Tonight on Sunday, can a bad man turn good? # I believe it's my destiny. This is the bad man... The last time I was on TV was for Wanted. ...singing his way out of trouble. A gun was involved and one of us died. He was one of the highest-risk offenders that Probation manage on parole. # I wanna be just like... The remarkable rebirth of Tama. I loved him. To be honest, I blame nobody but myself. (SIGHS) I think it's here. We're here. Return to the rock. This is the first time in 32 years. Azaria Chamberlain's dad tells all,... Thank you for coming. ...and confronts the rumours and gossip. Rubbish. Rubbish. Not true? Rubbish. Not true? Utterly untrue. Also tonight, hammer and fire therapy,... Blacksmithing ` it's work for the soul. ...and forging life skills. I've had some hard cases through, but I've never been disappointed once. Big beard, big heart. (LAUGHS) www.tvnz.co.nz/access-services Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright TVNZ Access Services 2012 Good evening. I'm Pippa Wetzell. Tama Pira has a great voice and a flair for songwriting. His latest song, Just Like You, hit number five on the iTunes charts. Yet Tama's musical magic is woven from a dark life experience. As Tama is the first to tell you, he was once a desperate, dangerous and wanted man. So now his music carries a message ` that even the worst of us can change, that good can come of bad. Ian Sinclair with Tama and his battle against the odds. Sometimes I sit here and I can't believe it ` some days. I just sit there and so amazed. I have a look back to where I was and where I am today. What a` What a huge change. (PLAYS HARMONICA) # I want to be just like you. # Oh, G. Meet our newest pop star ` the multitalented Tama Pira. You name it, Tama can play it. And he does it all on his hit song Just Like You. It's launched Tama from nowhere to the top five in NZ's iTunes charts. Never thought today, me ` from the history I've lived ` to be on iTunes number five. (PLAYS HARMONICA) But to understand how good Tama is, you have to know how bad he once was. He was one of the highest-risk offenders that Probation manage on parole. Um... If anyone knows, it's the Corrections Department's Annie Hawkes. His turnaround is fairly unique. Um, and he` he really displays absolute commitment to his new lifestyle. You know, last time I was on TV was for Wanted. 'We're looking for this man...' This was the Tama we first saw. Yip, he was a vicious man. Uh, cold-hearted. He had a big heart, but it was hidden from the world due to` due to the experiences I experienced. Pushed all that love stuff ` that was probably the real stuff ` away. SOMBRE MUSIC A once violent man born into a violent world. It was hard. I'm not going to blame my parents. I'm not going to blame my dad. How hard was it? Oh, you know, bad enough. You get kicked, kicked in the butt, whipped with a belt, hit with a stick, thrown out windows ` it doesn't really matter. I know sometimes I just felt like I wish I wasn't born. When that world became too terrifying, Tama sought refuge in his imagination. He started writing poetry. I looked beyond what's in front of me, like the violence, the beatings. I look up, 'It's a beautiful day today. What have we got to say?' Keep it real, keep it real, keep it cool, keep it cool, and so on. ALL SING Small wonder he eventually escaped into another family ` the Black Power. Cos that's a family. They're a family of fear. And if you got nothing and they come along, it's better than nothing. But still, there were the drugs, the crime, the violence. What was the worst moment for you? Oh, when I had a gun at my head. I thought I was going to die. Oh, when I had a gun at my head. I thought I was going to die. A gun to your head? Yes. Yes. Why? Yes. Why? Rival gang members. It was lucky I pushed it off, and it just blew... It just... The explosion part of the thing just skinned my shoulder. Danger was a fact of life. And sometimes it got personal ` too personal. Kick in the head, stabbing. Uh,... I got an older brother ` his name's Wiremu ` and I just want to say sorry to you, bro. If you are out there. I stabbed him quite a few times. You know, and, um, forgive me, bro. It seems a bit strange, stabbing your own brother. Yeah, he was my own brother. Yeah, he was my own brother. Was he badly injured? Yeah, he was my own brother. Was he badly injured? Yes. Hospital? Hospital? Yes. Hospital? Yes. Were you charged with anything? Nah. This was a family. This was a family thing. Something somewhere had to give. And it 2006, it did. One man appears to have been shot. We started to fight. A gun was involved, and one of us died. The dead man, gang member Edwin Te Haara. The wanted man, Tama Pira. I regret it ever happening. But it was, um, it wasn't` it wasn't intentional. The gun fired off. It was supposed to miss him. But it got him in the chest. It punctured his lung, and he drowned. He didn't die straight away. It took a few minutes. We were still fighting