Conclusion

The Task Force is racist and is being used by racist politicians as an instrument of oppression against Maoris and other Polynesians. No other conclusion is possible from the evidence we have gathered, taken in conjunction with statements made publicly by the National MPs of Auckland, in particular those made by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Muldoon. As Mr Muldoon's calls identifying Maoris and other Polynesians as the 'problem' have been made with increasing stridency over the period of our survey, so too has the arrest rate of this racial minority group shot up to over 80% of all Task Force arrests. Yet, it is inconceivable that Maoris and non-Maori Polynesians have suddenly become so much more prone to drunkenness, or obscene language or 'offensive behaviour' over this brief six-week period. The arrest situation can therefore only have resulted from a deliberate effort on the part of the Task Force to selectively arrest Maoris and other Polynesians, thereby satisfying the demands of those whose prejudice and bigotry leads them to overlook all pakeha crime and pretend that drinking, obscene language and violence is the prerogative of Maoris and other Polynesians.

The Task Force came into being as a result of a hysterical reaction to a small number of cases of street fighting involving Maoris and other Polynesians. To justify its existence, and prove that it was 'cleaning up the streets', the Task Force had to come up with big arrest figures for Maoris and other Polynesians in a short space of time. It did so in the easiest possible way by picking on those who transgressed archaic drunkenness and obscenity laws. This, then, provided the 'proof that Maoris and other Polynesians were indeed the 'problem' and so 'justified' concentrating even more attention on them which, of course, led to more and more arrests. The vicious circle became an even more vicious spiral.

There can be no doubt, no equivocation over our conclusion: in arresting hundreds of Maoris and other Polynesians on trivial charges the Task Force is not preventing violence, rather it is itself perpetrating violence. The oppression of a racial minority group by police is now a reality in Auckland. The Task Force must, therefore, be disbanded immediately.