Māori Party candidate for Te Taitokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, has today announced the parties Mokopuna Māori Policy at an event in Whangarei.

“We are at a tipping point and the time has come for us take back our rights as tangata whenua” says Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.

“Our babies make up 70% of children in state care and are effectively funded to stay with people to whom they have no whakapapa connection – mokopuna Māori do not belong in generic state care, they belong within whānau, hapū and iwi” says the Taitokerau candidate.

“The latest global pandemic has created an opportunity for us to reset our compass for ‘True North’ and build our own kaupapa Māori system for Māori, by Māori, as Māori” says Kapa-Kingi.

The Māori Party will:

1. Establish an independent ‘Mokopuna Māori Entity’ which will be responsible for the care of all mokopuna Māori in Aotearoa.

2. Allocate $600 million of public funding into this independent entity, which is a service that will be provided by Māori, for Māori, to Māori.

3. This independent entity will also establish a partnership network across Māori organisations, hapū, and iwi, to ensure mokopuna Māori remain connected to their whakapapa.

Ultimately, through this entity, the allocated funding, and the partnership network, we will rightfully reclaim our tino rangatiratanga as protected under Article 2 of Te Tiriti in respect of the greatest taonga of all – our mokopuna.

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