Hone Harawira Breaks ranks on Foreshore UPDATE

Story courtesy of stuff.co.nz
Maori Party MP Hone Harawira will not support legislation replacing the Foreshore and Seabed Act, Prime Minister John Key has confirmed.

Mr Key said Maori party co-leader Tariana Turia told him this morning that "they'd lost one of the sheep in the flock." It didn't take long to guess it was Mr Harawira, he said.
The other four Maori MPs will support the Marine and Coastal Area Bill, which is due to have its first reading in Parliament this week.

"It's highly predictable and quite frankly we would never be able to pass legislation that would satisfy Hone Harawira," Mr Key said.

"Nor should we, because that would not reflect the views of the majority of New Zealanders."

"If he doesn't vote for it, I don't care."

Mr Harawira said this week the new Bill was not the substitute Maori want. He indicated he would vote for the bill at first reading but wanted extensive changes at select committee stage.

"It was always a risk that Hone would peel off," Mr Key said. "He always has the more extreme views and I want legislation that is enduring and that the majority of New Zealanders can support."

"The fact that Hone is not going to vote for it probably confirms that."

The new law will restore the right of Maori to go to court to claim customary title, but they must prove exclusive use since 1840.

Parents locked in battle over Slain Policeman's Estate

Slain Policeman Don Wilkinson. Parents locked in battle over his estate

Story courtesy of yahooxtra
The estranged parents of slain undercover Policeman Don Wilkinson are locked in a bitter dispute over their son's "slapdash" will and $2 million fortune, according to a story to be published in North and South magazine today.



Mr Wilkinson, who was fatally shot during a night-time police surveillance operation in Mangere in September 2008, left his adoptive father, Ron Wilkinson, all his assets, including a $900,000 property in Helensville, northwest of Auckland, $70,000 in cash, some investments and a six-figure payment from police insurance and superannuation, the magazine as reported by The New Zealand Herald said.


Mr Wilkinson wrote the will in 1985 before going to work in Antarctica.


At the time, his assets were two guitars and a second-hand car.


His mother Bev Lawrie said she was close to her son and he would be horrified that she was left with nothing.


"Don would be horrified, he'd just be absolutely horrified," she said. "It [the will] was just slapdash because he was off on a big adventure ..."


Efforts to talk to her ex-husband had fallen on deaf ears, she said.


"If it had been me, I'd have given him half of whatever."


Ron Wilkinson told the magazine his son had made a choice.


"Don was a 47-year-old police officer, not a 15-year-old handicapped child. He left a will and it was adhered to."


Under the Family Protection Act, potential claimants have 12 months after a will is probated to bring a claim.

Tough season has hardened Warriors for next year - Cleary

Wariors Coach Ivan Cleary on his teams loss

Cleary has the final word!

Story courtesy of yahooxtra
The New Zealand Warriors' National Rugby League (NRL) season came to a screeching halt when last night's results under the complex McIntyre finals playoff system didn't go their way after they lost to the Gold Coast Titans on Friday.



But coach Ivan Cleary today told NZPA that the various setbacks and ups and downs endured by the team will forge a hardened and tighter squad for next season.


Friday's 28-16 loss at Robina meant the Warriors -- who finished the regular season fifth -- needed two of the three teams ranked below them in the playoffs to lose if they were get a second life.


But the sixth-ranked Sydney Roosters came back to beat Wests Tigers 19-15 in a golden point thriller and then the seventh-ranked Canberra Raiders toppled the Penrith Panthers 24-22.


It meant the Warriors were the first team eliminated from the finals, their fate sealed regardless of the result of tonight's final playoffs match between minor premiers St George Illawarra and Manly.


But other than failing to advance deeper into the playoffs, Cleary rates an especially tough season a success.


Tough because injured inspirational skipper Steve Price could not play a single game, and a string of injuries to other key players meant he had to plunge younger players into the side more often than he wanted for much of the season.


