My Little (Crack-Den) Corner of the World

South Auckland; a regional melting-pot consisting of a population comprised of recent migrants and a strong Pacific community - and the object of much ridicule and marginalisation. But is it really the gangland, crime-infested hell that many media reports have led us to believe?

To be sure, this fragile and high-risk region suffers from many problems, ranging from literacy issues, sky-rocketing crime rates, and drug and alcohol abuse all contributing to a negative image that continues to make people apprehensive about this vulnerable Auckland burrough.

But if we continue to paint South Auckland as a hopeless, criminal wasteland, what will this do to its residents and their opinions of themselves and their suburb?

This comes on the heels of a purported Auckland "Supercity" Council merger, which entails the conciliation of all Auckland's many council districts, including the Manukau City Council board that represents South Auckland.

Very worrying considering recent developments, which includes news that the Manukau City Council will divide its Auckland Airport shares amongst other Councils come the merger, and other reports that have surfaced concerning the Manukau City Council's own coffers and the redistribution of one-hundred million dollars of its own accumulation!

Surely funds of this measure would be better spent on the above issues facing South Auckland, not in the hands of other communities whose ratepayers already amass massive sums of money for their own Councils?

But wouldn't you know, they've even hit South Auckland in the pocket by using its ratepayers' hard-earned cash to build a freaking stadium. A stadium! Great, now we can watch the ABs while our city falls apart around us and buy ridiculously over-sized, finger-pointing foam hands to distract us while they hijack our wallets.

This is simply unacceptable; instead of investing much-needed financial assistance in our young South Aucklanders, supporting their future so they can support us in our twilight years, we've thrown away our money on an opulent and ostentatious toilet bowl.

Out here, in this drug-addled criminal oasis, we need greater financial support to cradle burgeoning new initiatives that will be of significant importance and aid to our community.


List of Web References:

1. Gemstones: http://youngnz.org.nz/gemstones/index.php

2. Ministry of Health: http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf?OpenDatabase

3. Frogblog: http://blog.greens.org.nz/

4. Uncyclopedia: http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

5. BroTown: http://www.brotown.co.nz/index.html

6. Stuff.co.nz: http://www.stuff.co.nz/

7. New Zealand Herald Online: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/

8. National Business Review: http://www.nbr.co.nz/

9. Tuaman - David Tua Website: http://www.davidtua.net/

10. pacificEyeWitness.org: http://pacificeyewitness.org/

Reference List:

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nzherald.co.nz. (2009). St John's six-year battle over pokies nears big day. Retrieved September 26th, 2009, from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/auckland-region/news/article.cfm?l_id=117&objectid=10596081

NewstalkZB. (2009). South Akld labelled drink driving "black spot". Retrieved September 26th, 2009, from http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=162033

TVNZ. (2009). Lee makes formal apology after comments. Retrieved September 25th, 2009, from http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/lee-comments-condemned-silly-2738069

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TVNZ. (2007). Gangs of South Auckland: The Appeal. Retrieved September 25th, 2009, from http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411365/1232384

Frogblog. (2008). South Auckland - the real issues. Retrieved September 25th, 2009, from http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/06/28/south-auckland-the-real-issues/#comment-47910

The University of Auckland. (2005). Overwhelming response to free reading classes in South Auckland. Retrieved September 25th, 2009, from http://web.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/about/news/articles/2005/01/0011.cfm

Yahoo! Answers. (2009). How dangerous is Auckland? Retrieved September 25th, 2009, from http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090917225447AAV2L73

Craccum. (2009). Maori Seats on the Super City Council Unpacking the Criticisms. Retrieved September 25th, 2009, from http://www.craccum.co.nz/?tag=supercity

Auckland Stuff.co.nz. (2009). Super fears on supercity. Retrieved September 25th, 2009, from http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/manukau-courier/2301697/Super-fears-on-supercity

The National Business Review. (2009). Manukau City Council to raise $100m but entire Supercity will benefit. Retrieved September 25th, 2009, from http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/manukau-city-council-raise-100m-entire-supercity-will-benefit-109622

nzherald.co.nz. (2009). Should Auckland ratepayers fund a $85m Rugby World Cup base on Queens Wharf? Retrieved September 25th, 2009, from http://blogs.nzherald.co.nz/blog/your-views/2009/6/19/should-auckland-ratepayers-fund-100m-rugby-world-cup-base-queens-wharf/?c_id=None

Gemstones. (2009. What Is Gemstones? Retrieved September 25th, 2009, from http://youngnz.org.nz/gemstones/index.php