Did you know that:

• Alcohol was introduced into New Zealand by the first European voyagers – Tasman et al.
• In 1835 Potatau and other Tainui rangatira met to discuss establishing peace and security in the Tamaki (Auckland) region AND
• Position themselves to take strategic advantage of the growth of European settlement that would provide trade, commerce, educational and technological benefits to the Iwi  AND
• The need to risk manage (as a result of this interface) the importation to Tainui of the alcohol induced vices and lawlessness that gave Kororareka (Russell) the infamous reputation of being the “hell hole of the Pacific”.
• Potatau subsequently established his own constabulary to manage the Maori - European coexistence in Tamaki.
• Post raupatu and through the latter part of the 19th century King Tawhiao and Tainui leaders declared the King Country an area free from alcohol trafficking as an integral part of what became known as the “King Country Pact”.
• Following the illegal invasion of Parihaka in 1881 by the militia and constabulary Taranaki was deliberately and strategically saturated with licensed alcohol sellers even the illegal “sly groggers” were issued with licenses by magistrates
• Te Puea Herangi (Princess Te Puea) on return from a visit to Parihaka where she witnessed the devastating effects of this alcohol saturation policy implemented a ban on drinking of alcohol on Waikato marae.
• In 1949 Te Puea and Methodist Church Rev A. J Seamer led a delegation of Kingitanga, Maori Womens Welfare League, Church and community interests (approx 600) on a hikoi to Wellington. The focus was to protest the governments continued refusal to observe the King Country Pact and the liquor amendment bill passed the year before.
• That bill lifted the restriction on the amount of alcohol that Maori men could purchase as wholesale take away from licensed premises.

Tainui and Kingitanga leaders have a noble history in their attempts to protect the Iwi from the detrimental effects of alcohol. Whilst illicit drugs such as cannabis and amphetamines create significant concerns the abuse and dependency on the legal drug alcohol  is still the cause of the most devastation amongst our youth and families today.