"You know, no one thought we would make anything this year but we not only made the finals, we finished in fifth spot," Cleary told NZPA today.


"Unfortunately we did not get a bit further but that's just the way the system works sometimes."

"It has been a fruitful year -- almost just about every player has got better and that's success to me."


"I feel very confident that we will be stronger again next year."




"The injuries to key guys through the year not only made us play younger players more often but some of the other guys really had to step up in their roles and they did that," he said.

"This has made our squad stronger and those guys stepping up such as (Russell) Packer and (Ben) Matulino have really matured and blossomed."


"There's also James Maloney, Lewis Brown, Aaron Heremaia -- there's been plenty of names you can throw in there and that's great (for the future)," Cleary said.


Winger Manu Vatuvei, with 19 tries from 18 matches this season, was a genuine superstar and Cleary thought the club had bought well for next season to augment Vatuvei's impact.

Former Parramatta duo Feleti Mateo and Krisnan Inu along with former junior Kiwi Steve Rapira from the Cowboys would undoubtedly add to the calibre of his squad.


Cleary had no hesitation answering yes when asked if he thought his job was on the line during the season -- particularly if they had not made the playoffs at the very least.


"But the boys came to the party -- everyone kept believing in what we were doing in the end it turned around," he said.


"The thing is the result you get is over a long season -- it's not about a few games in a row, everyone can lose or win a few games in a row. So it's just a matter where you end up and that's what you deserve."






"You got to expect every team, even those that don't make the finals, are going to improve. That's been shown in the past few years... there's a big turnover of teams that make the finals each year."

"We have got to make sure we get better."

Britney back making Headlines for all the Wrong Reasons!

"She saw him as a sex plaything!"-Britney Spears' Former Bodyguard-





Story courtesy of xtrayahoo add ons courtesy of DHMNZ
Here we go, You know its obvious this rent-a-cop did not get any lessons from Costners Frank Farmer character did he? Fernando Flores - former minder *cough cough* to Britney Spears has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the 'Circus' singer - claims she was difficult to work for and he once saw her "pleasuring herself".


He said: "Britney was a nightmare to work for. All the security guards lived in fear of her. And she seemed to see me as just a sexy plaything."


The routine was always the same. She'd call security and tell me to be in her room in 15 minutes and not to be late.


"When I got there she'd be naked. One time I walked in and she seemed to be pleasuring herself on the bed. She was running her hands over her body and had this look on her face like she was possessed."


"I told my superiors about my concerns but they never took me seriously. In the end I had no choice but to quit. "


He also claims Britney - who is countersuing Fernando to prove the allegations are false - would hit out if she didn't get her own way.


He said: "The other security guards told me there were often times when she would hit them or swing at them if she didn't get her way. There were times I was sure she was going to attack me.


"She was definitely under the influence of something, prescription meds, I don't know. But that scared me."


Fernando admits it has been hard for him to find work since he quit, and confesses he has taken a financial hit.


He told The Sun newspaper: "People have labelled me a gold digger. But I have never sued anyone before and this has been very hard on me financially.


"I have struggled to find work since I lost my job. This has never been about money."

Whats it been about then? ... The sex? I bet in a few months time we'll see this clown end up on Oprah or sum shit telling all for a handsome 'Apperance Fee'.

Dodgy Bugger of the Week: Steve Crow

Puts the 'F' in Failure!

Story coutesy of DHMNZ

Failing to purchase a 1996 Bentley Azure convertible, valued at $700,000 for $94,000.00 is but another stone in the wall of fail for the self-proclaimed Porn-King of New Zealand. 

Debts and a string of failed businesses have not put a dent in Steve Crow's big-spending habits. Crow is legally barred from managing any company after four of his companies failed in less than five years. He owes Inland Revenue just over $250,000.

Lets have a look at his walk of shame:

1997: Offened local Taranaki Iwi with Haka a 'Maori' Porn Movie.

