National Male’s Awareness Month gossip
A year has passed since the males took to the streets and started protesting outside lawyers homes and once again we will see the same thing happen in Napier/Hastings this coming July but outside the Family Courthouse. July is the month for male’s awareness and it is a big deal to all those who stand for male’s rights.
In preperation for West Auckland I had the chance to speak to WINZ workers who told me they were glad to meet me and that they are so happy to have people stand up. They see the unfairness everyday. Also I had the chance to speak to a Dutchman who has been working in the community for 20 years and has received an International award for his community work. He works today for the CAB giving food from the City Mission. He says he sees the hardship of men all the time. He has spent many, many years reporting to politicians who never heard a word he said. Now the politicians ask to spend time with him but he tells them to take a hike because he doesn’t believe they care for the people.
Anyhow, the response for this month has been greater than the support for Wayne Pruden’s walk to Wellington.
But back to WINZ staff. They are sick of all the Asian and the Iraqi women that are here because the word internationally is, “Go to New Zealand for they will look after you.” Do you know that 2 out of 4 women on benefits now are not NZ citizens? The are immigrants under Helen Clarke’s greed for votes. Infact these women are the worst, they say, as they demand to be looked after. This reminds me of when I first started Auckland Single Parent’s trust. I was approached from the Single mother’s Immigrant Trust to organise childcare for these women. That is what they want, I was told. You can only imagine my thoughts but i did say, “I doubt it. I am not here to look after their children.” And the response I got from this agency that offer the immigrants support is that they can’t get them to leave the home they are provided with even with the housing corp support. Why? Because the immigrants say they were promised everything. And they want everything handed on a platter. Aunty Helen promised them and they want what they heard they would receive.
Infact WINZ workers told me that they have clients who are New Zealanders and live in the Housing Corp streets where they are the only European or Maori. They say they are upset because they have NZ clients who have been waiting for years and these immigrants who just demand from WINZ get handed housing corp homes withing 3-6 months. This is not suprising when you know that the Women’s refuges and Housing complexes for women in dire strait need of housing have a waiting list from overseas clients waiting to get here.
Aunty Helen doesn’t give a toss about New Zealanders. All she cares about is the vote to make her feminist agenda come true. She sure will go down in the history books but when all this comes out, I wonder if she will go down in history as one who brought the world together or one who destroyed it? But in her mind she thinks she is a global heroine no matter how devious she was to be to get it nor how many lives she has to destroy in the meantime.
She is very ILL ladies and gentlemen.
Aunty Helen may be instrumental in lots of Asian and Iraq women getting into nz for two other reasons too Julie.
1. They’re not men so it fits her sisterly agenda.
2. She’s after a spot of work with the UN once her stint as PM of nz is over.
I’ve had my own dealings with Anglican City Mission’s work with homeless men. I was even offered a post there years ago, but took another position elsewhere.
The City Mission do AMAZING thankless work year in and year out with drifers, alcoholics and the like.
They are angels.
Comment by Stephen — Fri 29th June 2007 @ 12:32 am
Thanx Stephen,
To add, I just had a bitch to the team leader of community groups from the Waitakere council. She is definately NOT a feminist. She told me that they are working on new policies this year right now and that I should help them by giving my views as the last policy was written 1998. Also I told her that Man Alive is too scared to speak up for men. And that many other groups are going through the same problem as us and Man Alive is not helping. She says that is terrible and they are not doing their job. She wasn’t happy to hear that. She says THEY should be advocating and not us women, for this will turn on us. Holy shit. I didn’t know I had the power to get them in trouble. Well, tough for them. They SHOULD be held accountable in our area. Shite, we are the best in the country for community work. OK, OK, maybe Christchurch is as good but we are still great. Just wait for our July meeting for all groups and doctors and all volunteers for males being men and teens and boys. Man Alive is not a speaker. They are going to feel it all right. And i hope they get the message from others.
WOW, I told her heaps and I turned to the council last year regarding men and child support and she now knows that I have gone to the Human Right’s Commission and written to politicians which i should not be doing in her eyes. I am supposed to (as a community group) refer men to Man Alive. That is their role. That is how things work and they are not upholding their responsibility. She doesn’t want my complaint to esculate and nor do I want to have to take the Waitakere Council to the Human Right’s Tribunal nor to the papers.
Comment by julie — Fri 29th June 2007 @ 3:23 pm
Julie,
Sorry a bit off topic, but,
When I was a Fire-fighter in Timaru some years back, the “Mens Refuge” used to be over the road from the fire station, every night there would be some guy walk in there that had been thrown out or beaten up by his partner, they seriously couldn’t cope with the number of men coming in there, I used to have regular collections of money between the day and night shifts at work.
Guys at work used to get rather peeved about the collections, but knew it was going to a good cause.
I did a LOT of remedial electrical and building work in that house all out of my own pocket, on my off-duty days.
All that changed after a partner of one of the guys that had been living there for about 6 months, set fire to the bloody house, causing massive damage and the place was deemed un-inhabitable.
Woman was never charged with arson, because she claimed he had “abused” her.
Good God was I angry, those guys needed that house and it was one of the most run-down places I’ve ever seen.
Funny how when we attended a fire in the kitchen at the local Wimmins Refuge, they had the best of everything, nice modern kitchen, a roof that didn’t leak, Batts in the walls and ceiling, no holes in the floor.
I really had to bite my tongue at that fire.
Unbelievable, the contrast.
