Leading from the front issuu

NAPIER PILOT CITY KAUPAPA —
INSPIRED BY WATERSHED MOMENTS IN
NZ’S SOCIAL JUSTICE STORY
THE ROPER REPORT —
TE ARA HOU
The late Dr John Robson was Secretary for Justice in the
1960s, chairman of the Social Development Council and
director of the Institute of Criminology at Victoria University,
Wellington. In 1962 he was responsible for the
abolition of the death penalty in New Zealand and later
became the first criminologist at Victoria University. Dr
Robson and Pat’s paths interconnected many times.
Although very different men, they shared fundamental
values, forever set after John spoke the immortal words
and Pat hasn’t stopped repeating them: “Napier, despite
its social, economic and cultural difficulties was small
enough to learn about itself.”
ROPER: BUILD COMMUNITIES,
NOT PRISONS
In Te Ara Hou, while Roper recommended that rehabilitation
centres be built instead of prisons, for many New
Zealanders, incarceration is preferred over rehabilitation.
There’s a sense that the latter gives those who are
sentenced a soft option.
In 1987 a Ministerial Committee of Inquiry into the prison
system was held. Chaired by Sir Clinton Roper, his report
Te Ara Hou: The New Way (1989), recommended
far-reaching changes for the justice sector. The main
proposal was to build community based centres for prisoners
that focused on rehabilitation rather than punishment.
There was strong emphasis too on galvanising
community support to help reduce the number of people
re-offending. Sir Clinton said the current system wasn’t
working, the Penal Reform Committee found prison an
“absolute failure” at deterring crime and rehabilitating
criminals. Critics claimed Roper’s recommendations were
too expensive and liberal and they weren’t introduced.
DR JOHN ROBSON:
“A CITY NOT TOO SMALL TO
LEARN ABOUT ITSELF.”
MOANA JACKSON’S REPORT
He Whaipaanga Hou 1989, also proposed fundamental
transformative approaches to justice in Aotearoa New
Zealand. Ever since there have been numerous reports
and reviews, none of which have led decision-makers
to undertake fundamental change. Moana is a staunch
Napier Pilot City Trust supporter and has presented at
Unity Day. He Whaipaanga Hou is as, if not more, significant
than the Roper Report and it too has been ignored.
FINANCE MINISTER
BILL ENGLISH, 2011:
“PRISONS ARE A MORAL AND
FISCAL FAILURE”
English made this headline grabber when he launched
National’s social investment strategy, based around a
‘cradle to the grave’ data-driven project that was to target
government assistance to those who needed it. Pat
couldn’t believe what he was hearing — at last the penny
was dropping, it seemed.
ICOPA
The bi-annual International Conference on Penal Abolition,
is the only group globally dedicated to penal abolition.
Pat has been to numerous ICOPA conferences
around the world — Auckland, Hobart, Toronto, Belfast,
London, Toronto, Lagos, Trinidad and Amsterdam. “You
can say it so many ways, and academics do, but cutting
through all that there is no doubt prisons aren’t good
places. Most people incarcerated aren’t bad people,
they’re simply not coping.”
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Napier Pilot City Trust – for a kinder, fairer city