1998 Offered tuition for any woman attending University in NZ to do a pornographic shoot.
2006 Despite much objection Crow was granted an application to hold his 'Boobs on Bikes' Event. 
2009 Had 2 of his 4 companies liquidated and is legally barred from managing any company within New Zealand.

All Blacks Clean Sweep Tri Nations!!

All Black 2nd Five Eight Conrad Smith in Action in last nights thrilling 23-22 win

 The Tale of the Tape!



Story courtesy of msn
All Blacks captain Richie McCaw provided the spark for his side to come back from 6-19 down by scoring the try which allowed it to complete a clean sweep of the Tri Nations by claiming a 23-22 victory at Telstra Stadium in Sydney on Saturday.



It was another bruising encounter between the sides but the All Blacks wore down the Australians by turning to a power game in the final quarter and it paid dividends.


The effort also marked a winning celebration for McCaw as he became the most capped All Blacks captain with 52 Test matches when passing Sean Fitzpatrick's record.


New Zealand almost foundered on their own errors, many unforced. Lack of accuracy in lineout throwing, failure to find touches several times in field play and an absence of the control earlier in the series all contributed to a disappointing performance during the first three-quarters of the game.


Handling and passing errors in potential scoring situations looked like they would add up to deny the All Blacks their shot at the world record for successive victories but their fightback kept their quest alive at 15 unbeaten games.


A 68th minute try to McCaw revived New Zealand hopes as halfback Piri Weepu landed the conversion to make the deficit 16-22.


Then five minutes later, the All Blacks opted to play for position rather than take a penalty goal and it paid off with some more strength-sapping drives at the line with No.8 Kieran Read powering his way over by the posts for Weepu's conversion to claim the lead.


New Zealand's sensible use of the bench resulted in flanker Jerome Kaino having a significant effect after he came on to take Victor Vito's place. He was prominent in some of the most demanding power plays which made the difference in the final outcome, and confirmed how much his game has grown this year.


The All Blacks' problems started in the 17th minute after a superb scrum break by No.8 Ben McCalman opened up the blindside track. He sped past weak defence and fed flying wing James O'Connor and there was no cover to haul him for Australia to gain the lead.


It was reward after opposite wing Lachie Turner was denied a try in the first five minutes by a fraction of a millimetre as his foot slid into the touchline in wing Cory Jane's tackle.


Moments later it was Australia scrambling to push second five-eighths Ma'a Nonu out in the corner at the other end after he chased through on a clever kick by first five-eighths Aaron Cruden. And All Blacks' fullback Mils Muliaina went within a stride of scoring after latching onto a centring kick from left wing Israel Dagg.


Second five-eighths Matt Giteau extended Australia's lead to 11-6 with his 31st-minute penalty goal, having landed his first in the sixth minute while Weepu landed third and 10th-minute penalty goals. Giteau's also added an injury-time penalty goal.


Centre Adam Ashley-Cooper gained a vital advantage for the side when scoring the opening try after halftime which took Australia to a 19-6 lead, the opportunity arising from two All Blacks mistakes. The first was a turnover from flanker Victor Vito which saw the ball kicked long by Australia and in attempting to run the ball back Muliaina was isolated and Australia turned the ball over again.


Australia 22


Tries: O'Connor, Ashley-Cooper


Pen: Giteau 3, Beale

__________________


New Zealand 23


Tries: McCaw, Read


Con: Weepu 2 Pen: Weepu 3

Woman with world's largest breasts has them removed

From choke size... to bite size!

Story courtesy of msn add ons courtesy of DHMNZ
A woman with the world's largest breasts has had her M-cup-sized implants removed after a three-month battle with blood infections. Wow there is complications with Sliacone!


Sheyla Hershey said she wanted to be like a "normal housewife" after battling the staph and strep infections, which specialists warned would eventually kill her.


Her most recent plastic surgery was performed in June in her home country of Brazil, as the operation to have size-M implants put in is illegal in the US.


