Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
License needed for work use Register

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Te Mātāwaka: Oversight Of Oranga Tamariki Needs To Be Independent Of Government

The Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System and Children and Young People's Commission Bill will have its first reading today, but the Green Party will not be supporting it.

All tamariki in Aotearoa have the right to be loved, nurtured and safe in whānau and communities that have what they need to support their wellbeing,” says Green Party’s Māori Development spokesperson, and Chair of Te Mātāwaka, Dr Elizabeth Kerekere.

“For generations, this has not been the reality for children and young people who have ended up in the care and protection system.

“Several independent reports have shown deep structural issues within Oranga Tamariki, to the detriment of whānau Māori. Yet another report out today, from Ihi Research, shows successive governments enacted racist policies that failed Māori whānau and tamariki.

“This Bill will remove the investigation powers of the new Children and Young People’s Commission, compared with the current powers of the Children’s Commissioner. It also sets up a new monitoring agency instead of putting this vital role with the expanded Commission and benefiting from their independence and expertise.

“This refusal to allow the maximum level of independence should be a massive red flag to Māori and those with lived experience, especially in the context of decades of scrutiny, a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, and a Waitangi Tribunal report,” Dr Kerekere says.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

Greens spokesperson for Children and member of Te Mātāwaka Jan Logie says: “Turning the Office of the Children’s Commissioner into a Children and Young People’s Commission should go hand in hand with giving it powers and resourcing for monitoring, alongside advocacy work. Taking some of the functions away from the Commissioner is a backwards step.

“We know we are causing harm in our so-called child protection system. We need a truly independent monitor, empowered to speak out when necessary as a watchdog, as the former Children’s Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft said.

“The Greens are committed to tangata whenua-led responses to state care, and we call on Oranga Tamariki to work better with Māori and listen to our experts in order to properly honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi,” says Jan Logie.

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

Gordon Campbell: On The Skewed Media Coverage Of Gaza

Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website which is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of how Kiwis alerted the rest of the world to the genocide in Rwanda. How times have changed ...

In 2023, the government is clutching its pearls because senior Labour MP Damien O’Connor has dared suggest that Gaza’s civilian population - already living under apartheid and subjected to sixteen years of an illegal embargo, and now being herded together and slaughtered indiscriminately amid the destruction of their homes, schools, mosques, and hospitals - are also victims of what amounts to genocide. More


 
 
ACT: Call To Abolish Human Rights Commission

“The Human Rights Commission’s appointment of a second Chief Executive is just the latest example of a taxpayer-funded bureaucracy serving itself at the expense of delivery for New Zealanders,” says ACT MP Todd Stephenson. More


Public Housing Futures: Christmas Comes Early For Landlords

New CTU analysis of the National & ACT coalition agreement has shown the cost of returning interest deductibility to landlords is an extra $900M on top of National’s original proposal. This is because it is going to be implemented earlier and faster, including retrospective rebates from April 2023. More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.