated robbery with
increasing incidents of violence
against dairies, superettes,
liquor stores and petrol stations in
Auckland and other places around the
country has caused public outrage.
The owners and staff in this retail
business feel threatened and all of them
have called for harsh punishment to be
meted out to the perpetrators. “Lock
them up, and throw away the key,” most
of them have said, while yet others have
proposed to ‘defend themselves with
‘weapons’ including arms.
We do not condone thefts, robberies,
bag-snatching and such offences. In fact,
we condemn them in the strongest terms
and would like to see the offenders
paying for their crimes. All of us have
the right to be safe and importantly, right
to feel safe.
Getting to the root
But there is a greater need to get to
the root of the problem, find out why
these young people take to crime and
what makes them reticent to punitive
measures. In most cases, the offenders
suffer from some loneliness, desperation,
neglect by parents and caregivers,
unhealthy habits learnt from formative
years, unemployment and worst of all
depression and frustration. These are
people who need help.
Social Justice advocate Dr Kim
Workman has done extensive research
on the subject and he believes that
Creating the Talent Pool
If New Zealand is to be on a par with
developed countries of the world, it
should then create a pool of talent – a
pool that rises continuously to promote
higher levels of economic growth
and achieve higher standard of living.
We need to reinforce our country as a
significant region of advanced research,
quality scientific, engineering, medical
and business practices so that our people
can raise the future generations with
greater pride and satisfaction.
Immigration will continue to drive
the population and therefore the
progress of this country. But that process
of immigration should be directed
by tenets of quality, education, high
standards of character and competence.
Quite simply, we have to lift the game to
be world-class partners competing with
the likes of America and Europe.
Opening the floodgates of
immigration may be music to those who
are advantaged by it, but as people, we
should be able to control it to suit our
needs over time.
Skillful management of immigration
flow, with checks and controls in place,
will ensure that New Zealand receives
high quality people.
Mere slogans and citing Human
Rights would not do. Immigration
Lawyers and Immigration advisors
should be able to advise the government
on sustainable and need-based policies.
Every country in the Western World
is raising the walls of immigration and
introducing levies to filter the number
and type of people seeking to migrate.
It may not come as a surprise if New
Zealand follows suit.
governments have failed because they
have forgotten to bring into the equation
the most important partners – the perpetrators
or offenders. He has argued, in
the article alongside, as to how engaging
with prisoners would help reduce crime.
Unlikely outcomes
Prisons are good for punishing
criminals and keeping them off the
street, but prison sentences (particularly
long sentences) are unlikely to deter
future crime.
Economists have long suspected that
those who commit crimes place less
value on the future than law-abiding
citizens. But they have mostly struggled
to find hard evidence that criminals
think about sentence lengths at all.
Research Pointers
A review by Steven Durlauf of the
University of Wisconsin and Daniel
Nagin at Carnegie Mellon University
found little evidence that criminals
responded to harsher sentencing, and
much stronger evidence that increasing
the certainty of punishment deterred
crime. This matters for policy, as it
suggests that locking vast numbers of
people in jail is not only expensive, but
useless as a deterrent, they said.
As Dr Walkman said, we need
opportunity and space to talk within our
own communities of interest, to raise
consciousness, and plan for challenge
and change. We should also create
places to listen to ‘communities of the
other’, to challenge our own attitudes.
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Why governments fail
to arrest rising crime
Sourced Content
Massey University
Palmerston North
Unwillingness by the state to
include prisoners in discussions
about rehabilitation
is one of the factors that
has contributed to New Zealand’s dire
crime statistics, says leading social
justice advocate Dr Kim Workman.
He was awarded an Honorary
Doctorate at a Massey University
Manawatū campus graduation ceremony
on May 10, 2017.
Dr Workman said in his speech to
College of Humanities and Social
Sciences graduates that social policy
is formed “in the absence of external
dialogue. No government in the last
30 years has, in developing criminal
justice policy, seen fit to consult with
prisoners.”
Stereotyping offenders
“As a result, we have developed a
‘criminology of the other,’ in which
offenders are stereotyped as members
of a dangerous under-class.”
A former Police Officer-turned
Prison Reformer, Dr Workman has
introduced restorative justice conferences
into prisons over the last decade,
together with ex-prisoner Jackie
Katounas. Now 76, he says his work is
far from done.
Dr Workman began studying sociology
part-time by distance at Massey
University in 1972 and obtained his
Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983. He
studied Business Administration at
Stanford University and completed a
Postgraduate Diploma in Religious
Studies from Victoria University, which
awarded him an Honorary Doctorate
last year.
In his graduation speech on May
10, he recalled his early introduction
to questioning the status quo and
acknowledged Distinguished Professor
Paul Spoonley, who, he said, recently
asked his students: “‘What does it
mean to be a New Zealander in the
21st century?’ He then continued, ‘The
question is the same as in the 1970s
and 1980s, but the answer is going to
be different.’”
