United
Future's Judy Turner today labelled CYFS a "dysfunctional
monster", with child death after child death being laid at
its door.
"And the other tragedy of it is that beside this
stream of child deaths, there are some very fine and able
people within CYFS who are working very hard. But they are
hugely stressed and working in an organisation that is so
obviously dysfunctional," she said.
Yesterday was another
bad news day for CYFS, with one of its foster parents jailed
for 10 years for killing three-year-old Tamati Pokaia in a
fury over popcorn, and a CYFS report admitting its failure
in the case of 12-year-old Kelly Gush, who was kicked to
death by her step-father.
"CYFS doesn't fulfil its most
basic task - protecting children at risk - and one has to
ask whether in its current situation, it possibly can," Mrs
Turner, United Future's health spokeswoman, said.
"They
too often get it wrong. And when it comes to children's
lives, this level of failure cannot be accepted."
If you're using Scoop for work, your organisation needs to pay a small license fee with Scoop Pro. We think that's fair, because your organisation is benefiting from using our news resources. In return, we'll also give your team access to pro news tools and keep Scoop free for personal use, because public access to news is important!
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture tends to be hostile to Islam when we’re sitting in the dark, with popcorn. Any number of movie examples come to mind, beginning with Rudolf Valentino’s role (over a century ago) as the romantic Arab hero in The Sheik... More
Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More
Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More
Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More
Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More