Minister for Children Karen Chhour during her appearance before the social services and community select committee. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Minister for Children Karen Chhour during her appearance before the social services and community select committee. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Minister for Children Karen Chhour was quizzed on Wednesday over her plans for Oranga Tamariki, including repealing section 7AA and whether the coalition Government-directed cost savings at the agency would impact vulnerable children.
The agency has been directed to cut back on spending by 6.5 per cent but chief executive Chappie Te Kani has confirmed frontline roles are not on the chopping block.
Chhour and Te Kani faced a slew of questions over the cuts during Parliament’s social services and community select committee, including calls from Labour’s Willow-Jean Prime to guarantee the back-office cuts would not affect frontline services being provided to children in care.
Chhour did not provide a direct answer to Prime’s question during the hearing but told reporters outside the committee room: “There will be no financial impact and there’s be no impact on the frontline services. This is a guarantee.”
She said there would, however, be an emotional impact on staff from the restructure.
“When there’s a restructure within an organisation, that affects everybody.
“When we’re making cuts in the back office and when we’re making changes within an industry, that’s always going to have an impact on the frontline. You know that they’re feeling the changes and they’re feeling the difference.”
Te Kani said: “Of course there’s going to be an emotional impact ... but come July 1 when the changes come into effect, they can turn up every day and do their normal job.
“The minute we make these changes, if you run a residence, that work will continue. That is not impacted.”
Prime, who is Labour’s spokesperson for children and had lobbed most of the questions around the frontline impacts at Te Kani and Chhour, told reporters after the hearing she could see vulnerable children being put “at harm” because of the cost-cutting measures.
“I was concerned by the language that I heard the CEO [of Oranga Tamariki] using and the minister using ... around minimising the impact of this restructure and these proposals on the front line.
“I do not feel reassured by the answer that I got or what I heard them explaining out here [to reporters]. I was not talking about how those affected by the cuts might feel about these and that impact, that absolutely was not my question.”
Labour's Willow-Jean Prime is concerned vulnerable children will be put “at harm” because of the Government's cost-cutting measures. Photo / Michael Cunningham
In an exchange with Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, Chhour defended the repealing of section 7AA, saying “every child in this country deserves the same level of care ... it doesn’t matter where they grew up, they deserve that care and protection”.
Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 places obligations on the agency, including ensuring it considers the whakapapa of Māori children, and reduces disparities between Māori and non-Māori children.
Chhour later said it was important for children to know where they came from, but safety needed to come first.
“Whānau first at all costs is not appropriate.”
Chhour outlined a number of issues in the system, including a “clunky” internal data system that could lead to young people being connected with the wrong person for their needs.
A better system, Chhour said, would also help Oranga Tamariki access additional information such as what services had worked for that person in the past. Te Kani said a better system would be an “absolute game changer”.