“I came to Massey University in
1974, seeking an answer to that very
question. As a Senior Sergeant of
Police, and a Maori, I found myself
caught between the competing factions
of the decade – issues such as race relations,
the anti-war movement, Maori
development and women’s rights.
It was a decade of active listening,
debate, reflection, and the occasional
sound of a penny dropping,” he said.
Turning Point
A turning point came in 1983 when
he decided to take a final paper in
Women’s Studies, finding himself the
only male among 68 students, many of
whom did not want him there.
“They (women students) needed the
opportunity to talk freely with other
women, to share their experiences, and
understand the oppression in their own
lives. The lecturer declined to grant me
an exemption, and I stayed for the full
three days. I made myself invisible,
and listened as women debated and
discussed their place in society, and the
way in which women were routinely
patronised and treated as less important
than men, by society, politicians and
the media. It caused me to reflect on
my personal attitude toward my wife
and daughters, on police reluctance to
intervene in cases of domestic violence,
and the lack of women in senior
management. It was quite a learning
curve,” he said.
The great lessons
The experience taught him two
things. “First, we need opportunity and
space to talk within our own communities
of interest, to raise consciousness,
and plan for challenge and change.
Second, that we need to create places to
listen to ‘communities of the other’, in
order to constantly challenge our own
attitudes.”
Government must be more innovative,
he said. This might mean taking
risks – introducing effective approaches
to rehabilitation may conflict with
the political and public emphasis on
punishment.
“The current resistance to the
establishment of Kaupapa Maori
prisons is a case in point. The success
of Kaupapa Maori education and health
services would suggest that a Kaupapa
Maori prison might stand a better
chance of success than what currently
exists, given the poor reoffending rates
currently achieved,” he said.
Interesting career
Dr Workman, (Ngāti Kahungunu,
Rangitaane), grew up in Greytown with
his Pakeha mother, Maori father and
three sisters. Despite failing School
MAY 15, 2017
Dr Kim Workman, who received an Honorary Doctorate at Massey University on May 10.
Certificate twice, he joined the Police
as a cadet – his first encounter with the
criminal justice system.
His career has included roles in the
Police, the Office of the Ombudsman,
State Services Commission,
Department of Maori Affairs and
Ministry of Health. He was Head of
the Prison Service from 1989 to 1993.
He was appointed National Director,
Prison Fellowship New Zealand in
2000, and retired from that position
in 2008. The fellowship established
the first faith-based prison unit in the
British Commonwealth, a mentoring
programme for released prisoners, and
was the principal provider of in-prison
restorative justice services.
Honours and Awards
In 2005, Dr Workman received (with
Jackie Katounas) the International Prize
for Restorative Justice. In 2006, he
joined with Major Campbell Roberts
of the Salvation Army to launch the
Rethinking Crime and Punishment
Strategy and the establishment of
Justspeak, a non-partisan network of
young people speaking up for a new
generation of thinkers who want change
in the criminal justice system. He was
made a Companion of the Queens Service
Order in 2007, served a three-year
term as Families Commissioner from
2008 to 2011 and was a semi-finalist for
the ‘Kiwibank New Zealander of the
Year Award’ in 2013.
He is currently writing a book, ‘The
Criminal Justice System: The State
and Maori, from 1985 to the Present,’
following which he plans to complete
his memoir, ‘An Imperfect Justice.’ The
father of six, grandfather of ten, and
great-grandfather of three is also learning
to play classical piano, following a
lifetime of playing jazz.
Read more about Dr Kim Workman
on his website www.kiwa.org.nz
Please read our editorial, ‘Remove
the cause, not the symptoms’ in this
Section
Private Member Bill on new-borns in Parliament
Dr Parmjeet
Parmar
A
Private Member’s Bill by
National MP Dr Parmjeet
Parmar was drawn from
the Ballot in New Zealand
Parliament on May 11, 2017.
The following is a statement issued
by her:
The ‘New-Born Enrolment with
General Practice Bill’ would require all
new-borns to be enrolled with a general
practice and primary health organisation
before his or her first immunisation
at six weeks of age.
Improved access
Enrolment with a general practice
provides families with improved access
to immunisation for their new-borns,
and the opportunity for earlier detection
of health and social issues.
It is important that our children
receive the best start in life, and the
government is working hard to provide
high-quality health services for Kiwi
families.
Our immunisation programme is
already protecting thousands of young
babies from potentially life-threatening
illnesses.
We have also introduced free GP
visits and prescriptions for all children
under 13, as well as free after-hours
services.
My bill will ensure more children
and families can benefit from these
services.
Dr Parmjeet Parmar has been a
Member of Parliament on National
List since September 2014.