through the whole ordeal. Even with him shot in the chest? Even with him shot in the chest? Yeah, it was still going. I didn't even know he was shot, to be honest. I actually thought it missed him. Just the way I had his hand gripped. I seemed to have missed him, but it didn't. I didn't realise that he was hurt that bad until I went away and went to my in-laws' place. It was on the news. Tama got five and a half years for manslaughter. Who do I blame? To be honest, I blame nobody but myself. I have a choice to choose whatever I want to do, whatever I want to say. So, for me, we've got to take responsibility for our own actions. For Tama, this was the turning point. Oh, I just got sick of it one day. I was sick of everything. Sick of pretending. Sick of not speaking ` just using these. Got sick of it. I said, 'I've had enough.' After the break, could Tama the tough guy really change? How are you, Nan? Meet his unlikely saviour. I'd forgive him, for goodness sakes. And from jail house to rock. I say watch this space. Tama Pira was serving a five-and-a-half-year term at Rimutaka Prison for manslaughter,... # Life is what you make it. ...but music was about to change his life. The first thing that stood out about Tama was his voice, because they all started singing, and Tama you could hear above everyone else. I'm not sure... Top musician Warren Maxwell, of Trinity Roots and Fat Freddy's Drop, had just discovered a potential pop star. Tama ` there's something quite magnetic about him, um, when he starts singing. # This is my calling. # I hear you. Here I am. # I want to be # just like you. # Oh, G. He's been through all sorts of stuff that we can only imagine. # I believe it's my destiny. Songs from the Inside ` a project of Maori TV ` turning prisoners into recording stars. The idea is, you know, they come back out to society, they come back out with us. I think the more we can arm them in feeling, uh, good about themselves, giving them some sort of hope, I mean, I just think that's gotta be a good thing for everybody. # I want you, but first need to love you again. And it turns out Tama had a talent even fear and abuse couldn't crush. I first played drums, back home in Te Awamutu. It was buckets, empty buckets upside down ` me and my little brother. (PLAYS DRUMS) # Forgive and forget. The guitar, well, my dad ` he would never teach us, but taught us to listen. # ...to you. And the piano... I got a piece of cardboard off the back of these refill books we used to have ` ripped the covers off ` and I got three pieces sellotaped together to get the keys, and I would do finger exercises and scales. (PLAYS PIANO) But still no real piano until he got transferred to Rimutaka Prison. When I finally got to touch the piano, I was just so amazed that I could play it. That everything I learned from a book was real. That piano thanks to the Prison Fellowship, an innovative scheme based around church groups trained to support people coming out of prison. How are you, Nan? How are you? How are you? Good. I looked at him and I loved him. Just loved him. She came straight up to me and gave me a kiss and a hug and said those words to me. 'I love you.' Fellowship volunteers Milda and husband Red Cairns, in their 80s, have been looking after Tama since his release last year. God's, sort of, hooked me up with another set of grandparents. They were elderly, uh, middle class, and Tama is none of things, and I was very anxious that they were offering to do something for someone that they didn't know a lot about. And I thought that their experience, their life experience wouldn't be... helpful. What did you find? What did you find? Completely the opposite. You've got to understand where he's come from, and then you accept what's happened. That's right. She is not a nanna. She is someone that can talk to him about relationships, about alcohol and drug use, um, about where he is, you know, how he's feeling, his anger, his emotions, um, and, no, when you see her, you would not pick her for that person, but she is more than capable and competent. Well, I felt such compassion for him and that covered everything. No, I wasn't nervous. And most important is what I learned from my first nan and my nan today is the same thing ` love is the key. A year after his release, Tama is still on the road to rehabilitation. It is very early in the piece, but there hasn't been any significant, um, falling off the wagon. I do give credit for that both to him and to the community who have been there to fill in those gaps when life is, you know, difficult. < WOMAN LAUGHS He has a lot more to prove to himself, as well as to others. I never used to use my mouth to speak. It used to be these. I never used to use my mouth to speak. It used to be these. PEOPLE LAUGH But now I use my mouth, and my family are so amazed. They think it's a miracle. His days are now filled with community work ` not crime and violence. # I didn't fall in love, but love fell on