Hershey, who said she was too scared to look in the mirror, has now undergone surgery in Houston, Texas after attempts to remove the infection with strong medication and a specialised medical vacuum failed.

"We've already taken her to surgery twice," said the surgeon in charge of the breast removal, Dr Ron Bucek.


"We needed to open the area up to allow it to drain because we can't leave an infection in a contained zone."


Doctors had been monitoring Hershey twice-weekly because of the severity of the infections.


Hershey told FoxNews she was finally ready for the implants to be taken out.


"I decided to go a lot smaller — a lot smaller," she said.


"I just want a normal size like a normal housewife has."

She said her responsibilities as a mother forced her to take control of the addiction to plastic surgery.

"I know it's going to be a lot of pain for me because I love to have them but I realised that my family comes first and I love my daughter and son," she said. Well they certainly got a fair bit of loving from them... I wonder how dad feels losing his floatation devices?


"Even though I love to have huge breasts... I'm going to try to live without it [sic]."


Hershey underwent the surgery at an unknown time this morning.

Just goes to show big isnt always better peeps.

Hawkes Bay hit with another Quake!

Central Hawke's Bay has been rocked again by another sizable earthquake.







The 5.3 magnitude quake struck at about 4.15pm this afternoon at a depth of 20 kilometres.






It was centred near the same area as the 5.2 quake at Porangahau which struck on Tuesday morning.






Much of the lower North Island will have felt it.

Independants Thrust Gillard into Top Job!

CANBERRA - Julia Gillard has finally been confirmed as Australia's first elected female Prime Minister, more than two weeks after an election that has now given her a razor-thin majority with no certainty of policy support.



The decision of New South Wales' country independents Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott to defy their conservative rural voters and back Labor gave Gillard the 76 votes on confidence and supply she needed to form a new Government.


She had previously won the support of Melbourne Greens MP Adam Bandt and Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie.


Queensland independent Bob Katter broke from the ranks of the "three amigos" to hand his backing to Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, joining the promise of the confidence and supply votes of West Australian Nationals MP Tony Crook, who has said he also intends to sit on the crossbenches.


Gillard welcomed the decision of Windsor and Oakeshott and said Labor was prepared to govern for the next three years in the best interests of the Australian people.


"If we fail in this solemn responsibility, we will be judged harshly when we next face the Australian people at the next election," she said.


But her job will be hard and delicately balanced: Windsor and Oakeshott both emphasised that their decision did not give Labor any mandate and that their support could not be taken for granted.


They also warned that their support was conditional on Government probity.


Windsor said that while he would back Gillard on votes of confidence and supply, he reserved the right to represent his constituents in any vote, and to move any no-confidence motions in the Government as he saw fit.


Oakeshott, who has been offered an unspecified senior position - presumably either as Speaker of the House or a ministry - said he would similarly support the Government except in "exceptional circumstances".


These could include maladministration or corruption, or the Government reneging on the regional package promised as part of the deal that won his support.


Gillard's conditional majority will require careful management and the development of new skills that no federal government has had to use since the last, brief, hung parliament 70 years ago.


She has also to face a Senate in which the balance of power will continue to be held jointly by the Greens, Family First Senator Steve Fielding and independent Nick Xenophon until the new members take their seats next July, handing control to nine Greens senators.

Monday Earthquake Crisis Update

Home of Robbie Deans demolished

DAY 3

The situation as it stands in Christchurch at the moment. The state of emergency has been extended until midday Wednesday.

The Central Business District is still cordoned off but the extent of the cordon has been reduced overnight.


People are still being asked to stay away while assessments are done.


More than 500 buildings in the city are badly damaged, 90 significantly which may need to be demolished.


It's estimated just under 4,000 homes are without power - 98 percent of homes have had power restored.


Orion is warning that some homes may be without power for up to five days, so residents should make sensible arrangements to stay warm, but safe.


