A real tragedy...

I'm just so shocked at the number of child abuse cases that keep on happening in NZ. When you read the news everyday it's violence and more violence, kids being abused, women raped and lots of horrific assaults. For such a small country, the statistics are pretty frightening. It just seems to be such a constant thing. We really have a very dark underbelly to that clean, green, fun-loving image we project to the world.
Poor Nia, she looked like such a beautiful kid.

Those two stories are horrific! It's just too sad when there are so many people in the world who want babies & can't have them.

That is just so sad....and sickening! I hope the appropriate people do step up now and do something for the other children out there!

How terribly sad. But if you read about the lives of the people entrusted with their care, I'm hardly surprised. The parents of Nia were in their 30s and late 40s, and both had 17-year-old partners. The houses were full of people all the time, extended family, friends....they were clearly alcoholic and with other substance abuse problems. What amazes me is that Nia lasted as long as she did, and those twins, well, if you can wade through the melodrama of that article - what actually happened to them?

I didn't really get it - were they deliberately murdered? Or was it abuse that resulted in murder? And I just cannot believe that the family `made a pact not to cooperate with police' and yet in the same breath can talk about the grieving process and guilt. Uh...what?? That whole second tale was just totally confusing - and those poor little babies, after everything that was done to ensure they lived and were healthy.

Horrible, selfish people with a lot to answer for. I hope they ALL get jail time if they won't cooperate, and I hope that the people responsible for Nia's death get something worse. I guess that authorities have these cases to deal with all the time, though, and there is probably worse. What can be done to address this problem in New Zealand?

The tip of the Iceberg is right, but you see when you call the ploice for assistance in NZ all they do is send you a taxi, coz they're too busy looking at all the porn on their computers.

Couldn't have put it better myself. NZ is just ed and it is an everyday thing. You pick up the paper and the front page is, somebody was murdered, raped, assaulted. Probably the most alarming thing is, nowadays the crime is happening in the middle of the day in public and as much as you contact authorities and so on, the government doesn't give a

Last January/February (might have been 2005?) x amount homicides in like a month maybe 2.

I remember when Japan got a bit of spotlight for their recent rises in teen suicide, mainly coz they were doing it in big groups, and all NZ had to say was "Who cares? we've had the highest teen suicide rate in the world for years, it doesn't matter that Japan is having quite a few at the moment, coz they will never match us" Now that kind of :censored: comment is that to make? are we (New Zealanders) more interested in bragging about such a statistic or are we going to put a plan into action to try prevent it?.

It's like KD said, with the surplus money NZ has, they are just wasting it on crap, rather than helping NZ. They spend huge amounts of money to support other countries, when it is NZ in need.
We (NZ) are an unofficially declared 3rd world country, Mrs Prime Minister, hope our country first.

Sorry for that long rant, I am just p*ssed off at NZ, as are the rest of us Kiwi's that are fleeing the country.

They put her in the dryer?

I cannot imagine the death that girl suffered, nor can I understand why so little seems to be done about it!!! Surely the lives of the future generations are more important than anything?

Sorry I just wanted to add to your post, about the fact we also have Children as street workers in NZ. The youngest reports are 10yrs and up, the do it bare back, occassionally just to buy alcohol.

Somebody please tell me where and how children got the idea to sell themselves in the first place and why they think they need to do it for alcohol?

Say what you will, but IMO NZ was doing slightly better when the National party was running the country. "FYI, I hate the National party"

Yes, she should have been out long ago, if I'm not mistaken this is her third term. People should have voted her out right after her first term, but I guess we're slow learners
Just before I left, that John Keys fellow, seemed like he has his sh*t together, I've heard he is an excellent opponent. Lets hope who ever gets in, gets it right this time.

BTW, when is the next elections? next year? maybe I should keep up to date with politics in NZ and come back just to vote. *laughs out loud, yeah right*

We don't protect our innocents any better here. Liberal judges let child killers off with a slap on the wrist most of the time, especially if they are the parents. Parents are allowed to kill their kids with little consequence in this country.

Believe it or not, Kellye, that case is international news. Our local paper had a lengthy article about it on page 3 this week. They had a breakdown of child abuse cases according to ethnic groups, and quotes from Maori leaders. Germans aren't particularly "ethnically PC", so I wonder how the cases are being reported in New Zealand? Unfortunately, the German article didn't provide any statistics on unemployment, substance abuse, poverty, etc. among minorities.

How dispicable I feel sick when I read about child abuse.

Who can harm an innocent child?!? And why is there so much of it there? I just don't get it

The German article probably took the statistics from CYF. I immediately thought of you when I read the article, because I remembered that you'd mentioned being part Maori. Australia has reported cases of child abuse among Aborigines, too. Child abuse happens in all social classes, ethnic groups, professions, and so on, but it really seems to be most prevalent among the disenfranchised.

I have to wonder to what extent political correctness stands in the way of protecting the most vulnerable? Or are minority children deemed less worthy of protection by the powers that be?

I couldn't read the links. This stuff is so depressing to me. This and pedophiles just make me want to throw in the towel sometimes.

My mama always told me you don't appreciate what you don't work for.

Give a hand UP, not a handout.

