Roger Bailey is right when he says grass roots Maori need assistance right now and well into the future. Only when they become better parented without abuse, respectful and self disciplined and taught social skills, are better educated, and informed and taught jobs skills before leaving school will many of them lift themselves up from the low level they are now at.
Maori rate highly in our statistics for unemployed and goal numbers.
The lives of many unemployed consist of drinking, taking drugs, parties, sex and violence along with criminality.
Often young Maori men form relationships with young solo mother's of the same ethnicity who also live dysfunctional lives. Research shows of the 10 small children murdered in New Zealand each year the majority are committed by young Maori male partners with limited education often from abusive homes with no biological connection and emotional attachment to the children they murder.
The mother has often started having children at an early age which are not loved and cherished. She also often comes from an abusive background and is poorly educated.
It is time Maori leaders stood up and said 'it is time we took responsibility for these problems instead of leaving them to the Government to deal with and the taxpayers of New Zealand to keep doing the paying”.

Margaret Hills, Tauranga.