Leading from the front issuu

Tributes to a Restorative Justice foot soilder
AND THE GREATEST OF YOU
SHALL BE YOUR SERVANT
BY TORO WAAKA,
CHAIR OF NGATI PAHAUWERA
DEVELOPMENT TRUST
I first met Pat in his work in the Courts in the 1970s where
he, along with Māori wardens, provided moral support
for people whose mistakes too often made them the
victims of an ambitious constable’s career path. Young
Māori were the prime targets. New Zealand has a justice
system where you are guilty as charged until proven
innocent. Given the Court is more likely to support a
constable steeped in the dark art of crafting an incriminating
case, the outcome is set. Hence the position of
Māori being the most incarcerated ethnic group in the
world. I picked up Pat walking at Westshore recently
and asked him where he was going. He said drop me
off at the courts. So he is still doing that support work to
help the young caught up in the court system.
Pat believes people are inherently good and that their
lives and place in society should not be destroyed by
Court systems that dehumanise its victims. A few kind
words go a long way when one feels confused and powerless
in the grip of a soul-destroying court machine.
Pat has also been committed to bringing out the
best in young people and I served with him when I was
a director on the Napier YMCA board. Alan Dick who
became the Napier city Mayor was the chairperson of
the YMCA Board. With a group of young Māori social
workers, Pat helped set up the contact Centre next to
the Napier YMCA. It was a safe place where those with
problems could meet informally with people who in the
first instance would listen and if possible, provide support.
Some of the team at the contact centre included
Whare Te Rekia, Mark Kururangi, Huriana Lawrence,
John Bishara, Mere Ruru and many others.
Such was his genuine nature Pat was able to progress
his ideas by getting the support of important heads of
Government departments like Pam Thorburn, lawyers
like Russell Fairbrother, as well as sociologists and leaders
in the community.
As well as running a gymnasium, the Napier YMCA
delivered a number of training programmes to support
unemployed youth who lacked basic life skills and
sometimes whānau support. I was one of the training
staff. The youth we worked with suffered from hunger,
sexual abuse, dysfunctional families and many were lost
souls.
Pat was also an early practicing Conservationist and
he was a long term advocate for the cleaning up of our
ocean and the Ahuriri estuary. One would often see him
walking that area picking up refuse.
While at the YMCA I became the chairperson of the
Taiwhenua o Whanganui a Orotu. Pat often attended
our meetings and supported many of our projects and
Employment training courses. Such was the relationship
that when his wife died she was laid to rest for a period
at the Taiwhenua urban marae.
I also served with Pat for a while on the Napier Pilot
City Trust. Pat believed we were a small enough community
to engage in initiatives in the Napier community
that could show the way for the rest of the country. With
the support of Alan Dick and other leaders in Napier,
they achieved some great outcomes including the Napier
Goes for Goals conference.
Whilst Pat and I are not in contact as much as previously,
our paths still cross and Pat continues to spearhead
initiatives to support his Big Napier Whanau.
Such is the magnitude and longevity of his empathy to
support the less fortunate Napier people at the coalface,
and actively preserve community amenities for all, he is
deserving of a knighthood.
Toro is currently the Chair of Ngāti Pāhauwera Development
Trust, Director of Ngāti Pāhauwera Commercial
Development Limited, Chairperson of Māori
Battalion D Company Research Committee. Toro and
his wife Marion own Napier Prison Tours and Citywalksz
Ltd.
Restorative Justice – for an unjust justice system 165