Kei nga ihoiho o nga maunga whakahi, kei nga wai whakatere taniwha tena koutou katoa. Ko Mihingarangi tenei e mihi atu nei, nau mai, tahuti mai ra. Welcome to The Hui, Maori current affairs for all New Zealanders. E haere ake nei i tenei ata. From behind bars to building homes, we see how former league star Richie Barnett and a grassroots organisation are changing the lives of ex-prisoners. Having the bros here helping me out is tremendous, you know. They've changed my life around. And we meet the solo mum who's creating her own unique style of Maori photography. So I'm shooting true essence. I'm not just shooting anything or what I see. I'm shooting that child from where they come from, who they are. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017 Karahuihui mai. Well, the figures don't lie. Currently four out of five Maori prisoners are reconvicted within five years of being released. In April this year, the Waitangi Tribunal could not have been more clear in its criticism of the Department of Corrections. The Tribunal said the Crown had breached its Treaty of Waitangi obligations by failing to address the high rate of reoffending by Maori. And while there have been promises made and reports written on how to reverse that trend, a prisoners aid organisation and a former Kiwi league star are making a real difference, one young Maori at a time. Anei te purongo a Mike McRoberts. (GENTLE GUITAR MUSIC) In a quiet neighbourhood in South Auckland, 19-year-old Xavier Tikena is literally building his future. Like so many young Maori who have served time, this is a crucial period for the Nga Puhi teenager. Definitely major difference. I didn't know how to work, didn't know what to do, didn't know how to get up early hours in the morning, let alone having to make my own lunch for myself. And having the bros here helping me out is... it's tremendous, you know. They've changed my life around. Xavier served two months here at Mt Eden prison for car conversion and theft. When he left here three months ago, he was determined not to go back inside. But that's easier said than done. The statistics around Maori reoffending are terrible. 64% will be reconvicted within two years of being released, 80% within five years. A stone's throw from Mt Eden Prison is PARS, formerly known as the Prisoners' Aid and Rehabilitation Society. The charitable organisation has been helping prisoners and ex-prisoners and their families for years. (INDISTINCT GREETINGS) Knowing Xavier was about to be released from prison, his mum rang PARS for help. As he walked out the front gate, they were there to meet him. Actually let's have a look at all your... His new life was underway, thanks to a phone call. With Xavier, it was different. There was just something about him, that I could see that this was never part of his life journey, you know. It was never supposed to be an option for him, but it was. It ended up being a choice that he made, and he ended up in prison. But him coming out and coming into our services and just seeing that he was like, 'Nah. 'This is not gonna be my life. I've got passions. I've got dreams.' The biggest thing about Xavier is he wasn't ashamed to tell what he was really passionate about. People like that, when they're just wanting to make a change, you've got to take it while you can. (MAN SPEAKS MAORI) One of the services PARS provides is short-term accommodation for recently released prisoners. During their 12 weeks here, they'll be helped with reintegration ` things like setting up bank accounts, permanent accommodation, and work opportunities. Such is the demand on a resource like this, the home needs to be extended. Its renovation and the construction of a new wharekai is also a perfect opportunity to provide some of the former prisoners with building skills, working under the supervision of the project's contractor. And what a contractor ` former Kiwi rugby league great and now self-made businessman Richie Barnett. When you peel back the layers, you understand the constraints they have when they come out of prison. There's just too many. There's too many roadblocks, in my mind, for them to even succeed, to even get their foot in front of the other. There's stuff like accommodation when they get out, how're they going to get accommodated, their family ties have been broken for whatever reason that is, transport, finances. So there's too many constraints for them to even get a look in, to actually see themselves a light at the end of the tunnel. So people don't realise that there are so many constraints, and they are really set up for failure in my mind. So I guess things like this and I'm sure a lot of other companies and a lot of other people help support this initiative to try and get these guys back on track. Richie Barnett has been so impressed with the PARS programme he's now partnering with them, offering not just building skills for the ex-prisoners, but personal mentoring. 