Around 60 streets are still without water.


To date, almost a third of all jobs recorded relating to water and wastewater have been resolved and teams are working around the clock to restore water supply to the city.

Sewage and wastewater facilities are still stretched.


Teams will be working today with cameras to inspect pipes to identify the highest priority repairs.


Residents are still being advised to boil all water, regardless of its appearance.


Cases of gastroenteritis are already presenting at doctors rooms around the city.


All schools in the Christchurch, Waimakariri and Selwyn districts are closed until at least Wednesday.


Parents are being told to keep an eye on school web sites and school answerphones that will have detailed information.


Meanwhile, a strong southerly flow is expected over the South Island later today which will mean cold winds and cooler temperatures for the Canterbury area. Skies are predicted to remain cloudy until at least Wednesday.


Busses are not running and public transport will remain inoperable until the cordon around the Central Business District is lifted.


Rubbish is being collected throughout the city suburbs.


However, within the CBD businesses are being asked to leave bags on the street outside the cordon - it will be collected but mortar and plaster should not be added to the rubbish mix.


And the mail will get through - only three post shops are closed today; Kaiapoi, Cathedral Square and the CBD.


All rail services in the Christchurch area are expected to be restored by tomorrow.

Earthquake hits Christchurch!!

7.4 on the Scale!!!!!


Story by Jarod Broker (NZ herald). Story courtesy of msn
A car, destroyed by falling rubble, on Madras Street in central Christchurch. Photo / NZPAMany Christchurch residents are counting themselves lucky to be alive after this morning's massive 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the city.

Marsha Witehira, 30, was sleeping when the wall next to her bed collapsed in and falling bricks narrowly missed landing on her head.


Her friend, Tama Wharepapa, was sleeping in the lounge when items started falling on him from a wall unit. He rushed into Ms Witehira's bedroom and pulled her by the feet out of the way of the collapsing wall.

"It just missed my head," Ms Witehira said.


"He literally pulled me by my feet in my sleep, just at the time that the bricks fell on my bed and it just missed me. It was pretty intense," she said.


"I'm very lucky to be alive. If Tama wasn't here to wake me from my sleep and pull me out, I really wouldn't like to think what the result would be."

Other walls in the home Ms Witehira rents had also collapsed and most of her property had been destroyed. It was just a massive noise


Knee Doherty said she was asleep in her central Christchurch home when the building next door collapsed.


"We didn't even notice the movement as much as the noise," she said.


"The back of the house is pretty much gone. All the house next door is gone. It was just a massive noise."

'Extremely violent shaking'




New Zealand Herald reporter Jarrod Booker, who lives in the central Christchurch suburb of Linwood, said he was woken by "extremely violent shaking."

"Items were falling and crashing around the house. It was extremely violent shaking."


He said the chimney from his next door neighbour's house had fallen and smashed through a car's windscreen.


"There have been a number of aftershocks of a much lesser degree since then."


Mr Booker's partner, Kineta Knight, said it was a scary sight to see.


"The entire chimney landed on my car. It completely smashed the windscreen. I heard something falling and I thought it was a pole. The whole thing was in really slow motion."

Flasher in Auckland City!

The Naked Truth...



Story courtesy of msn add ons courtesy of DHMNZ
Just because Spring and Summer are almost upon us, Its surely not that warm where we can just run round naked is it?  Not in this case certainly! Police are combing central Auckland streets looking for a man who allegedly flashed his genitals at a woman on Tuesday.



The woman phoned police this morning saying she recognised the man in Remuera, PMFSL I wonder what distinguishing part gave him away.


A police northern communications centre spokeswoman said she followed the man while on her cellphone. It is not clear if she was in a car or on foot or if she had clothes on.


Police were combing the Remuera and Parnell areas looking for the man, the spokeswoman said.


Witnesses said there was a heavy police presence on Ayr St, Parnell. All for one randy bugger! Thats the Naked Truth!!

