John MacDonald: Ending violence - a challenge for all of us

If you think the violence action plan announced by the Government yesterday has no relevance to your life - think again. 

 It’s one of many plans that are part of this overall 25-year strategy to eliminate family violence and sexual violence. The big strategy was launched in 2021, which means it’s got about 22 years to run. 

 It’s got a big price tag too, the long-term strategy that is. $1.3 billion. And, as part of this latest action plan, the Government’s going to review how the money is being spent to make sure it’s focused and streamlined to make sure that every dollar being spent is making a difference. 

 As for the goal of eliminating family violence and sexual violence by 2046, I think the harsh reality is that we’ll never eliminate it. But I’m not saying that we shouldn’t bother trying. 

I’m sure that if we spoke to someone involved in trying to end violence, they would say that the 25-year strategy is “aspirational”. They’d tell us that it’s something to aim for - which is better than the alternative. Which is doing nothing. 

And I’d agree with that. The question, though, is what you do to try and get somewhere towards eliminating violence. 

Which is why I said before, if you think the violence action plan announced by the Government yesterday has no relevance to your life - or nothing to do with you - then you need to think again. 

The obvious thing you can take from that is that we are all potential victims but also instigators of violence. 

You’ll know as well as I do that it’s not just people in certain parts of town who are at risk. Violence is everywhere. There’s violence in houses with kids' bikes and toys outside. There’s violence in houses where the cops turn up every now and then to have a word. But there’s also violence in houses with beautiful hedging and front gates that only open when someone presses a button. 

Physical violence, sexual violence, verbal violence, psychological violence. 

And if it isn’t you who has experienced some or all of those things. There’s a pretty good chance that someone you know has. 

It might be a friend, a relative, or that really friendly neighbour down the street who always seems to be smiling.     

That friend, relative, or really friendly neighbour down the street who always seems to be smiling could also be the one being violent behind those closed doors. 

Which is why this plan announced yesterday - and the bigger picture strategy that it's part of - will only achieve something if we do our bit. 

And when it comes down to it, doing our bit is pretty easy. It isn’t necessarily comfortable or pleasant or convenient. Because, doing our bit to reduce all kinds of violence, requires us to give a damn. 

It requires us to listen out for those raised voices across the fence. It requires us to do more than just shrug our shoulders and say “oh they’re at it again”. 

It requires us to run the risk of losing friendships or straining family relationships. Because if someone is picked up for acting violently or aggressively, I bet it must be damn embarrassing. 

Not to mention the fact that it can be very easy sometimes to convince ourselves that doing something or intervening will only make things worse for the person suffering the violent abuse.  

You know: “If I go over there now or if I ring the cops, he’ll just get more fired and up and then she’ll really wear it.” 

Or: “If I go over there now or if I ring the cops, there’ll be a rock through our window tonight.” 

See what I mean? But I genuinely believe that, if this stuff the Government’s going to do has any chance of succeeding, then we need to stop being a nation of scaredy cats. 

And I’m including myself there. Because there have probably been countless times where I’ve turned a blind eye or considered myself too busy - or any of the millions of excuses we can be very good at coming up with to avoid “getting involved”. 

“That yelling next door’s been going on for quite some time now - maybe I should poke my head in. But if I don’t get to the supermarket, there’ll be nothing for the lunches.” 

Driving home late at night. “That young woman back there looked pretty drunk - she probably shouldn’t be out on her own like that. Maybe I should go back and check on her. But I’ve got an early start. Need to get some sleep.”  

Time and time and time again we come up with excuses not to do anything. And that is what needs to change. 

For me, that is the one big thing we could all do to really make a difference and to give this 25-year plan to eliminate family violence and sexual violence by 2046 some chance of success. 