It's difficult, though, because prejudices do exist. My brother-in-law is a Dakota Sioux, and he and my sister have custody of one of his nephews. The poor kid has faced so much prejudice (they live in the Midwest) that he tells everybody he's a Latino, which is just one step up on the social scale in that area. Racial profiling is alive and well there. I spend roughly one month a year there, and the only times I've experienced being stopped by cops have been when I've been in a vehicle driven by my b-i-l or one of his relatives! One time when my husband and I were visiting, and were in a restaurant with my niece (Russian/Asian/Anglo heritage), an absolute idiot at a nearby table made derogatory remarks about the "German" couple (I'm American) with their "dirty little adopted Indian child". I could have ripped her throat out!

I find these comments very interesting. This is exactly the type of thing Americans say about the American Indian. The volunteer work I do is with the Lakota people.

Let me tell you, you will not find harder working people. Yes, there are many who are challenged by addiction - there are also many who are not. We need programs in place to get libraries built, schools stocked, transportation, summer and after school programs for the children and most of all - EMPLOYMENT. We need attorneys willing to do battle for the simple rights all Americans need. We need people to acknowledge their existence and personhood.

I don't know the stats for the Maori, but for the American Indian, there are the highest rates of all the bad things (teen suicide, diabetes, etc) and lowest of the good things (education, wages, life span). The life expectancy of a person who lives their lives on a midwest reservation is about 54 years.

These children grow up being told they matter, if they come from healthy families. Then they go into the world which has quite another say to say. They are faced with horrible racism which too often leads to violence. There are many cases of unsolved murders of native people. If they aren't dealing with racism, they are dealing with the stereotypes - people placing them on some type of spiritual pedestal and getting angry when they fall off. They are supposed to be stoic and wise. Or they are supposed to be drunken theives.

This is very sad.

I often hear that Indians are rich because of the casinos. That they get free education. That they get free food.

The food is government surplus - full of sugar and fat. It is called commodities. The education is similar to what I received as a poor white person; grants and loans. The casinos - oh boy! There are 500 or so tribes. Perhaps 10 are wealthy due to casinos- even then that wealth is usually spread out amongst the people. So, say 5% of a people are wealthy, does that make all wealthy? Don't think so.

As for the land. Well, it has their name on it, but it is held in trust by the US government. The people of Pine Ridge are still fighting to be able to use THEIR land for something productive. They want to grow hemp, they want to use windpower. The government drags its feet in deciding or just plain says "no".

Anyone can do an Internet search for "Pine Ridge Reservation" and find it is located in the second poorest county in the US of A. Of course, the poorest is another reservation. It doesn't have to be Pine Ridge, any reservation will do. Look at stats for the urban Indian. It doesn't look a whole lot better, other than having access to the things a city provides.

I don't know a lot about the Maori people or their situation. I have heard others compare their lot with other indigeous peoples, though.

Please never make blanket statements about an entire group of people. That is profiling at its worst and bound to be very incorrect.

Sorry for such a long post. This is near and dear to my heart. Hearing things like this makes me sad to the core.

Well Jcat, you got my blood boiling again. I hate that sh**. I am from the midwest originally and I know what you are talking about. It is despicable.
There is more crime here but at least it there isn't the redneck racists.

BINGO!, why do the Maori need to work, when they can rob, murder, gamble or get free hand outs from the government? having said that white people in NZ do a lot of that too. But mainly they stay on the Dole (an unemployment handout) my cousin is on the Dole (loser) and he says that all he has to do is tell the government he has applied for x amount of jobs per week to stay entitled. That was in the beginning then they just don't check up on him anymore. The same is true of my uncle, he spent 14yrs on the Dole yet every 2-3 years, he was able to go on a world trip.

From what I understand, New Zealand is one of very few countries that give handouts like that (for being unemployed anyway)

Don't forget that the Maori ate the Moriori

Are you serious!?! They actually ate them??!!?

OK....now....WTH?!?! Aren't there like thousands upon thousands of couples of there waiting to adopt? Why did the poor girl end up stuck with "parents" like hers? It still makes me sick...and sad. Someone could've given her a loving home!!

Yes, I sh*t you not, they ate them!.

Australia has a similar welfare system - especially the dole. When I was younger I knew people who'd been bludging off the government for years and just saying they'd applied for so many jobs per week. There is a big crack-down on it now, and if you get caught you have to pay it all back, but still, it's a problem.

Although, Western Australia, where I live, has only 2% unemployment now, so actually there is a labour shortage which is causing problems everywhere. I say get all the bludgers off the dole and get them into the jobs that nobody can fill. I can't stand people who sponge, whether it's off the government, their families, whoever. It's so ugly and lazy.

That actually brings me back to the earlier post of teenage pregnancy in NZ. You see teens are clicking on to the fact that if they have a child they get almost if not more money than they would on the dole.

Now I mean no disrespect toward my own mother but thats exactly what she did. She had kids every x amount of years to keep getting hand outs and when she got pregnant too early, they were adopted out. Now she is just too old to get a job, she gets some kind of hand out, its not the pension.

But yea there are so many ways to get money out the government its not funny. Makes me wonder why I put myself through Polytech, getting educated considering for the past few years in NZ I was having to work in excess of 50hrs a week, whilst also studying, and just last year I was working in excess of 80hrs a week, only just being able to cover my living expenses. See beneficiaries, they get discounted accommodation, Dr's visits, prescriptions, heck all in all it sounds like a great life to live in NZ and not have to know what a days work is like. I might just move back there and retire