Sliver Ferns Win!!

Story courtsey of yahooxtra
At the heart of New Zealand's outstanding 59-40 win over Australia in the second netball test in Wellington yesterday was coach Ruth Aitken's fiendishly simple plan.


After losing the first test in Adelaide last Sunday by five, Aitken and her coaching staff latched onto the perfect way to lift the players' intensity.


"We basically unleashed the defence on the attacks," she said, in a manner which sounded unnervingly similar to an order to "release the hounds".


The tactic proved hugely effective -- players left nothing in reserve on the training court, and played at a similar pitch in last night's runaway win.


"It's really hard because often there's a preservation mode that happens in trainings," Aitken said. "But we agreed we had to put pressure on more in the training environment, and the players bought into it."


After surviving the onslaught of Casey Williams, Leana de Bruin, Anna Scarlett and Katrina Grant in training, the Silver Ferns' shooters possibly found the Australian defensive line-up last night a breeze in comparison.






New Zealand won every quarter, stretching a 16-11 lead after 15 minutes to 31-19 at halftime. The third quarter proved Australia's best -- they lost it by only three -- as the Silver Ferns led 45-30 at the three-quarter mark before closing out the win with an emphatic final 15 minutes.


Their performance forced Australian coach Norma Plummer into an early replacement, as she turned to 1.96m defender Susan Fuhrmann at the end of the first quarter.


In Adelaide, Fuhrmann's final quarter appearance rattled New Zealand shooter Irene van Dyk, and the Diamonds turned a one-goal deficit at the last break into a five-goal win.


Last night, van Dyk remained calm, goal attack Maria Tutaia upped her work-rate and the New Zealand lead expanded.


Such was the New Zealand dominance, Plummer also pulled abrasive goal defence Mo'onia Gerrard at halftime, a tactic which Aitken found quietly satisfying.


"Maria did a fantastic job against her -- the volume of shots she was putting up made her such a threat. I think that's about the only time I've seen Mo'onia subbed."


Captain Williams was equally satisfied with her team's effort.


"We made things happen ourselves, and when we had the lead, we put out foot down and made it harder for them," she said.


"We prepared more, our trainings were much more intense. We knew we had it in us, we just had to prove ourselves and believe in ourselves."

The Silver Ferns were primed for the match, celebrating with high fives, fist bumps and big smiles when things went their way.


"We wanted to acknowledge when we do good stuff, because it lifts the team," Williams said.


"We were believing in ourselves, that we were better than them, and we put the foot down. There was a need for that, and it was hard not to smile."


Perhaps the most satisfying aspect of the win would have to be the fact that 11 of Aitken's 12-strong bench took the court, with Grant the unlucky one to miss game time.


The win was, however, a real team effort -- defence, midcourt and shooters melding together a seamless 60-minute game to totally shut out the confident Australians.


Aitken isn't about to get too carried away, however, with the series decider still to come in Auckland on Sunday.


"We have to keep evolving. This was wonderful, but it was one night, and we're all back to square one again come Sunday."


"We need to re-establish ourselves. There's no doubt it's a huge confidence boost, but we do need to look at the consistency from here on in."


Aitken was cagey about whether a series win or next month's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi was the more important.


"We want to win both -- we're greedy, greedy coaches," she said. "We do want to keep building our options, but the way we have to do that is to try and not compromise our performance."


New Zealand and Australia both wanted to win the series, she added, "but it's definitely the battle and not the war".


"Australia will come back -- they're very proud, very skilled and talented, and we will have to match that intensity and push on further."

Gunmen on the loose in West Auckland

Late Breaking News!!!

Story courtesy of yahooxtra
Armed robbers are on the loose after holding up an Armourguard van in West Auckland this evening.


Three offenders, some of whom were carrying firearms confronted security guards inside the entrance to the ASB Bank in Massey.

More to follow...


A quantity of money was taken and the offenders fled the scene in a vehicle. No shots were fired and no one was injured.