LISTEN ABOVE

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
If you think the Violence Action Plan announced by the
government yesterday, if you think it has no relevance to
your life, think again. It's one of many plans that
are part of this overall twenty five year strategy to
eliminate family violence and sexual violence. The big strategy itself
was launched three years ago, which means it's got about

(00:35):
twenty two years to run. Has got a big price
tag too, the long term strategy that is one point
three billion, And as part of this latest action plan,
the government's going to as well as getting on with
trying to make stuff happen, it's going to review how
the money's being spent to make sure it's focused in streamlined,
to make sure that every dollar being spent is making
a difference. As for the goal of eliminating family violence

(00:59):
and sexual violence by twenty forty six, I think the
harsh reality is that we will never eliminate it. But
I'm not saying either that we shouldn't bother trying. I'm
sure that if we spoke to someone involved in trying
to end violence, family violence, sexual violence, any violence, I

(01:21):
reckon they would say that this twenty five year strategy
is aspirational. They tell us that it's something to aim for,
which is better than the alternative, and what's the alternative
of the alternatives to do nothing? And I'd agree with that.
I find the word aspirational somewhat grating, but I would
agree with the gist of that. The question, though, is

(01:43):
what you do do to try and get somewhere towards
eliminating violence. Which is why I said before. If you
think the violence Action plan the government told us about yesterday,
you say that's got no relevance to my life, nothing
to do with me, then you need to at the
very least think again. Now, the obvious thing you can

(02:04):
take from me saying that is that we are all
potential victims, but we're also potential instigators of violence. I mean,
you will know as well as I do that it's
not just people in certain parts of town who are
at risk violences everywhere. There's violence in houses, you know,
the houses with kids bikes and toys outside. There's violence

(02:28):
in the houses where the cops turn up every now
and then to have a word. But there's also violence
in houses with the beautiful hedges and the front gates
that only work when someone presses a button. Physical violence,
sexual violence, verbal violence, psychological violence, the whole lot. And
if it isn't you who has, who has experienced some

(02:51):
or all of those things, Hopefully you haven't, but there's
a pretty good chance someone you know has might be
a friend, might be a relative, or it might be
that really friendly neighbor down the street who always seems
to be smiling. And that friend or that relative, or
that really friendly neighbor down the street who always seems

(03:13):
to be smiling we know, don't me that they could
also be the ones being violent behind those closed doors,
Which is why this plan announced yesterday and the bigger
picture strategy that it's part of, will only achieve something
if we do our bit. And when it comes to
doing our bit, it's pretty easy. Actually, it isn't necessarily

(03:37):
comfortable or pleasant or convenient, because doing our bit to
reduce all kinds of violence requires us to give a damn.
It requires us to listen out for the raised voices
across the fence. It requires us to do more than
just to shruggle shoulders and say, uh, they're at it again.
It requires us to run the risk of losing friendships

(04:00):
or straining family relationships, because if someone's picked up for
acting violently or aggressively, I bet it must be I
am embarrassing not to mention the fact that it can
be very easy sometimes to convince ourselves at doing something
or intervening will only make things worse, you know, for
the person suffering the violent abuse. You know, you know,
if I go over there now, if I ring the cops,

(04:23):
he'll just get more fired up and then she'll really
wear it. Or if I go over there now and
if I ring the cops, I guarantee that we are
rock through our window tonight, see what I mean. But
I genuinely believe that if this stuff the government's going
to do has any chance of succeeding, then we need
to stop being a nation of scaredy cats. And I'm

(04:46):
I'm cluding myself there, because there have probably been countless
times where I have turned a blind eye or considered
myself too busy, or any of the millions of excuses
we can be very good at coming up with to
avoid getting involved. The old don't get involved approach Yelling

(05:06):
next door has been going on for quite some time now,
maybe I should poke my head. And oh but if
I do get the supermarket, there'll be nothing for the
lunches driving home late at night. That young woman there
looked pretty drunk. Probably shouldn't have been able to rown
like that. Eh, maybe I should go back, and maybe
we should go back and check on it. I've got
an early start. We need to get some sleep. Time

(05:29):
and time and time again we come up with excuses
not to do anything, and that is what needs to
change for me. That is the one big thing we
could all do or not do, to really make a
difference and to give this twenty five year plan to
eliminate family violence and sexual violence by twenty forty six
some chance of success.

Speaker 1 (05:50):
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