Oranga Tamariki reforms passed
WELLINGTON: Labour has pushed through two Bills to reform Oranga Tamariki and state care monitoring through Parliament, despite widespread opposition from other parties and sector proponents.
The Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System Bill and the Children and Young People’s Commission Bill passed their third readings in Parliament simultaneously on Tuesday night.
Labour, having rejected a call from the Greens to refer the Bills back to the select committee, was the only party in support; National, Act New Zealand , the Greens and the Maori Party were all opposed.
National social development spokesman Louise Upston said the system Labour was bringing in had not been designed with children at its heart.
‘‘They’ve made it incredibly complicated and separated out advocacy, monitoring, and complaints, and they think that’s going to solve the problem — but what does it actually do, it creates an even greater risk of children falling through the cracks.
‘‘When we heard their voices in the select committee, it was harrowing . . . and this Bill does not serve them.
‘‘It’s more complicated. It’s more difficult for children to access . . . How does that serve children?’’
She said that was why every other party in Parliament was so opposed to the Bill, and the reason the Greens called for a delay. She referred to those who opposed the Bills at the select committee: lawyers, judges, academics, public policy experts, teachers, social workers, iwi leaders and former police officers and children’s advocates such as Child Matters, Save the Children and Social Justice Aotearoa.
‘‘But, no, Labour knows best. They know better than the children that have experienced care . . . they have not listened.’’
In defence of the Bill, Associate Social Development Minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan rose to speak on Minister of Social Development Carmel Sepuloni’s behalf.
‘‘Some of the proposals in the
Bills are different to what we have now and some are different to what stakeholders want. But what I do know is that we are all working towards the same goal.
‘‘We all want our children and young people to be safe and well and cared for, and these Bills will help us achieve that,’’ she said.
It was ‘‘simply not the case’’ that the changes would diminish the power of the children’s commissioner.
‘‘This Bill adds to the power of the children’s commissioner so that they have more voices at the table. The commission will be required to have input from a kaupapa Maori perspective and there will be the opportunity for other voices to have a seat at the table, like Pacific and disabilities, as well as careexperienced young people themselves.
‘‘We heard the sector when they said that we needed to retain a chief children’s commissioner, and that’s what we’ve done.’’
Green Party children, disability and public services spokeswoman Jan Logie said it was ‘‘with great disappointment’’ she opposed the Bills.
She referred to the evidence and views of those who spoke at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care.
‘‘Precious time that should have been about honestly fronting up to the past in detail and committing to working with survivors to prevent future abuses was spent, again, telling survivors that their concerns don’t matter, that the Government knows better,’’ she said.
She referred to a recent example, where the chief executive of MSD was questioned over a man still working at a youth justice facility with 26 allegations of abuse against him dating back to 2006, three of them upheld.
‘‘It’s complex because it’s an employment issue. Now, this is the kind of thing that triggers survivors and their families . . . the response we’ve had from officials has been assurances that, actually, there’s ‘nothing to see here, this was an aberration, a oneoff event, it is not systemic’.’’
She said submitters had been clear the Bill did not reflect their submissions at all.
Act New Zealand social development spokeswoman Karen Chhour said to those who made submissions she was sorry the Government had been ‘‘so arrogant that they are not listening’’.
‘‘If we really, really cared about our young people’s future and wanted to make sure that not one more baby was lost, this would be the second part of the change that we would be doing. The first part would be making sure that they don’t get to this place in the first place.
‘‘Our children are going from one bad house to another bad house, and then when they try and voice that they’re not safe in a place that our system put them in, we’re creating more barriers with this complicated Bill. How insulting.’’
Maori Party coleader Debbie NgarewaPacker also expressed ‘‘huge sadness and resolve’’ over the Bill.
‘‘I know that tangata whenua do not accept the passage of this legislation, do not consent, and that has been made clear to this Government time and time again. As such, we must stop at nothing to see these reforms overturned.’’
She said Labour had ignored those with lived experience.
‘‘You’ve told them you know better’’.
The Government should instead be seeking as broad support as possible, ‘‘not just from parties in this House but, more importantly, from the advocate frontline workers who dedicate their lives to caring for and protecting whakapapa of tamariki and mokopuna. Instead, what we have seen is Ministers belittling Maori and community organisations by implying that they don’t understand the Bill’’. — RNZ