me. # Lit the fire in my heart and soul... And that music rehab is going strong too. He might have one song riding high in the charts, but Tama reckons there's plenty more where that came from. This is all written in jail? This is all written in jail? Yeah. This is all written in jail? Yeah. How many in here? How many songs? Probably about... eight, nine. I suppose you had the time to write then. I suppose you had the time to write then. That's right. Got time to reflect on your mistakes... and learn from them. # ...forgive and forget. # Honour my mother and father. How far could Tama's talent take him? Oh, mate. Who knows where Tama will end up, but I think it will be in a very good place. And I think Tama will actually inspire a lot of people along the way as well. You know, because of the fact that he has been to those hellish places. So tell me all the things you've said goodbye to. Uh, said goodbye to black ` I don't like wearing black ` to swearing, to drugs, to alcohol, to... I still struggle with` I've got a short wick now and again when people` when I get confused. But instead, I just switch off and walk. Walk away. (PLAYS PIANO, SINGS) Do you think you can stay on the straight and narrow? > I don't think. I know. I know I'm not going back. # ...destiny. # (LAUGHS) Tama's donating all proceeds from his song to Prison Fellowship, the good people who help ex-prisoners help themselves. To download a copy, just go to our website. When we come back, it's 32 years since Azaria Chamberlain was taken by a dingo at Ayers Rock. Tonight, her father, Michael Chamberlain, finally answers the gossips, the accusers and rumour mongers. Another claim, and it's quite a hurtful claim,... Another claim, and it's quite a hurtful claim,... As they are. ...is that Pastor Michael, quote, was 'a very strange guy, seriously strange. 'He commended God's decision to take his daughter.' Rubbish. Azaria Chamberlain was just 10 weeks old when a dingo took her at Australia's famous Ayers Rock 32 years ago. The case absorbed and divided the country, saw Azaria's mother jailed, spawned movies and books and changed Michael Chamberlain's life forever. But finally he has justice. The coroner once and for all decided that the wild dogs were responsible. Now Michael Chamberlain has returned to Ayers Rock for the first time in 32 years. With his other daughter Zahra, he has revisited the campsite where Azaria disappeared. In a tell-all interview, Michael Chamberlain also answers his critics, his accusers and the gossips. Hi. I'm Zahra Chamberlain. We've gone to Uluru with my dad. This was the place, the last place where Azaria was before she was taken and the place that really shaped the rest of my dad's life. I think that today dad's going to find it very emotional going back to this place, and I'm glad that I'm here to support him, because I don't think he'd feel very well being alone on this one. I think the tent site must have been very close to over here. I remember the sand was red. (SIGHS) I think it's here. We're here. (SIGHS) This is the first time in 32 years? Yeah. It's just a bit overwhelming. WHISPERS: I don't think I can do this. Oh, thank you for coming. SOMBRE MUSIC It was about this time, when the sun came up, you could start seeing a lot more clearly the campsite. Everybody very expectant. You know, all really looking forward to the day. What was Azaria like? Well,... she was a very active and really very strong little child. She was only about 6 pounds 7 ounces, in old terms, when she was born. But I remember Lindy being so very proud and quite amazed at her strength. But, you know, it was almost as though she was a little Sturt pea out here. She was so beautiful. Just a very special little child. She was our first daughter. Yeah. We prayed for her... and we got her. It was beautiful. ROCK MUSIC The photographs of you and Lindy through the very early days of your marriage, you are very happy, clearly a very loving couple. Most certainly, and it was gonna be a great life for us. Lindy is a fun-loving person who loves mischief, and this is part of her personality, and that's part of the reason why I liked her so much. She's a strong woman. She's a strong woman. She's a strong woman. She's confident, competitive, and she will take people on, and she won't take rubbish from anybody. This shot places your tent and the Torana... That's right. That's right. ..in what used to be the campground at Uluru. Yes. Yes. And the position where you're standing to take this photograph is very likely where dingo actually came from. is very likely where dingo actually came from. Virtually, I'd say. So talk me through what happened, where Azaria was and all of that. > Yeah, well, this is always the tough one because I start to relive this... Um... I guess it was around about 8 o'clock and, uh, I was chatting to Greg and Sally Lowe. They're people from Tasmania? > They're people from Tasmania? > People from Tasmania. We're having a bit of