s7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 was an important evolution in New Zealand’s fraught relationship with abusing children in State care. It made clear the obligation of the State to find culturally appropriate care for Māori children after a terrible history of simply uplifting them and abusing them once in State care.
This righteous obligation became problematic when Oranga Tamariki attempted to use the power retroactively by reverse uplifting Māori children put into Pakeha Foster Care and placed in ‘forever homes’.
By attempting to retroactively invoke these obligations on children who were materially and emotionally attached to their Pakeha foster parents, Oranga Tamariki helped stain their own mana and authority and opened them to the very knee-jerk responses we are now witnessing with the removal of s7AA.
Let me be clear, the retroactive nature of putting this obligation before the actual children’s well being was a terrible blunder by Oranga Tamariki and the purpose of s7AA was never meant to be interpreted in the manner it was, however, it is an essential tool moving forwards!
One of the many complaints made about Oranga Tamariki is they never had the time or resources to invest into researching wider whanau who can look after a child rather than uplifting them.
s7AA forced Oranga Tamariki to resource that research with many Iwi organisations already working in this area quick to put up their hand and ask to work directly with OT to step in and take those kids into care within their own Māori organisations with culturally, emotionally and material well being paramount.
Surely uplifting Māori children into wider and more stable whanau groups who can nurture and heal those uplifted kids within culturally appropriate setting is a far preferable outcome than the State uplifting these kids and placing them into a never ending merry go round of foster family groups and the anxiety that generates.
The issue comes down to funding. These Māori Community Groups can’t do it for free, but they can do it cheaper than the blunt force trauma of the State’s care!
Repealing the cultural obligations of Oranga Tamariki feeds into the Social Investment model that simply wants to uplift a baby or child as soon as their algorithms warn them of a future cost.
Removing s7AA streamlines this process and promises future savings and a diminished universal service of welfare.
What should happen is s7AA stays exactly where it is, the State fully funds those Iwi Community Organisations WHILE implementing all the Welfare reforms proposed by the last Government alongside welfare debt getting wiped.
We would fund all that by taxing the rich properly.
I fear my solutions won’t see the light of day and this terrible knee-jerk action by a reactionary hard right Government wanting to bash anything that is deemed beneficial to Māori just for the sake of spite will win this awful debate.
I fear another generation of lost Māori kids chewed up and spat out by a system that sees them only as a future cost.
First published on Waatea News.
If section s7AA was around when Karen Chhour was uplifted as a child she would of been able to remain with her Maori grandmother that loved and cared for her. IMO sometimes it’s better for children to be brought up outside the whanau because the whanau can be dysfunctional as is prevalent in oppressed populations.
Maybe lets reform CYFS entirely and not abuse any kids?
One of the biggest and worse abusers is the state where do you think gangs came from and then we had priest and school principals they have done their fair share of damage.
7AA allows for whanaungatanga and whakawhanaungatanga so if immediate whanau aren’t suitable extended whanau, is another option.
This all just shows the hate that neoliberals, particularly the right neoliberal wing, have for children.
Here’s what an actually ‘race neutral’ policy would look like. Funding OT to ensure that all children can be placed in a culturally common context, as close to their family as possible.
The simple answer is that they simply don’t want to spend money. But it’s more than that. When you look at the priorities of evil corporations- like, for example, Amazon- their managers have KPIs to maximize racial diversity, as a proxy for cultural commonality, because they have determined that doing this will decrease the risk that employees will come together in unions. Making sure that little kids are culturally disrooted individuals is another part of this neoliberal agenda.
https://www.streetroots.org/news/2020/07/03/opinion-i-work-whole-foods-and-i-am-calling-out-its-hypocrisy
The issue comes down to funding. These Māori Community Groups can’t do it for free, but they can do it cheaper than the blunt force trauma of the State’s care! – Evidence please.
7aa … made clear the obligation of the State to find culturally appropriate care for Māori children after a terrible history of simply uplifting them and abusing them once in State care.
OT, and previously CYF, always considered the natural supports for the child and this includes cultural factors. People often lose sight of the fact most children that do come into care have histories of abuse in their whanau and when children are returned to whanau they are also often abused again by member/s of the extended whanau.
