Proud 2b Counties Manukau!
In 2002, then Mayor of Manukau, Barry Curtis, made a comment on the new catch-cry for Counties Manukau Sport, which he hoped will grow into a marketing phrase for the region, to try and copy the success of "Absolutely Positively Wellington" used to market the capital.
The original text was written at that time as a response to Barry, and eleven years on, I am updating it to see where we really after a decade of change.
Counties Manukau has so much to take pride in. We lead the country in many areas and residents should be rightly proud of these achievements. Here are just a few:
Resourcefulness of citizens.
Every day, thousands of fit young men and women can be seen in pokie bars, or just loitering instead of working. We should certainly be proud that such a high percentage of our residents are resourceful enough to never need to work, yet have money to spend on booze, cigarettes and gambling.
Update January 2013
Little has changed here, although the unemployment rate has increased by 40% since 2002, to the present 9%.
Worst of all, inside that bare number is hiding the fact that a whopping 31% of teenagers in Manukau are unemployed.
Security Companies.
Our cul-de-sac alone has had over a dozen burglaries in the past six months, with some houses having been lucky enough to be burgled twice. Given that there are only 30 houses in the cul-de-sac, this burglary rate is the best advertising private security companies could get and there is no better place to start up a security service. (June 2002)
Update January 2013
Note the following statistics taken from the Department of Statistics, for Counties Manukau:
Violent crimes: 2002: 4300, 2012: 5581, +29.8%. Population growth estimated during the period is 28.6%, so at best, violent crime has stayed the same rate.
Other crime: there is no doubt other crime has fallen, with an adjusted rate of 37% decrease in all crime.
The 300 extra cops given to Counties Manukau have made the difference there, and it is no particular credit to Manukau. It may also be part of a worldwide trend to less crime.
Innovation and fresh ideas.
So few children are adequately fed in the mornings that some schools serve breakfast at the start of school, knowing that the expenditure of a few thousand a year on breakfasts is outweighed by the positive results of having kids with full tummies. Innovative Manukau!
2013: This still applies, although science has shown that kids don't actually learn any better with a full stomach, they just create less trouble, which is all to the good.
The issue of children being deprived is tricky to assess, but an excellent measure is via health services, which is next on the list.
Health.
Thanks to new government regulations giving extra money to poorer areas, Counties Manukau can boast the lowest GP fees. We also lead the way in cases of meningococcal disease, TB and hepatitis.
2013: this is where the news starts to get really scary.
The news is all here, and it's all bad. Counties-Manukau leads the way in serious skin, lung and heart disease in children. Our kids are sick and getting sicker. The report shows that CMDHB has had faster increases in almost every category of bad news in child health.
Charitable Donations.
As well as having the highest ratio of pokies to people in the country, we should take pride in the fact that we also lead the country in terms of money lost down the throats of these machines. No other region’s charities receive as much money from pokies as those in Counties Manukau.
2013. Nothing has changed here. As well
as Counties-Manukau still having the worst problems caused by pokies, the
situation has been exacerbated by dozens of cheap booze shops opening across the
region. Needless to say, they don't support charities.
Earliest Physical Maturity.
Again, a statistic of which we should be rightly proud. Along with the early physical development of young men, giving us Jonah and others, our young people have more unprotected sex than those in any other area, the highest fertility rates, the most cases of VD and the highest DPB dependency.
2013: nothing changed here, with the area still leading in all sectors, although Gisborne may have overtaken Manukau in STDs.
Art.
With graffiti plastered right across Manukau & Counties, we can claim to have the most "street artists" in our region.
Support for the NZ Judicial System.
Counties Manukau proudly contributes the highest rate of jail inmates to our prison system. It is little surprise therefore that the vast majority of escapees from custody are usually located in the Manukau City environs.
Support for CYFS
Rating as the number one area for domestic violence, Counties Manukau proudly lays claim to using the highest proportion of CYFS budgets as increasingly overworked and underskilled social workers try to stem the flood of battered women and children.
2013: more for CYFS to get involved in,
with
Counties leading the country in overcrowded homes, avoidable mortality, heart
disease and many other negative health issues.
And at the same time, our paid representatives, Manukau City Councillors, have a meeting and debate about whether ties should be compulsory for themselves.
That the entity exists no more has made no difference to the problems, nor will it.
Copyright © Alan Charman