fun. And Lindy had just come back from the tent. She had put Azaria down, and there was just a lull in the conversation, and I said to Lindy something like this, I said, 'Is that Azaria?' And she said, 'I didn't hear anything,' and I said, 'You'd better go and check.' Now, was the tent zipped up? No. No. Why not? > Well, it's a moot point. Lindy left the tent last. I think that, um, she didn't see the need to zip it up. I believe that the tent could be zipped up. It was a zippable. And we had a discussion about this later, 'Why didn't you zip up the tent?' And that was a pretty tough question for her to answer. I think she has suggested the tent was damaged, that the zipper was damaged, so it wasn't possible to zip up. that the zipper was damaged, so it wasn't possible to zip up. No, I believe it was damaged later. Talk me through what happened. She must have got about half, three-quarters of the way and she saw a dingo coming out of the tent. And then she called out words to the effect,... (SIGHS) 'Get out!' And then she opened the tent, looked in and then she said words to the effect, 'My God, that dog's got my baby.' Or, 'That dingo's got my baby.' And those words, of course, have become household words. All hell broke loose. Everybody around the campsite that I was with, they just up and raced towards the tent. There was a witness who said you didn't search, that you didn't join in a human chain search. She said you said that, 'A dingo has taken our baby and she is probably dead by now. 'Whatever happens, it is God's will.' > I didn't say that. Another claim ` and it is quite a hurtful claim ` As they are. ...is that Pastor Michael, quote, 'was a very strange guy, seriously strange. 'He commended God's decision to take his daughter.' Rubbish. Rubbish. Not true? > Rubbish. Not true? > Utterly untrue. Hello. Hello. Barbara, hello. It's wonderful to meet you. I owe... a tremendous debt of gratitude to you. And I've never been able to tell you. I knew that there were Aboriginal trackers, but I didn't realise what they had to say. (SPEAKS ABORIGINAL LANGUAGE) TRANSLATOR: I saw the tracks of the dingo at the tent with a baby. She saw the tracks and she believed that it was a dingo who was carrying a baby. That's right. She has never spoken before outside of the court about what she saw that night. Hearing that she saw tracks, dingo tracks, and confirms that it was carrying a baby, not just anything ` it was definitely carrying a baby ` it really did just amaze me again that that was said publicly and then ridiculed and ignored. ARCHIVE: He said that both Lindy and Michael Chamberlain had lied constantly and persistently. The virulent campaign of gossip and rumour. There was no evidence that a dingo had been involved, and it therefore followed that the child had been killed. I want to roll back to the moment that the jury came into the court. How were you feeling? Our defence had said that you can bank on the evidence we have given, you'll be going home very soon. So we were totally unprepared. As the foreman read out the verdict,... Mm. Mm. ...what happened? I guess it was another 'oh my God' moment. They've really stuffed it now, and we are paying, totally, for other people's prejudice and mistakes. I don't believe that went through your head, Michael. And I think part of the problem with you is your reserve. If I had been falsely accused of killing my child and a juror foreman stood up and said, 'You're guilty and your wife is guilty of murder,' I don't think I would sit there and clinically assess the merits of a miscarriage of justice. You're asking me a question... You're asking me a question... I'd be bloody angry. You're asking me a question... I'd be bloody angry. ...30 years later. Were you angry? Come on, give me the real Michael Chamberlain. What did you feel? Denial. This can't be happening. What was the sentence given, 30 years or something horrific? Life with hard labour. And life meant life. Why was your father, and Lindy, singled out and accused of doing this dreadful thing when we all know now it was completely untrue? I think it was very unlucky they were singled out, but I think it all goes back to the Northern Territory, and the government was very worried about it ruining the tourism. And if it got out that a dingo was going around eating children that there'd be,... It would damage tourism. It would damage tourism. ...there'd be a lot of consequences for tourism. Do you think that the police that were there on the night initially accepted your story? Yes. Yes. So why did they change their minds? I think they were contacted, and I think they were spoken to. It was politically unpalatable for the tourism industry? It was an inconvenient truth, to coin a phrase. What do you think it was? I think they had an agenda, quite frankly. And I think that certain things were said to them. 