Red flags but Moko invisible

Moko could have recovered had he received medical attention.

OPINION: In the days leading to his death, Moko Rangitoheriri was never more invisible.

The 3-year-old knew nothing but pain, torture and a steady stream of grown-ups failing him in every way imaginable.

The coroner’s report into his death is gut-wrenching, but what stands out are the ‘‘red flags’’.

As Coroner Wallace Bain describes them, they are all the times that, with the benefit of hindsight, there had been an opportunity for Moko to be saved.

His injuries were horrific and have been well-documented, but medical experts told the court he could have recovered had he received medical attention hours before he died. His killers, Tania Shailer and David Haerewa, were never going to get him that.

But the coroner’s report notes that Moko and his sister, Moko’s parents, and his temporary caregivers Shailer and Haerewa, had all come to the attention of Child, Youth and Family, ‘‘educational agencies’’ and Starship Hospital. Then a number of other agencies followed.

Red flag, after red flag, after red flag followed.

Days before he died, workers from the Family Start programme were in Shailer’s house, listening to her talk about how she was struggling with his behaviour. They never asked to see him. He was there, locked in a bathroom. An official ‘‘report of concern’’ was lodged on July 30, which meant the children should have been visited within a week.

No-one came. At a counselling session in August 2015, Shailer again complained she was struggling with him and reported he was bruised. The counsellor arranged an urgent followup session on August 7, but Shailer cancelled and there was no followup. Moko died on August 10, 2015. Neither the Maori Women’s Welfare League nor CYF appeared to know Haerewa - with an extensive violent criminal past - was living in the house with them, the coroner said.

But that’s another red flag - noone ever visited, despite the long list of notifications that gave plenty of cause for concern.

Bain also presided over the inquiry into the death of Nia Glassie. He has recycled a recommendation from that inquiry that he believes, if implemented then, could have saved Moko.

‘‘That all children from birth be compulsorily registered with government agencies and health providers and other voluntary organisations and that they be compulsorily monitored through to and including the age of 5.’’

It would be controversial and the costs huge. People will argue it is nanny-state and the vast majority of children in New Zealand do not need that level of monitoring. It may not be the right approach, but we need a national discussion about what the greater good is.

To some extent, the investment approach under the past Government has already gone a long way down this road. And new Children’s Minister Tracey Martin is determined to protect the vision put in place under the recent overhaul and establishment of the Ministry for Children: Oranga Tamariki.

Predictive risk modelling is one experimental tool developed by the Ministry of Social Development to identify individual children exactly like Moko, and have Government workers proactively knock on those doors - regardless of notifications. Again, the level of intrusion with that is the controversial part.

But Moko is exactly the reason why social investment and big, individualised data is so important.

Both Martin and her predecessor, National’s Anne Tolley, have made no bones about the fact there is a lot they can do to affect change, but they can’t do it all.

Bain’s recommendation may not be necessary, but it needs to be a national conversation-starter, led by the Government. Because what is necessary is a nation-wide attitude adjustment.

If the professionals are tiptoeing around these families, how can they expect a neighbour disregard privacy in these situations?

Privacy is a right, only to the point it is not harming someone else. In Moko’s case, no-one wanted to intrude and it played a role in his death.