The getaway car was found burnt out not far from the scene

Should we leave the Commonwealth after the Queen karks it?

REPUBLIC OF NEW ZEALAND

Story courtesy of DHMNZ
The short answer in my opinion is No! Well... well the old girl is into her 84th year and 60th as the reigning Monarch, with no apparent signs of calling it a day. In 60 years she has met every great name known from JFK, Ghandi, Michael Jackson, Nelson Mandela, GW Bush (both) just to name a few.

Giving up or not. The words muttered under many New Zealanders breaths is should we stay as a Commonwealth country or become a republic? John Key has already indicated that under his government he will not be seeking to turn the country into a republic. Than again he said he was going to mine. 

Becoming a republic could very well upset many things especially with the British. partial loss of International trade, military assistance and many other benefits could be jepardised as a result of forming a republic.

What are your thoughts?      

Police still looking for Missing Wellington Man

2 Day search reveals no answers.


Story coutesy of yahooxtra
Police are still trying to piece together the movements of missing Wellington man Robert Logan after a huge search over the weekend failed to find any trace of him.



Mr Logan, 51, was last seen a week ago and his car was found near the rugged Owhiro Bay coastline on the outskirts of Wellington on Friday afternoon.


A huge search team including the police dive squad, maritime units, a rescue helicopter and about 60 search and rescue volunteers scoured Wellington's south coast over the weekend, while police searched areas he was known to frequent. They failed to find any trace of Mr Logan.

He was last seen at the Woolworths supermarket in the Wellington suburb of Kilbirnie, where he purchased a few items about 9.30pm on Thursday, police said today.

Anyone who may have seen Mr Logan at Woolworths, or had anyone information about his whereabouts, was asked to contact police.

Maori Social Services Wins Support from Report

Story courtesy of yahooxtra
Even non-Maori families prefer to use social services provided by Maori organisations as they provide a whole-of-family approach, a report released today shows. The report, Social Services in Masterton, was conducted by the Families Commission on request from Social Development Minister Paula Bennett.

Intended to be a snapshot of Masterton social services providers, it also provided a guide for the national situation. The report found Masterton service were generally adequate with few overlaps, but some gaps.

Most providers indicated there was unmet demand and they could expand their services with more funding and staff. Among the gaps were mental health services for those with moderate needs, help for sexual offenders, parenting older children programmes, affordable housing, programmes for young fathers and for teenagers who had left school but still lived at home.

Most families interviewed tried first to deal with problems themselves or through their extended family before looking for outside help. Many non-Maori families indicated they preferred dealing with kaupapa Maori agencies because they catered to a wide range of family needs.


Families also did not like working with agencies that were imposed on them, where they had to repeat their story, where there was a lack of flexibility and professionalism or where they suspected they would be reported to Child Youth and Family, the report said. Maori families also preferred services with Maori staff who were fluent in te reo.

Chief Families Commissioner Carl Davidson said the report showed most people did not approach social services from a point of dysfunction, but rather use them as a tool to maintain strength and wellbeing.

"This was especially noticeable with kaupapa Maori services, which were actively sought after by Maori and non-Maori families alike because of their whole-family approach."


The report showed local service providers often knew exactly what was needed and how to deliver it, but bureaucracy sometimes got in the way, Mr Davidson said. Funding social services through high trust contracts would facilitate inter-agency cooperation and deliver better results for families, he said.

"The evidence from Masterton tells us that families there want social services that are culturally appropriate, family focused, community led, and where they can get to know and trust a small number of staff with their story."


Ms Bennett said the report would inform policy development including whanau ora and the community response model.


"When I took office I was astounded to find that no one could tell me what services existed in each area and who used them," she said.


The report gave insight into a typical New Zealand town and reflected views of 400 families and 33 providers.


"While we often have anecdotal knowledge nothing beats real research evidence. This research can help us in our quest to respond to real community needs better."