'These are the three things I wanna achieve today.' Yes. Yeah. And then do those things. And if you don't, you know, you're always accountable for it because you've written it down. 'We understand that it's not gonna be all easy and rosy. We understand that. 'But I think if you can just take one of those guys and turn them into something,' I mean that's pretty exceptional. So if we can just start them... I guess, like anything, you've just got to start. So if we can just provide an opportunity for these guys to see there is an opportunity in life, maybe open their mind a little bit wider than what they have, well, that's great. With a positive attitude and a loving family, Xavier knows he's one of the lucky ones. But until more young Maori can get the kind of guidance and mentoring Richie Barnett and PARS counsellor Mark Graham are providing Xavier, Maori reoffending will continue to be a national shame. You know, I remember kids from 8 years old that I used to work with in the justice system, and then I see them now as adults in prison. It shows that this is a system that's never worked and will never work unless something's changed. So I can see why they have no faith in terms of the system that they're in and that's gonna provide them any relief coming out or any kind of support that's gonna stop them from reoffending. Pretty awesome experience to be mentored by Richie Barnett, yeah? Definitely, yeah. A big eye-opener for myself ` being locked up in prison and having to come out, having them to support me as being a bit of a male figure for myself, as I was raised by females most of my life and I didn't really know what to do, let alone being a man. And having Richie and Mark step in to the plate and being that male figure for myself has really opened my eyes to what I really want to be and how to achieve my goals, so having them on my side is the best thing that could have ever happened for me Xavier is an outgoing, confident teenager ` characteristics he's showed throughout his life. WOMAN: So you've got the pH testing kit there. Yeah. Here he is, a proud 8-year-old, growing vegetables at his primary school. We just shake it up a little bit and see where the colour is. What I found is that his passion wasn't really building. He's been told so often that 'this is where you should go', but what was really underneath that, he drew it out. He said, 'You know what? I really love landscaping, 'but I've been told I should be directed in this position.' I said, 'Well that's what it is.' The great thing is I said, 'What is your purpose in life?' And he goes, 'You know, I see myself as a sun flower, you know. 'I want to grow, and I want to flourish at the end.' And I said, 'Well, that's exactly what your purpose is.' It's not often you hear a 19-year-old describe himself as a sunflower, and this one is definitely bending towards the light. He doesn't want to go back to prison. I started missing my brother and my mum a lot when I was in jail, and yeah... It just started breaking me apart. And, yeah, when I got out, that was it. That was the line, pretty much. Drew the line there ` no more prison for me. Your time inside, did it give you an opportunity to reflect on what you might do when you got out? Yeah, definitely. You know, it made me think... you know, if I did something bigger than this, you know, I could have been in here for much longer. Yeah, you know, I leant from my wrong, and that's not the place for me to be, so I've given up on my wrong and looked towards people that can support me and help me out, really. You know, I love building, but my passion is forever going to be gardening and landscaping. Since getting out of prison, Xavier has been working off 400 hours of community service. Turns out the work is gardening. And he's already done more than half of it. Na Mike McRoberts tera purongo. A ko ake nei i runga i a Te Hui ka korero ahau ki te mema paremata hou mo Reipa ki a Paul Eagle. Kei te matakitaki koutou i a Te Hui. At the start of each parliamentary term, each new MP has the opportunity to voice their hopes and dreams through their maiden speech. Over the last week, new MPs have shared stories about their unique cultural backgrounds, their trials and tribulations and, in some cases, their tragedies. But one speech in particular stood out from the rest, and it was delivered by the MP for Rongotai, Labour's Paul Eagle. Kia tahuri ake tatou ki tana korero. My birth mother had already been judged for her actions, but she wanted more for me than she could give ` a safe home, a warm bed, good clothes, and a full tummy. I think I got that last one. (LAUGHTER) But it wasn't possible at the time, so the difficult decision was made to give me up for adoption. A decision that changed our lives forever. It would be more than 20 years before I'd see my birth parents again. My birth mother... (CLEARS THROAT) TEARFULLY: 'My birth mother told me of her sadness, 'how she missed me... 