In the blue corner
Children’s commissioners over the years have had a hugely important task to advocate and push for change in the lives of our New Zealand children.
No child, here or anywhere else in the world, deserves to be brought up with limited education, violence or any other untoward experiences which would hinder their ability to become an upstanding citizen.
Unfortunately in New Zealand, we see far too often the abuse and negligence of children by their families, and despite the Prime Minister’s pledge to reduce child poverty, unfortunately it has increased over the last four years.
The Children’s Commissioner, in its current form, is separate from Government. They are an independent entity who can provide free and frank advice and criticisms to the Government of the day on what they believe to be in the best interests of children.
If the Government want to establish another Commission in place of the Children’s Commissioner, it is vital, for the sake of children in this country, that it remains totally independent from
Government. Within the new Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System and Children and Young People’s Commission Bill ,itis unclear whether or not some parts of the new Commission will be separate from the Government or its departments. National has supported the Bill in principle, through to the Select Committee stage, and we will look forward to seeing submissions from the public and professionals in the area.
But one thing is clear, as the Bill passes through the various legislative processes, National will be pushing to ensure that the Commission retains its distance from the Government of the day so that it can best serve children.
A second concern I have with a new Commission is that it could well be stacked with bureaucrats from Wellington who have little understanding of what goes on in the lives of vulnerable children.
When we are dealing with such a serious situation like the wellbeing of children, we can ill-afford to add layers and layers of bureaucracy for the sake of it. Yes, the new Commission needs to lay out what the issues are facing children, but they also need to come up with solutions to solve them.
The fact of the matter is, the welfare of our children is far too important to get wrong. We need a strong, unconstrained voice who can fight for children who are unable to do so for themselves. To have that voice, we need an entity who has the courage and the determination to make lasting changes in the lives of children in New Zealand, the same way that previous Children’s Commissioners have.