'This is the way you've gotta run this, 'and don't come back until you've got some good evidence regardless of its authenticity.' PEOPLE MURMUR, CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK The actual jail time was damaging. She became institutionalised. She became quite a different person. What changed? Well, she became more assertive, and she started to run her own ship rather than us trying to work it together. And institutionalisation is a terrible thing on a human being, and she was there more than 18 months. You could have walked away. You could have just got on with the rest of your life, dealt with the immense task of looking after your children. Why didn't you? I loved my wife. I knew we were innocent. I knew we were right in what we said, and I'm no coward. No coward, but certainly misunderstood. After the break, Ross Coulthard tries to demystify the man. GENTLE MUSIC When we took you back to the campsite, I think for the first time Australians got to see just how much this awful tragedy hurt Michael Chamberlain. I think for just one moment, you let that reserve drop. In the three decades since Lindy Chamberlain immortalised that phrase 'a dingo's got my baby', there have been four inquests and a government inquiry into 10-week-old Azaria's death. But it would be a verdict delivered in Darwin just recently that would finally and officially decide about the dingo. In the meantime, 15-year-old Zahra Chamberlain, Azaria's half-sister, endured hurt, cruelty and victimisation simply because she was a Chamberlain. SOMBRE MUSIC Azaria is the sister you never knew. Azaria is the sister you never knew. That's right. She doesn't almost seem like she was my sister, cos I have only seen photos and know what I've been told, but I do have emotional connections now through what Dad feels. Has it been hard for you, personally? Yes. I have been teased in the past. Yes. I have been teased in the past. How did you deal with it? You just... You just don't let it get to you. There was also this dreadful thing that happened with your rabbits at one stage. Yes. Someone, after leaving a horrible note at our doorstep a few weeks prior, someone came in while we were on holidays, just before Christmas, and slaughtered all my rabbits, either with a boot or a brick, and tore apart their rabbit pen. And they were your pets. And they were your pets. They were. There was nine of them, and they were all killed. What did the note say? Do you mind me asking? The note was very nasty towards my dad, and it stated how he was being a disgrace to the church, and it used some very coarse language, and it was signed by 'The Magic Dingo Claw'. So it was a direct reference to the whole Azaria story? So it was a direct reference to the whole Azaria story? Yes, it was. I'm very interested in seeing what this inquest brings to my dad. It's been pretty... pretty tough to deal with. Over the years leading up to this, it's been getting much worse, and he's been fraying at the edges. SOMBRE MUSIC I feel confident but, um, still pretty nervous about this. What if it doesn't go the way you expect? There is no plan B for this. There really has to be a finding. There really has to be a finding. There must, because it's right, it'll be the truth, and I just can't see how possibly another inquest can get it wrong. WOMAN: The name of the deceased was Azaria Chantelle Lauren Chamberlain, born in Mount Isa, Queensland, on June 11 1980. This inquest has been reopened to receive information not available to previous inquests. My task is to consider and determine whether the whole of the evidence is sufficient to determine a cause of death. The formal findings, as required by the Act, that I make are that Azaria Chamberlain died at Uluru, then known as Ayers Rock, on 17 August 1980. The cause of her death was as the result of being attacked and taken by a dingo. LIGHT APPLAUSE READS: This battle to get to the legal truth about what caused Azaria's death has taken too long. 'However, I am here to tell you that you can get justice, even when you think that all is lost.' When we took you back to the campsite,... Mm. ...I think, for the first time, Australians got to see just how much this awful tragedy hurt Michael Chamberlain. I think, for just one moment... Mm. ...you let that reserve drop. (SIGHS) Yep. I don't need to stay here any longer. There I was able to have, I guess, a moment of true grief, after the shock of being falsely accused. And now starting to feel that people were realising that they had to get it right for us. I started feeling a lot more free now to accept. Despite the intense public scrutiny and sensationalist media coverage of the case over the years, Zahra wants to be a journalist. When we come back, Robert Green, aka Greeny, a man who gets by on giving. Blacksmithing ` it's work for the soul. And a lot of people with anger problems love it. It's not just heating things. It's tempering things, it's making tools. (LAUGHS) Hello? Guys, my throat's killing me. Don't let a sore throat hold you back. MAN: Not all throat lozenges are