The police have stopped referring people to Destiny Church’s Man Up and Legacy programmes after members disrupted a number of events at the Auckland Pride Festival last month.
Witnesses had reported about 30 people were barricaded into a room in Te Atatū’s library after men wearing ‘Man Up’ t-shirts had interrupted an event hosted by a drag king, who read a book to children about how rainbows are made, with costumes inspired by the sun, clouds and rain.
Both the Man Up and Legacy programmes were part of the police’s AWHI programme: a tikanga-based voluntary referral system used as a prevention tool to connect a person needing help with an appropriate service provider in their community.
The programme aimed to help prevent people from offending, reoffending, or becoming victims of crime or harm.
In a statement, police said a review had been undertaken to understand what referrals may have been made to either Man Up or Legacy programmes — affiliated with Destiny Church — following on from family harm-related events.
“Both providers have now been removed from our AWHI system, and no further referrals will be made.
“Police is committed to serving all our diverse communities, and we will now engage in a process to find replacement providers where required.”
In response, Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki said Man Up and Legacy restored families and broke cycles of crime, violence, and addiction.
He said the police should work with them, not bow to political pressure.
Tamaki said there had been “no investigation, no charges, no wrongdoing”.
rnz.co.nz