Comment by Mike — Fri 29th June 2007 @ 6:20 pm
Mike you are not off topic. I really like to hear stories like this. It motivates me and it will motivate others. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. We just can’t go on like this. Everyone knows that should know. The goal for me is to be angry without being abusive but i can sure see why people get abusive. I think us New Zealanders are worse than the animals.
I would like to know more about this. Not just about the fire but about your story. You are a good hearted man for what you have done. Someone needs to collect all these stories and write about all this.
If you come back can you tell me when this happened? What year?
Comment by julie — Fri 29th June 2007 @ 6:42 pm
OK Julie I was a FF of various ranks between 1991 and 1997 in Timaru.
The “Mens Refuge” (to give it a name, as it could not get funding or even a listing in the local phone book under “Emergency Numbers”)
The guy that ran the place was a retired builder, Gus, who had made a lot of money over his life until he was divorced and lost half of his earnings to his wife, he never saw his kids again, although one boy did come to visit him regularly, he was 17 years old, Mum told him to stay away from Dad, even though Mum had the affair that split the family up.
With the money that Gus had from his divorce, he bought the place over the road from the Fire Station and set up a home for men that had been thrown out of home or had been beaten up, Or both.
I met Gus one night when coming onto shift, he said the side of his house was on fire and I ran over there and put it out with his garden hose.
A friendship started from then on.
As I said in my earlier post, he couldn’t get funding from the Government, and basically lived on donations of food, money and blankets and other such items.
Blue Watch at work started a fund for Gus, stating that anyone of us men could be in the same boat as the guys over the road.
Washdyke (a new career station) started a fund as well, in one month we raised $12,000, after we went down the main street of Timaru and begged for money for Gus’s project.
In 1992, the roof collapsed in Gus’s house under the wieght of the snow we recieved that year.
Station Officer Roddick(Also a builder), myself and Gus repaired it on our days off.
It took a lot to get Gus to accept all the money and help he was getting from us FF’s over the road.
The men that were there were great, always looking to help out, pulling cables or hammering on boards to finish a job.
In 1995, I was promoted to Senior FF, I went all out to get Gus recognised for his work as a volunteer for Men’s services, he even appeared in one of our Fire Safety posters.
This was about the time when he had a real problem with his ex-partner.
She used to ring him up every night and being full of alcohol, used to try and play “mind games” with him.
Of course back then, there was no-one that you could contact, about this.
I suggested calling the police, as that is “unlawful use of a telephone”.
Fact is she wasted her half of her share and wanted more money.
My heart fucking bleeds!
There was a guy that moved into the Mens Refuge, that was a bit special.
We recruited him as a FF, doing the menial tasks around the station, but boy could he cook!.
He is now there
Comment by Mike — Fri 29th June 2007 @ 7:58 pm
as a Senior Station Officer.
But after the fire over the road happened in 1997, I left the NZ Fire Service in Timaru, I was so dis-illusioned about the way that things work in this country.
I was a Station Officer at that particular fire, when this woman started a fire, I said to the Police officer that it looked dodgy, and the woman was down the road watching the place burn.
I said to her (the female police officer) that I wanted the woman arrested.
I knew who she was, I just couldn’t prove it on the face of it.
All I said was take her in for questioning, apparently she did start the fire and she resisted arrest down to the ground.
Meanwhile Gus’s dream died that night, he even said to me on the fire-ground, “sorry Mike, I’m broken now, this is the end of it all”
Gus died last year of heart failure, I attended his funeral, it was a very small affair.
He was a great guy, may he rest in peace.
Comment by Mike — Fri 29th June 2007 @ 8:13 pm
Thank-you Mike for sharing your story. Gus’s work is not in vain when their are people like you around to pass on his journey.
You have given me another way to look at our situation in Auckland now. The males we have in Man Alive are also good men who go out of their way to help the community. And they have funded outside on the streets like you have. And you wouldn’t do something like that if you didn’t sincerely care.
Maybe it is not just about expecting men’s groups to get everything right all the time because it seems that just like Gus’s situation all men’s groups are having a hard time. It is not like we have a men’s affairs to work on Government policies alongside a woman’s affairs.
It seems that groups outside of men’s groups need to utilise the men’s groups in the community. That will show how important they are and give them the chance to use their voices. Support and encouragement is what we should all do as one big team working in the community for the people.
Man Alive should be my first choice as a speaker. I would be doing more harm than good for the overall goals by excluding them. Thanx again.
Comment by julie — Sat 30th June 2007 @ 8:25 am
Julie,
I don’t want to be sensationalist here, but when have you ever seen the Womens Refuge out on a cake stall or begging for funds within the community?
Only men have to sink to that level.
How out of wack is that?.
Comment by Mike — Mon 2nd July 2007 @ 11:03 pm
Mike,
I see your point. But…
Women’s refuges do ask for money from the public. There was a time when they collected money on the streets. Kindergardens and the like sitll do this. In fact our group has asked the council for permission to collect money at the lights. Also to have a huge garage sale at one of their complexes. You need permits these days.
Women’s refuge has moved up to having big venues and having stars do promote their funding. Also they have hotlines, advertise on TV, etc. One day men’s refuge will have the same. It is harder though because the DV industry doesn’t want to acknowledge the needs for men.
Comment by julie — Tue 3rd July 2007 @ 7:50 am
Mike thanks for sharing that with us.
Comment by Dave — Wed 8th August 2007 @ 4:26 pm