the same. Strepsils is clinically proven to both soothe and effectively relieve the pain and discomfort by coating deep down in your throat where it hurts. Let's do it! Whoo! Strepsils ` deep-down relief for sore throats. WOMAN: Combine New Zealand's trusted brands so you don't lose a day. Blacksmithing dates back to the beginning of civilisation. It's a wonderful blend of the artistic and industrial. In Westport, in a rusty old shed just off the main street, you'll find the last surviving blacksmith's course in Australasia. And as well as forging metal, the Westport smithy is now forging futures. Running the show is Greeny, an extraordinary character who believes if you give a kid a bit of responsibility and let them flirt with the danger of the forge, you can turn their lives around. Robyn Janes with Greeny. Blacksmithing ` it's work for the soul. A lot of people with anger problems love it. It's not just... heating things. It's tempering things, it's making tools. It's being able to take something that you just find... on the street and turn it into something totally different. It's a morning ritual Robert Green ` Greeny to everyone who knows him ` has enjoyed for over 20 years. The local smithy and tutor arriving as day breaks to stoke the flames of his favourite forge ` Doris. This is the first forge that I was working on when I started here. Me mum's name's Doris as well. I've always loved the mornings and that more than any part of the day, generally. Soon the real world will arrive ` a world where attitude is everything, unemployment is the norm and life has its challenges. Sometimes it just gives you that time to get yourself focused before it turns a wee bit chaotic. (LAUGHS) Just as metal is a force to be reckoned with,... That's coming along nicely. ...so are many of the students who find their way to Greeny's smithy. Right under. Right under. Don't let it come back out. Generally, 95% of them have got no confidence at all. Even though they carry themselves as if they have, um, it's the old thing of bullshit and bluster. A lot of them have got nothing at home, virtually, no job prospects, and a lot of them are straight out of school. I was on the dole. Greeny wants to change that ` taking kids like 18-year-old Cody and giving them another chance. Normally you'd find Cody at the half-pipe with his mates ` others like him who've left school and have plenty of time on their hands. I went and applied for jobs at the supermarkets and shit, no, didn't get one, so... That's good. That's good. Chances are, it's been a while since someone's believed in Cody and what he can do. Ah, Cody, young fulla, just out of school. Very clever. Lot of clues. He's going to go a long way. He's going to go a real long way, that lad. Don't tell him I said that. (LAUGHS) Just stump your end back in. Just stump your end back in. Yeah. Just stump your end back in. Yeah. Yeah. A couple of good ones. Yeah, that's a girl. Mum of four Selena was also referred to the blacksmith's course by WINZ. She's only been here a couple of weeks, but is already under the Greeny spell. Right on the very end. Greeny has given me a lot of encouragement. He's awesome. (LAUGHS) I feel like, um, a little kid, you know, meeting Father Christmas. (LAUGHS) Sprinkle, sprinkle. That's it. I'm hoping my son will be really proud. (LAUGHS) Yeah. Yeah. They're wee darlings. To me, they are. They're wee gems in the rough. There's something about the smithy ` the heat, the clang of metal on metal ` that brings out the best in these kids. Keep 'em moving. Move them. Pump them, pump them. Move your handles, otherwise they'll jam up on ya. The main thing that I've found with all of them ` no confidence. They've never been exposed to anything that can make them feel good. To actually do something where they feel good cos they've created it themselves. As well as learning to make tools, they're learning life skills. It will be easier to work there. You give them a book to read, and it's got them buggered, but they can make some of the most beautiful work and, uh, we try and give them a situation where they've got access to developing things like that, because they haven't got a hell of a lot going for them. That's it. Give it a good hard one. That's a girl. That's it. Cool. Beauty. (LAUGHS) Another thing the smithy develops is patience. Moulding metal and personalities takes time. I'll deliberately put them in a situation where they're getting flustered, and then flustered turns into frustration, but it's simply to temper them. Greeny's seen a bit of life in his 52 years. He was brought up by his mum, left school at 15, and then hooked up with the gangs. He's seen stuff most of us never will. Oh, shootings, stabbings, domestic. Didn't like that at all. I'm pleased I've seen a lot of the stuff I did, even though I'm not happy about it, um,... because it definitely moulded my existence, my wants and my wants for other people. And I think that played a big part