New Zealand. Any Colour So Long As It’s Black

This gang colour thing  is getting beyond ridiculous now.

First an adult assaults a four year old in a park and rips his clothing off him because he’s wearing a red T shirt in Whakatane (see here for the story) now a man walking his dog in a park in New Plymouth gets assaulted for daring to have a red lead on his dog. What, there are gangs in New Plymouth? who knew.

“A man walking his dog in New Plymouth was terrified by a Black Power member who objected to the colour of the dog’s lead, a court has been told.

Kory Christopher Lambert, 26, pleaded guilty in New Plymouth District Court yesterday to intimidation after he and gang associates took exception to dog’s red lead — a colour associated with rival gang the Mongrel Mob, The Taranaki Daily News reported.

Police said the gang members spotted the man as they were driving past.

Lambert, wearing Black Power clothing, pulled over and yelled at the man who said he had nothing to do with gangs. Lambert then demanded money, cigarettes and cannabis…” more

And the penalty for this thuggery? 100 hours community service, which he is very unlikely to serve.

NZ Not So Great For Kids

Two recent reports have  again highlighted poor health and welfare outcomes for children in New Zealand, with disease patterns that are closer to those of developing countries. If you’re thinking about emigrating to New Zealand and raising kids this may make interesting reading.

The Public Health Advisory Committee’s report The Best Start in Life re-iterated that  New Zealand ranked 29th out of 30 developed countries for child health and safety.

Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei commented on them by saying (source)

“We have some of the worst child health outcomes in the OECD…The report shows that we urgently need an integrated, whole-of-government approach to child health and wellbeing and a commitment to child health monitoring.”

The second report Children’s Housing Futures, showed that children’s housing in New Zealand was worse than the OECD average and many were living in poor quality, insecure and crowded premises. One estimate is that  a quarter of a million homes in New Zealand are so damp, cold and poorly insulated that they ruin people’s health.

According to Ms Turei

“last month’s budget was going to make the situation worse — a GST increase (to 15%) that would put pressure on low income families, tax cuts that would widen the gap between rich and poor, and funding cuts which would increase the cost of early childhood education.”

New Zealand is one of the few OECD countries to place GST on essential items such as food.

The nation’s young people have a pretty rought time of it, they have some of the worst health outcomes in the developed world. New Zealand youth have higher rates of mental illness, suicide, teen pregnancy and suffered more injuries than young people in other OECD countries.

UNICEF ranks New Zealand joint third in the world for the highest number of  child maltreatment deaths (1.2 per 100,00o children) only the US and Mexico have more (source)

New Zealand youth also feature highly in road fatalities.  For Kiwi youth aged 0-14 it is the highest in the OECD.  For youth aged 15-17 New Zealand comes second, just behind Slovenia.

The organisation Every Child Counts said the Best Start in Life report should set off alarm bells (source) we think those bells have been ringing loud and clear for some time already.

For years now OECD comparisons, Unicef reports and New Zealand Government reports have highlighted the need for concerted action to improve the health and wellbeing of New Zealand children,” said chairman Murray Eldridge.  “It is particularly alarming that the report states that disease patterns here are closer to those of developing countries.”

Mr Eldridge said there was ample evidence that unemployment, welfare dependency, violence and ill-health were linked to deprivation in early years.

“We have all the evidence we need to make a robust social and economic case for prioritising children and investing in them in a co-ordinated, structured and long-term way,” he said.

“Failure to do so will mean we face high costs in the future for remedial education, mental and physical health services, youth justice, social welfare and reduced productivity.”

We rate the chances of it happening from slim to none, the recent raise in GST and cutbacks in mental health services, tax cuts for the wealthy and other government policies will do nothing other than widen the poverty gap in New Zealand, storing up trouble for years ahead.

For further reading about raising kids in New Zealand see posts tagged Great place to raise kids, or our Children and Youth page

Czech Tourist, Jan Fakotor, Stabbed In Motueka – updated

Another foreign tourist has been attacked in his room at a backpackers whilst holidaying in New Zealand.

Jan Fakotor, from the Czech Republic was attacked by a New Zealand man, described as “an odd ginger man in spectacles”. An American back packer, Matt Sullivan, saw the attack on his room mate at the Hat Trick Lodge backpackers in Moteuka. The attacker was later named as Benjamin James Seeley, 38 from Auckland.

“A 38-year-old New Zealand man is appearing in Nelson District Court this morning after a tourist from the Czech Republic was stabbed at a Motueka backpackers early this morning.

The tourist fought his assailant off and received a minor wound to his leg which was treated by a local doctor.

