By CATHERINE MASTERS
The Government has pledged to rebuild the Child, Youth and Family Services in the face of calls for its demise.
Prime Minister Helen Clark yesterday rejected a call from the head of Women's Refuge, Merepeka Raukawa-Tait, to disband CYFS.
Ms Raukawa-Tait told the Beyond Violence conference in New Plymouth on Monday that CYFS was not doing its job and should be closed by 2004, with its services transferred to community agencies.
Helen Clark said she did not believe the community was prepared to see CYFS' statutory powers go to voluntary organisations.
"It's had a bad time and it hasn't been well funded in recent years, but we believe we can get it working well for kids and families. What we want is a professional child welfare service."
Social Services Minister Steve Maharey told the Beyond Violence conference yesterday that the previous Government had deliberately run the service down in order to privatise it. This Government was trying its best to rebuild it.
At its heart, CYFS was a statutory service required to ensure that care and protection services were there for children. It received 27,000 notifications a year, the vast bulk of which even now were dealt with well, promptly and professionally.
"Our job is to make sure no case is not dealt with that way - that's my challenge as your minister in this area ... "
Mr Maharey revealed that the Government was considering a Care of Children Bill to bring together all legislation focusing on children. A process of reviewing legislation had already begun.
Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia paid tribute to two inspirational Taranaki Maori leaders whose peaceful legacy he told the conference should be followed.
"It is important that I do recognise the anniversary of the ransacking of Parihaka [in 1881] because that happened. It is not a highlight on this country's calendar, however there are some lessons we can learn.
"The two leaders of the time were Tohu Kakahi and Te Whiti O Rongomai. During a time of conflict and violence, Tohu and Te Whiti maintained their stance against violence.
"It created a powerful statement that is still appropriate today - it is honourable to search for collaborative solutions as opposed to asserting power through violence at the cost of lives."
Maori had to be involved at all levels in developing solutions and everyone needed a shakeup - "Maori organisations, Maori leaders; Pakeha politicians, Maori politicians; agencies who deliver and most importantly the leaders in the whanau."
Maori did not want to carry on being bashed and bashing each other, he said. They had aspirations and did care about their children.
"They do love their kids. We do have faults and we do have dastardly beggars who do bad things in our families. So do others."
In an emotional paper, Peter Love, chairman of the Ngati Te Whiti Hapu Society, said the Prime Minister did not know her New Zealand history well or she would not object to the use of the word holocaust to describe what happened to Maori under colonisation.
He urged the nation to own up to its post-European history, which had been one of dissension, conflict and distrust.
He also attacked the Government's Closing the Gaps policy as too simplistic for not taking into account the history which created the gaps between Maori and Pakeha.
Mr Love later told the Herald that he fully supported the use of the word holocaust - which in the Oxford dictionary included meaning a sacrifice on a large scale.
"That's exactly it, there was a big sacrifice on a large scale, especially in Taranaki. They took the whole province."
Helen Clark had ordered her politicians not to use the word, and Mr Love said he was distressed that no Maori male politicians had objected.
He said the histories of places like Parihaka had not been taught when Helen Clark was at school, so perhaps she simply did not know.
PM vows to build CYFS up again
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