in me wanting to get involved with the youth and doing something for them. It's part of why he sees good where others only see bad. And we've had some hard cases through, but I've never been disappointed once. I really really believe that these guys need a chance. They really really need it. I'll write to the lawyers and I'll write to the judge. READS: I wish to appeal to you to allow me to spend some time with John 'to help sort some of the issues that he faces under this court.' Cor, I could get used to this. Part of why he'll stick his neck on the line to support wayward kids, rather than see them go to jail. What does it take to piss Greeny off? Bad Scotch, warm beer. (LAUGHS) No, no. Um, there's only very very few things that light my flame up. Westport's no different from other small towns. Sooner or later, the unemployed youth come to the police's attention. A lot of them are just into video games and hanging around. That's about it. Inspector John Canning is the West Coast's Area Commander. He's been policing for 36 years ` 10 of those in Westport. If you met Greeny in the street, you probably would think, 'Oh, gang member,' or something like that. Um, but there's a lot more to Greeny than that. I don't know whether they are in need of a mentor or in need of an authority figure in their life or in need of a male role model ` whatever it is to each individual, he just seems to fit in the slot. Well, I don't think I've ever really met anyone like him. Three years ago, Aucklander Nate Savill was at a low point in his life. He signed up at to the smithy course and hasn't looked back. He's now two years into a design degree at Auckland's Unitec, with blacksmithing his inspiration. A big thing he taught me was self-belief ` the fact that I could actually do something creative. He wants them to walk out, you know, at the end of the course with their head held a little bit higher, with` with some kind of dream or desire awoken in their heart that says, 'I can be better.' At the stage when Nate first come to the forge, I believe he was at a loose end. I think it was the therapy of hammer and fire. But Nate would argue it has a lot to do with Greeny himself. This guy who doesn't really care about the material world any more. He's kind of decided that the only thing worth living for in life is other people. So of the kids that have done Greeny's course, have many come to the police's attention afterwards? No, no. Look, I can't think of one. Look, he's been going so long, there has to be somebody, but I can't think of it, so that's how infrequent it is. Must be working, then. Must be working, then. He's doing something right. Greeny was engaged once, but it came down to a choice between his fiancee and his Triumph. The Triumph won. A few years later, he met up with his former fiancee's sister, Julie. They've been together 26 years. And the Triumph, well, it lives in the kitchen. (LAUGHS) It's always lived in the kitchen? She is a saint. Yeah, Julie's not too bad as well. Yeah, Julie's not too bad as well. (LAUGHS) (LAUGHS) The house is full of Greeny's art. He was told it should be condemned when he bought it over 20 years ago. Julie reckons it's held together by love. The fire's been going really fast all day. At the heart is a coal range made by Greeny. I do the baking in the morning and the cooking in the afternoon. Over the years, the couple have fostered nearly 100 kids in this house. It's always busy here. If we haven't got our own, we've always got somebody else's. (LAUGHS) So what is it about you two that makes you look after all these kids? I don't know. Maybe we're happy ourselves and we want other people to be happy. Yeah. Shyanne is the only one of their three daughters at home at the moment. She's a lot like her dad, aren't ya? She's a lot like her dad, aren't ya? I tried to be like my dad when I was little, eh. But the future is looking uncertain for Greeny's smithy course. His health's not great. He's got kidney problems, a bad back, gammy hips and knees. It's just making stuff with nothing ` a hammer and fire. And the mining boom means unemployment is down in Westport. ...use anything at all. Nothing is rubbish. That means the pool of prospective students is down too, and the Buller Community Development Company is reviewing the course. Yet Greeny is undaunted. As long as he can, in whatever form, he'll keep the fires burning. It's just generally caring for people and being there to help people that can't help themselves. And there's a lot of them out there. And they've been abandoned, to a certain degree. What a good bloke. Sadly, Greeny's just found out his job's to be cut to one day a week, but he promises he will continue the good work in some capacity. Well, that is our show for tonight. Don't forget you can leave your thoughts and ideas on our Sunday Facebook page. Thank you for joining us. We'll leave you now with Tama. # ...just like you. # Oh, G. # I wanna be # just like you. # Oh, G.