'and worried about how I was doing. 'At shopping malls, she would look at each little Maori boy and wonder if it were me. 'But over 45 years later, it's still nice to know that she wanted me... 'and would have kept me if she could. 'But it's even more rewarding to know that because of Kirk and a Labour government, 'thousands of mums and their babies got the support they needed to stay together.' (APPLAUSE) Noreira kei toku taha inaianei ko te kaka waha nui ko Paul Eagle. Tena koe e hoa. Tena koe. Tell me about the reaction to that maiden speech. Well, within half a day, I got 500 emails. I've had texts galore, Facebook messages, and people really sharing their own stories or coming out and feeling safe that they can say, 'Hey, this is my story, my experience.' I didn't expect that. And on social media, there was a lot of discussion going on of people sharing their stories. You say 40,000 New Zealand children were adopted over that period of time; you're just one of those? So what I said is 40,000 Maori children, and what I made the point is that there's an awful lot of people out there that don't know where they're from. And I know, in te ao Maori, the first question is 'no hea koe?' And, in fact, I got a message from someone that said, 'Look, I am actually Maori, 'but I can't say that because I don't know where I'm from.' So I'm getting those sorts of stories. What was that like for you growing up, not knowing your pepeha? You would have gone to high school, and everyone would have learnt where they were from and did their little mihi. Yeah, it sort of didn't hit me until that happened. Up until then, I had two Pakeha parents, a whole lot of brown and white friends, but it didn't seem to matter. But when I took that Maori class in form three, We had and Taitoko and Taiaroa. and if it wasn't for them probably being a little kinder and softer on me and saying, 'Hey, we know your parents. Don't worry. 'It's important that you learn te reo, but we'll get to this one day,' if it wasn't for them, I don't know what would have happened. Was it like an emptiness, not knowing what was behind you, where you came from? Yeah, as the years went on, I thought, actually, I really need to know this. Like, I was always aware and nervous, you know, when you go on to marae and the class stands up. In those days, te reo wasn't really part of the curriculum. Some schools had it. We had a bilingual unit, so I was confronted with it daily. Good for me in terms of just getting out there and doing it, but not so good when it came to that detail. So I sorta had to suck it up, really, and just go with it. No hea koe? Where are you from? From Waikato and only about a month ago I sorta said to my sister, 'Hey, where is this kingi marae where the whanau is from?' And she said, 'It's right here in Rangiriri.' So we crossed the river, went up the road, and I want to Horohoro Marae. So really good to get there and go, 'Wow. This is what it's about.' How did the adoption process that you went through form your political ideas? It sort of just hit me when I wanted to do a maiden speech that had some real meaning. I could have just thanked everyone, but then I wanted to send a message to say, actually, this is something that's personal to me. I think I might have just read the first line that said, 'Do something personal,' and I thought, well, that's enough for me. But I didn't expect this reaction or the outcome from it. Do you want to action it now? Is this something that you're going to chase up? Because those adoption laws are 60 years old. Absolutely. And I know that the people at the Ministry for Social Development do a good job. But they also tell me that the Adoption Act is 1955. And the practice is quite different from what the act says. But we need to write that. So currently what it means is that until you're 20 years old, only then can you go back and get your birth certificate to find out what names are on there. Is that the case? That's right. What would you like it to be? Some of thinking has been, look, let's put the child at the heart of this rather than parents who are trying to keep their secrets. And I respect that there may be some secrets that are valid. But, look, we've got just under 300,000 kids in poverty. We have a lot of friends who can't have children. They're dying to take these tamariki and say, 'Hey, you guys can do it; we can do it.' So what I'd like to see is a child-centric approach where we give them the chance to say, 'Look, let's put it out there. 