Health is a right enshrined within the World Health Organisation’s Constitution; yet in New Zealand we too often treat addiction as a crime, not as a health-related problem.

This hui is a crucial opportunity for our Waikato community to hear from and meet the Judges that set up the Auckland Courts, the Pou Oranga of the Auckland courts and key people who want and support this court here in the Waikato. We can’t keep doing nothing. We need this court here in the Waikato and we need it now.

Addiction can no longer be treated punitively; the resulting crime and drug abuse is a symptom of a health-related addiction problem. It is less expensive to treat addiction within the health sector than through prison sentences, and the outcomes are better in the short and long term. Prison doesn’t work for people who experience addiction, but these courts do, and thanks to the Auckland Courts, we know they work here in Aotearoa.

We want to make our communities Proud. Our nation’s identity is based on being at the forefront of fairness and kindness, yet we trail much of the world on effectively treating alcohol and substance use disorders.

The Auckland Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts work and we need one here in the Waikato. We want to connect people with treatment, re-connect them with society and reduce reoffending. The Māori name of the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court is Te Whare Whakapiki Wairua, ‘The House that Uplifts the spirit’; we want to bring this whare to the Waikato.

Come join us! Let's bring the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts to the Waikato!

The Atrium at Waikato Institute of Technology (WINTEC)

Tristram Street, Hamilton CBD