Matua Kahurangi: No wonder Te Pāti Māori wants to abolish prisons when Māori make up most of the inmates

Te Pāti Māori says it wants to abolish prisons by 2040. Māori make up the majority of New Zealand’s prison population. Of course Te Pāti Māori wants prisons gone. It is the most self-interested justice policy imaginable.

At last count, more than half of all prisoners are Māori. Those figures are confronting, uncomfortable but let’s be honest - not really surprising. Instead of asking why violent offending, repeat offending and serious crime are so concentrated, Te Pāti Māori’s answer is to remove the very system that holds offenders accountable.