'Let's come up with new ways of getting some of these children into really good families.' So the family that you did group up with, they were a Labour-hard family ` a minister as a dad. At any time during your life did your support for Labour through policies or anything like that waver? I think you mentioned in an interview that your parents were protesters in the Springbok tour. So they were active. They were active. Methodism and the party were synonymous, you know, went hand in hand. David Lange was a lay preacher. There were other ministers of the Crown that were ordained Methodist ministers. So it was all part of our lives. So it really didn't waver. What about 2004 and the seabed and foreshore hikoi, which lots of people say they never saw those numbers since the Springbok tour. I saw them marching down Lambton Quay myself, thinking, wow. And I thought, look, there is an issue here. I always believe that you do need to listen to people. Part of my ethos is, you know, the real knowledge comes from those at the grassroots with the issues. And I thought, actually, we do need to at least respect what's being said. and take their point of view into account because there's something there. Then we saw that play out. And you worked in police as well, alongside Howard Broad. At the time there was Operation 8. In fact, you worked in there with them? Yeah, so... Looking back at that now, you know, your reflections on that move? Yeah, so, I worked for the Maori, Pacific and Ethnic Team. It came as a surprise to them, as to many other teams. Luckily, we did have an iwi liaison network, and the kaupapa of the team was 'let's build relationships across Aotearoa'. We had relationships in there. And I think that just got us across the line in terms of being able to get back in there and say, 'Look, we need to` we don't know what's going on, 'but we need to rebuild this.' And that process I don't think will ever end, even though there's been apologies from the current commissioner; MPs and all sorts have been in there. I think there will always be people hurt by it. You have been Wellington's deputy mayor, so you've got skin in the game in terms of politics; you're not a newbie. Someone asked you recently if you wanted to be a minister, and you said, 'What am I doing if I didn't want to be a minister?' So if you could, what portfolios would you take? Well, I'd probably look at children. You do have to do your time. I often say to people, 'Ooh, it's a bit like school in there.' So I'm at the bottom. I'm back in third form. I had a regional councillor, Ken Laban, joke to me recently, saying, 'You used to be the deputy head prefect, but you're going back into the third form.' And so I'll do my time. And the one thing that I have learnt very quickly ` well, the advice that I've been given ` is that have an open mind because many opportunities will come up. And for me, it's already come up within three months. So Minister for Children one day? (CHUCKLES) Maybe. Kia ora. Thanks for coming on. Kia ora. If you'd like to see Paul's maiden speech or any of the others, you can do so at parliament.co.nz. Hei muri i nga whakatairanga, ka tutaki tatou i tetahi wahine e whakahua ana i te ao hurihuri nei mai te tirohanga Maori. Auraki mai ano. You've probably seen her images on Facebook but not known the woman behind the camera. Cherrilee Fuller has managed to set up her own photography business while raising her tamariki on her own. We meet an inspirational mum who is focused on making a better future for her whanau. Kei a Raiha Paki te roanga ake o nga korero. There you go, baby. (CAMERA CLICKS) Good girl. This is Cherrilee Fuller's happy place,... Babe, I need a stern look this time. ...behind her camera, capturing what she says is the essence of Maori. What happens? Straight away I'm at peace. So I'm shooting true essence. I'm not just shooting anything or what I see. I'm shooting that child from where they come from, who they are. While her career looks picture perfect, Cherrilee's journey to success hasn't been easy. Born and raised in Murupara, Cherrilee first became a mum at age 20. She went on to have three more children, raising them singlehandedly in West Auckland. My baby is 19 now, my eldest. My youngest is 2, and I raised them on my own. It was a bit hard. Trying to do my mahi. I didn't have any whanau here. What I did find was another whanau, and this is at Hoani Waititi. Hoani Waititi Marae in West Auckland is Cherrilee's children's kura, and it was taking photos of their school trips that led Cherrilee to her new career. So, I had a little camera, and I decided to follow all my children. They didn't like it, but, hey, I loved it. As I was taking, I could see that I was picking up detail, detail that a lot of whanau were missing. And, you know, you show their mum and they burst into tears. It blew me away that people could feel that way when they saw