"It is simply not good enough for the Crown to concede that structural racism exists in the care and protection system and then continue to entrust them with tamariki Māori.
"We cannot continue on this path."
At the end of June 2019 there were 6429 total children in state custody and 4420 of them were Māori.
In a hearing in November last year with former Oranga Tamariki leader Grainne Moss, the Children's Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft said he concluded that radical fundamental structural change for the delivery of care and protection services for Māori is the only answer.
After three restructures and 14 reviews in the last 30 years, Judge Becroft said it is fair to suggest that the Government cannot deliver effective care and protection services for tamariki Māori.
A 'By Māori For Māori' approach to be adopted.
Decisions to remove unborn pēpi increased from 36 in 2010 to a peak of 93 in 2017.
In 2018, the rate of state custody for under 18-year-old tamariki Māori was 155 per 10,000 population. This was almost seven times higher than non-Māori, up from five times higher in 2014.
Moxon says that the Crown is aware of the broken system in place, so it's time for the Tribunal to decide what to do about it.
"We say that the problems with Oranga Tamariki are beyond repair. What is needed is transformation."
Breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi
Te Tiriti outlines the Crown's obligation actively to protect Māori interests interests and taonga, which includes the highest taonga of them all – children.
The Crown says a significant contributing factor as to why our current statistics are undesirable is due to the ongoing effect of historical injustices on iwi, hapū and whānau.
As noted by the Children's Commissioner, there is a lack of understanding and disregard for tikanga Māori by Oranga Tamariki staff when engaging with whānau.
"These statistics are not only undesirable and unacceptable they are a national disgrace," Moxon says.
"The disparities between the Māori and non-Māori in the care and protection system in Aotearoa have consistently been and remain significant and shocking."
Article III of the Treaty guarantees the rights of citizenship is that Māori would enjoy equity with non-Māori in all areas of society including in access to social services and in care and protection of their children.
"This has most definitely not occurred."
Despite the Crown commitment to improving the care and protection system for tamariki Māori and their whānau in the Children, Young Persons and Act 2000, and the ongoing amendments to the Oranga Tamariki Act in 2017, protecting the interests of Māori and taonga — tamariki Māori — has almost been at a standstill.
The counsel representing Moxon Erin James will present Lady Tureiti's final submission this morning.
Lady Tureiti Moxon will also be accompanied by Dame Tariana Turia, Dame Areta Kopua, Dame Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi, Merepeka Raukawa-Tait and several chairs of boards of urban Māori Authorities.