Police say he was shaken by the apparently unprovoked attack, which happened at 12.45am.

An American tourist who was also staying in the room witnessed the attack, but was unharmed.” (source)

Almost two weeks ago three French tourists were assaulted and robbed as they slept in their campervan on the roadside near Mangamuka, Northland. Police are still searching for their attackers. Read “French tourists thought they were going to die.”

In 2008 the New Zealand-Japan society issued warnings to Asian people to be careful of their personal security and to travel in groups, other Asian groups said the country was fast losing its reputation as a “safe country to visit”.

Other countries have also issued warnings to its citizens about violent crime in New Zealand. In 2009 the Dutch government warned its nationals travelling to New Zealand of “serious crime” after a second Dutch tourist was raped at a campsite  in the space of two years. See “Dutch Government Warns of New Zealand Crime”.

It really is time that the safety message for tourists in New Zealand was reinforced. With each fresh visitor attack New Zealand’s reputation and tourism industry takes another hit, something that it can ill afford with the forthcoming world cup.

See also posts tagged Back packing and tourist attacks

Recent tourist attacks and robberies in New Zealand include:

A series of random, unprovoked attacks in Queenstown

Three French tourists beaten and robbed in their campervan in Mangamuka, Northland

A family of Swiss tourists that were assaulted and racially abused in Kaitaia, Northland

Anke Kuballa and Marc Busch from Germany who were robbed in Whangarei, Northland

A family of five robbed at the roadside whilst camping in their van at Oturere Stream, 25km south of Turangi

Two German tourists attacked in Paihia, Northland

Two American tourists were robbed at Shipwreck Bay in Northland whilst sandboarding

Asian woman, (probably Japanese) age 22, raped in her room by 2 teenagers in a home invasion in Opotiki, Northland

Three Chinese tourists attacked and robbed at Te paki, 90 Mile Beach, Northland, by two men they’d stopped to help

French tourist Anthony Cressend, beaten and robbed at campsite in Ahipara, Northland

Two Australian tourists robbed at knifepoint for their holiday money in Te Puke, SE of Tauranga.

Japanese tourist age 23 (female) kidnapped, robbed and assaulted in Rotorua by four men

French tourist (male) raped at gunpoint near Opotiki,

American peace corp twins Adam and Alex Rahmlow, 21 were robbed of all their possessions by a man they tried to help in Amberley, Christchurch.

Dutch couple raped and robbed on a campsite in Tuatapere, NW of Invercargill, whilst on their honeymoon. (Dutch govt. issued a travel warning about NZ)

Two Koreans were attacked and robbed of their possession which included a laptop computer by a man claiming to be a gang member in Blenheim.

British tourist worker sexually assaulted near Hururu Falls, Northland when she was dragged off a walking track.

Canadian tourist Jeremie Kawerninski, kidnapped, assaulted and robbed in Lower Hutt, Wellington

Dutch couple robbed and sexually attacked Haruru Falls, Northland whilst on honeymoon.

Two British women robbed and raped in their campervan at Tokomaru Bay, north of Gisborne.

Japanese tourist subjected to a prolonged and brutal sex attack in a communal area of a backpacker’s hostel in Turangi, Taupo.

Scottish woman Karen Aim brutally murdered by a youth in Taupo.

German woman Birgit Brauer murdered near New Plymouth.

Korean man Jae Hyeon Kim decapitated with a spade by white supremacist.

Japanese tourist robbed at gunpoint in Oamaru.

Irish cycle tourist Paul Mack bashed, robbed and urinated on throughout his NZ tour.

6 English and Danish tourists attacked and stabbed in Cashel Mall, Christchurch for having “foreign accents.”

Irish man Robby O’Brien beaten up in Westport.

Russian couple Denis Khotchenko and Lera Nesterova beaten and robbed in Milford, Auckland

English woman knifed and sexually assaulted in a toilet block at an A1 motor camp in Kaikoura

American campers Patrick Dykstra and Kelsey McGinley beaten and robbed at Whangarei Falls, Northland.

Australian tourist sexually assaulted on a street in broad daylight in Nelson.

Australian tourist subjected to a sex attack by Maia Crawford Rongonui whilst walking home to a backpackers in Christchurch.

Canadian tourist left with a fractured skull outside Silver Fern backpackers in Taupo.

Dutch tourist beaten and robbed at Lake Rotorua.

British man Paul Speakman and his young son beaten and robbed in a campervan at Athenree Gorge, Katikati.

Chinese woman attacked for speaking Chinese on a train approaching Petone.

Scottish visitor Stuart Martin who was left in a coma and with a boot print on his face after a street bashing in Taradale, Christchurch.