Anti-P crusader takes message to Parihaka

BY JARED SMITH

Denis O'Reilly has such a diverse background it can be hard to get a handle on him – but the message he will deliver at the Parihaka International Peace Festival this weekend will be very clear.

The Pakeha Black Power life member, masters degree holder, one-time trainee Catholic priest and grandfather of 18 is on an anti-P crusade.

At Parihaka, Mr O'Reilly will rub shoulders with politicians such as Te Ururoa Flavell and Hone Harawira as he discusses his mission to banish methamphetamine.

"I've called it the dissolution of Maori gangism, and the rise of Maori whanau ora," he said.

And the Napier resident has used his diverse connections to form co-operations and agreements many would have considered impossible, including between the Mongrel Mob, Black Power, and the Salvation Army.

"I think Marx used to talk about dialectics – the energy you get with polar opposites."

He has taken controversial stances against the popular theories of P-prevention, which he says does not address the import trade from Asia, and a police system where "some of our brightest, most energetic, are locked up".

"It's a modern day struggle against colonialism, in a way.

"The war on drugs is crazy, a waste of time. What it is, is the difference between demand reduction and the drive to limit supply. It's a demand reduction, and we should lead with that."

Last year he was involved in the Mongrel Mob chapter Notorious and the Salvation Army establishing a methamphetamine rehabilitation programme at Kakahi, and specifically singled out Roy Dunne, the Notorious chapter's captain, for his pro-social change stance – this from a Black Power member.

Mr O'Reilly said one must understand where the Maori gang culture came from to work across its boundaries.

"Gangs as we know it, Mongrel Mob and Black Power, came about in the 1970s, projected from the North American thing.

"It came from urban-born Maori. Like mugs, we followed the North American model.

"We were a peer group then, 17-18-year-olds. But the demographics now are similar to what you find in all Maori society."

When he talks to gang members today, he asks them what they want and finds simple answers – good education for their kids, and aspirations of a drug-free, violence-free environment. "I say to them, `did you think you would get that by joining a gang?' What is it that we're doing? [We should discuss] what the definition of the future would be."

Attending his third Parihaka festival with "three generations of my family," Mr O'Reilly will be speaking tomorrow at 2pm.

Times and subjects of speakers at Parihaka.

Today

5.30pm: Voices of Parihaka, Parihaka 2010 – facing the challenges, being part of the solutions.

Saturday

11am: Ruakere Hond, reo.

12pm: Steve Edwards, Super City debate.

1pm: Rosa Moiwend, speaker on struggle in West Papua.

1.30pm: KT Julian, human rights in Burma.

2pm: Denis O'Reilly, the end of "Maori Gangism" and resisting methamphetamine.

3pm: Hone Harawira.

Sunday

11am: Ruakere Hond, reo.

12pm: Mike Smith and Hinekaa Mako, "Te Ao Wera" global warming in Aotearoa.

1pm: Pip Laufiso and others, Samoan tsunami delegation.

1.30pm: Bill Macnaught, CEO Puke Ariki, 150th anniversary of beginning of New Zealand Land Wars.

2pm: Taukumekume (debate).

3pm: Apirana Taylor, writer, actor, artist, musician, entertainer.

4pm: Mike Smith and Hinekaa Mako, "Te Ao Wera" global warming in Aotearoa workshop

* Please note these times are subject to change.

- © Fairfax NZ News