Leading from the front issuu

THEN THERE WAS PAT MAGILL
kim workman
knzm, qso
Between 2006 and 2008, Prison Fellowship New Zealand
ran an annual conference at the Silverstream Retreat
in Upper Hutt. Over three days, prison volunteers
would interface with speakers and presenters; victims,
ex-offenders, academics, judges, criminal justice experts,
Corrections and Justice personnel. The Notorious
Chapter of the Mongrel Mob came in significant numbers,
and while they were regarded initially with suspicion
and reserve, people left the conference with a better
understanding of their lived experience.
And then there was Pat Magill. He came to our first
Conference in 2006; a sprightly 80 year old; inquisitive,
gregarious, talkative and totally present. The social barriers
that existed for most people did not exist for Pat,
conversing freely with parliamentarians, gang members
and volunteers. I soon realised that while Pat held strong
views about social justice, and was unafraid to express
them, he was also a good listener. There was no such
thing as a shallow conversation with Pat. He was on a
learning journey, and he would take you along for the ride.
I knew little of Pat’s background, and assumed that his
passion for social justice was a product of Catholic social
teaching; but he was hard to pigeon hole. Over the next
15 years, he would turn up at a range of conventions and
conferences, always the willing listener and learner — but
with the end view to promoting social action of some
kind. He was an ardent advocate for social change, and
was always looking for a way to do something now — in
order to make a difference.
I learned over those years, that some advocates for
social change are fair-weather friends. Their support
for a particular cause dwindles at the first sign of public
or political resistance. Pat does not qualify. His role in
establishing the Napier Pilot City Trust in 1986, and his
insistence that the city can provide answers to its own
problems, continues to evolve. The Unity Walk, the Unity
Week, the Unity Dinner, the Robson Lecture on social
justice issues, and presentation of the Pilot City Trust
Awards engages participants and presenters from across
the social, ethnic and cultural spectrum.
Pat is a persistent and tireless advocate for issues he
believes in, and the Napier Pilot City Trust has been the
beneficiary of that. But there are others. I have heard
him promote Robert and Joanna Consedine’s wonderful
book ‘Healing our History — the Challenge of the Treaty of
Waitangi’ many times. Pat has been an active supporter
of my own work in criminal justice reform over the years.
His emailed messages of support are legend, and always
encouraging.
I am not as closely acquainted to Pat as others, and
most of my engagement with him has been at public
gatherings and conferences. But there is another side to
Pat that it has been my privilege to witness. Over the
years, I have participated in the annual Society of Friends
Retreat on Prison and Justice Reform, at ‘Quakers Acres’
in Whanganui. It was there that I witnessed another side
to this amazing man. During periods of silent reflection
and prayer, of quiet sharing, I came to understand that Pat
was a man of deep spiritual insight; a compassionate and
loving man whose beliefs transcended religious, cultural
and ethnic barriers.
That is the Pat Magill that I will treasure above all else.
Above: Sir Kim Workman
Restorative Justice – for an unjust justice system 175