some of the images that I had captured. At that time, Cherrilee was supporting her family through her other great passion, music, singing the national anthem in front of thousands at major sporting events. # ...at Thy feet... # I had to learn the national anthem in English. I knew it in Maori, but I had to go over and over and understand it. # ...we entreat. # God defend our free land. # I was fortunate to do about 10 anthems for the Kiwis. For most, it would've been a dream come true ` the travel, the gowns, and the glamour. But Cherrilee decided it wasn't for her. I realised it was not good for my children. It's not fair that I am at my best, I am peaking, and for me that was a big success, and yet my babies, they weren't even on the sideline to say, 'High-five, Mum. You're the best, Mum.' And that's all that matters ` is them. And they're asleep at home in New Zealand, and here I am standing here, and I've got no one to share it with. I felt like I needed to find something where my children were on board and we were both rowing the same waka the same way. # Whakarongo mai # ki te tangi. # She still sings for pleasure, but four years ago, Cherrilee decided to change careers and go back to school. She enrolled in a photography course, but it wasn't long before she was faced with her first of many challenges. I went for my interview, and I had my little dinky camera. And he said, 'Oh, no. You can't shot with that. If you want to start here, we'll accept you. 'You need a $5000 camera.' Oh, you don't have $5000 when you only get $40 for kai. I thought OK, OK. So we come home. My family ` and my family being my children ` we hui, and they said, 'Let's go, Mum.' So I baked. Got my bake on. $5000 later, I had my camera. She passed with flying colours and hasn't looked back. Cherrilee's now the go-to Maori photographer, creating her own unique brand of imagery. Do you call Maori photographer a style? Maori photography a style? I'm not quite sure if that's a style. Yeah, I'm not even sure what style. I'm a commercial photographer, and yet I qualified as a creative portrait. And I came out, and I knew that I was gonna have a niche market. I knew that. I knew that because my teacher was telling me, 'Eh, what are you doing? You're limiting yourself.' And I looked at him. I said, 'How can you limit yourself when it's for your people?' Cherrilee's aim is to capture our history through a Maori lens, like shooting kaupapa, like the TPPA hikoi last year. I was in the thick of it. I was at the front of it. I saw, I felt the haka. I could see the eyes. I could really feel what they were going through. I saw us all holding hands and banding together, looking after manaakitangata. What I saw ` whanau working together. She says her work is a team effort. Her kids are involved in every aspect of her mahi. They have to. If they want to eat, they gotta work. That's how it is. So all my children, right from the 2-year-old up to the 19-year-old, we're all out there doing our thing. And people think, 'Wow, you take these great images.' What they don't see is the workforce behind me. The people that are up on trees holding reflectors, people that are down on the ground holding the baby. That's my children. And when I mahi, I tell people my children are my assistants because we all create together. Cherrilee is determined to build a better life for her kids. She wants other solo mums to know that despite the challenges, you can chase your dreams and have your tamariki too. We've been through a lot, mate. We've been through a lot. You know, looking after our... TEARFULLY: 'Looking after my children on my own, so... 'And moving in the right direction and making sure that we're progressing, not stagnant, 'and showing my children that you can do it no matter what the situation or what you're born into. 'That's been my hardest ` trying to be strong for them.' And just those little struggles turn into big things when you're a solo mum. And you don't have much options. I feel like I'm well-established now. After all her trials and tribulations, Cherrilee is now exactly where she wants to be ` focused on both her whanau and future. What do you hope your mahi will give to our people? For me, I feel like I'm capturing this history. I'm preserving it for them. And when the time is right and they need it, I have it. Tauke Cherrilee. Na Raiha Paki tera korero. Thanks for joining us today, Hui hoppers. We'll post links to the show on our Facebook page and on Twitter ` @ TheHuiNZ. And you'll find all our stories on the Newshub website. Kua hikina te hui mo tenei ra. The Nation's next. Pai marire ki a tatou katoa. Captions by Madison Batten. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017 ALL: He mea tautoko na Te Mangai Paho The Hui was made with funding from the New Zealand On Air Platinum Fund.