The Parliament Social Services and Community Committee is hearing submission into the repeal of section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act. Photo / RNZ
The Parliament Social Services and Community Committee is hearing submission into the repeal of section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act. Photo / RNZ
A doctor says section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act is “helpful to neuro-developmental outcomes” of Māori children and legislation to remove it should not go ahead.
Submitters to a parliamentary select committee on the repeal of section 7AA have so far been overwhelmingly opposed to the change, and many implored the Government to halt the passing of the legislation.
It places duty on the agency including ensuring it considers the whakapapa of Māori children, and reduces disparities between Māori and non-Māori children.
Dr Russell Wills, chair of child protection for Paediatric Society of New Zealand, said the obligations that 7AA placed on the chief executive were helpful to neuro-developmental outcomes for tamariki Māori.
“It’s very clear to us in our own practice that when there is a strong relationship between Oranga Tamariki and hapū and iwi, lots of things just go better,” he told the committee.
“The interventions to prevent a child needing to come into harm go better. When they do have to come into care the whānau search is more thorough, good whānau are more likely to be found, and minister [Karen] Chhour’s concerns about reverse uplifts and placement with unsafe whānau are much less likely when there is a strong relationship, as 7AA requires, between Oranga Tamariki sites, and hapū and iwi locally.”
Dr Owen Sinclair, President of PSNZ, said the removal of section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act could have detrimental social and economic impacts on Māori children, matching those detailed in the recent Abuse in Care Whanaketia report.
Dr Russell Wills, paediatrician and former Children's Commissioner. Photo / Duncan Brown
“The recent Abuse in Care report, Whanaketia, reported widespread medical abuse and neglect,” Sinclair said.
“The social and economic impacts of a repeal are likely to be perpetuated to match those of the Whanaketia report.”
One submitter brought in a child who sat on her lap as she spoke. She used an analogy of pulling Māori from their waka – a traditional Māori canoe – and putting them on the Endeavour – a European ship – to describe the effect of removing the clause from the act.
Another submitter brought in framed portraits of loved ones and handed out lyrics to a waiata which she sung as part of her submission.
Eru Kapa-Kingi, vice-president tāne of Te Pāti Māori, described the proposed law change as continuing the “assimilation” of Māori into Pākehā ways of life from previous legislation, like the Native Schools Act 1867.
This legislation required English to be the only language written and spoken in at schools. Māori children were actively discouraged from learning their language, and punishments were common for those who did.
“No one is saying Māori kids should be deliberately placed in situations where there is high risk of abuse. We are not stupid,” Kapa-Kingi said.
“Oranga” – wellbeing – was closely linked to te reo, tikanga and who Māori were as a people and, over the last 180 years, Māori had been “unmade as a people”, he said.
“We are incomplete beings walking around on our own whenua, so to complete ourselves and to complete our babies, our mokopuna, we must see them for who they are. Only we can care for our own and all roads must lead to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
“We want Māori kids to be the best Māori kids they can be. Being Māori makes you a unique being. You have whakapapa that connects you to Ranginui, to Papatūānuku and Hawaiki, to all of your tupuna. It connects you not only to your tupuna but your future descendants as well.
“That is the beauty of being Māori. Being Māori is being shaped by unique cultural forces, therefore any care for Māori needs to be unique to them as Māori.”
Lady Tureiti Moxon, chairwoman of the National Urban Māori Authority and managing director at Te Kohao Health, said the bill was a breach of Te Tiriti and should be abandoned. Oranga Tamariki should be devolved and a Māori Transitional Authority or Mokopuna Authority should be established.
“How many children have to be pushed through a system that is abusive?”
National Urban Māori Authority chair Lady Tureiti Moxon. Photo / NZME
Rangitāne o Wairau general manager Corey Hebberd said section 7AA had been an important tool for building trust between iwi and the agency. Removing it eroded that trust, he said.
“This bill takes us backwards.”
Chief executive of the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers, Nathan Chong-Nee, said the bill was of “great concern” to the group and removing section 7AA would be “regressive”.
Aaron Hendry, director of youth Development and social justice organisation Kick Back, described the move as a “racist attack” on Māori and the country’s founding document, Te Tiriti / the Treaty of Waitangi.
Steve Evans, from Families 4 Justice, said the law was a “political decision” and was not about fixing the system.
“You guys need to wake up,” he said, a message directed to the Government in general.
“It’s bonkers.”
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.
