Section 7AA: Ngāpuhi will hīkoi to Wellington to oppose repeal of child legislation

Minister for Children Karen Chhour.

RNZ

Ngāpuhi Iwi Social Services chief executive Dr Moana Eruera is warning a repeal of section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act will encourage ongoing abuse of Māori in state care.

Children’s Minister Karen Chhour is refusing to reconsider her decision to repeal section 7AA of the act, which legally binds Oranga Tamariki to improve outcomes for Māori and consider the whakapapa of tamariki in care.

Eruera told Midday Report Ngāpuhi vehemently opposed the repeal and the country’s largest iwi would be demonstrating its opposition in a hīkoi to Parliament next Monday.

“It’s a crisis for Ngāpuhi, we’ve got 827 Ngāpuhi mokopuna currently in the care of the state, last week the Whanaketia report raised the historic abuse showing the horrific acts our mokopuna have suffered in the care of the Crown. We plan to put that information out there and we plan to do it very clearly,” Eruera said.

The inquiry highlighted that Māori made up the majority of at least 200,000 people abused in state care between 1950 and 1999 and identified isolation from whakapapa, whānau, iwi and hapū as a form of abuse.

Dr Moana Eruera.

Chhour told Nine to Noon she planned to pursue the proposed repeal and would “never apologise” for its removal.

“I’ve never said that iwi and whānau and hapū shouldn’t be part of the consideration... but, they shouldn’t be the first consideration. The safety and wellbeing of the child must always come first,” Chhour said.

Eruera said section 7AA never prioritised whakapapa over the safety of tamariki and a repeal would destroy the positive advances iwi have managed to make because of it.

“Ngāpuhi have had a longstanding strategic relationship with Oranga Tamariki, and we want that relationship or the obligation that the legislation gives us in ledge, and not to be removed so Oranga Tamariki don’t have the discretion to pick and choose or not continue those [iwi] relationships.”

Ngāpuhi are calling for the devolution of Oranga Tamariki resources and funding to iwi and it plans to promote its own whakapapa-based solutions at a hīkoi in Kaikohe this Saturday.

“We are mobilising a call to action to raise awareness and take responsibility of the issue among our own people, Ngāpuhi-led solutions are making genuine positive change for Ngāpuhi mokopuna engaged in the care and protection or youth justice system.”

Eruera said the devastating intergenerational impact state abuse has had on Māori can’t be ignored and annual reports under section 7AA have captured explicit evidence highlighting the positive outcomes of whakapapa and iwi-led solutions.