Having said that it is heartbreaking to most OT staff when it is discovered abuse has occured in State care where children should be safe. Processes for recruiting caregivers are much more stringent than previously – so much so that whanau members are often not considered as caregivers options due t their own offending histories.
Another issue is that OT are often stuck between a rock and a hard place – they are lamblasted for traumatising children and their whanau with uplifts (especially without notice s78 uplifts) yet are also slammed if they fail to move a child to safety and they are subsequently abused or worse.
I would be interested in hearing your solutions. These need to be mindful that despite all the good intentions in the universe, vastly more children are victims of abuse in whanau care than State care, and that many Iwi organisations are unable to provide safe placement options for children that might whakapapa to them. The capacity is not there – currently anyway.
I haven’t seen any evidence to say more kids are abused in whanau care than state care has there been studies done? I have had dealings with CYFS/Oranga Tamariki and I found them to be fucken useless they told lies and didn’t do their job properly. Whakawhanaungatanga is the answer to our Māori children not being placed back into unsavory environments. Our hapu and Iwi are already doing his approach.
That dopey hua Minister Chour doesn’t know anything about our TOW an important aspect of 7AA.
And Winston Peters only knows the English version because he can’t speak Te reo.
He can’t ever believe he speaks for Maori. Elitist Maori like Peters are a disgrace.
So when Winston states that “what are you talking about Maori did ceed sovereignty” then quietly remind him that he doesn’t understand maori
Exactly
Yes, Stephen and he (Winstone) is also not a Kaumatua he is from Hawaiki and not indigenous. Someone needs to pop shameless Jones head its full of hot air.
Funny how two right wing Maori claim to have a better plan than Maori have?? Wtf!!
The OT VOTE Appropriations for 2022/2023 is $1.4b.
That’s all that this is about. To privatise all that money.
It, is allwaye inflation, why, CAPITALISM,ITS PROFIT IS A CANcER, ON OUR HUMANITY. MY, Son, us argued, about the Kiwi BANK.He, sayin, all the money why not share it with us. He,his frieinds, why, not share it among us.
BUY A INVEST IN THE kiwi BANK. As said, invest in the Kiwi Bank, wy. its our!s’
I’m white as fuck. I’m an AO/NZ born Brit, Scots and Irish. I’m so white that the West Coast sandflies have to put their sunglasses on before they bite me. Then, they go out clubbing!
Having said that. @ Maori are going to be used as a mechanism for exploitation. Riling up Maori against non-Maori is a highly efficient way of dividing the majority-voter to either quell or confuse and obfuscate each other while our three-way Natzo Stooges make higher deals with whom will be our true owners in time to come, to which we’ll be sold to, which is just around the corner. But wait? It gets worse. Alone, we’re all fucked. AO/NZ needs Crown intervention. @ Maori. I know. That must be felt as hugely insulting which I certainly don’t intend but truly, it’s all we’ve got. We AO/NZ’ers must somehow stick together or we, as Ive written before, are fucked.
I personally believe that our monetary infrastructure’s corrupt. I believe that our politic belongs to the rich who are nothing more than could only be identified as crooks in any other country. I believe that our farmers have been rorted and exploited for the money their endeavours have earned and for that, enduring secrecy and a false concept of our economy was created which must then be maintained and peddled as the truth.
NZF only got a small percentage of Māori votes as did act and national party and together this does not equate to enough Māori votes to take on the majority that voted left. Winstone and shameless are looking sick on power they are poking the bear and I suggest they watch their backs people can only take so much before they lash out.
You misspelled ‘thick’ at the start of your ramblings there CB…..
You misspelled right for wrong in your name probably because you’re a thick fuck.
Charming.
Seriously charming or serially?
Now down to one worded sentence now Bob tge idiot due to your embarrassing literature.
‘tge’
When correcting someone’s spelling/Grammer Squeaky/Bert make sure yours is correct.
Correcting someone’s spelling just shows up the person as both childish and no counter argument.
Sums you up well Squeaky/Bert!
Couldn’t OT just contact the senior reps of the appropriate iwi to organise suitable home for the uplifted child? That will stop OT getting it wrong.
Arrh no. Because that would upset the Corparate elites balance sheet. They will not like that and plus, maori didn’t cause the housing crisis. The Crown, government did. Consecutive governments deliberately, caused this problem over decades of neglect and neoliberal policies. So if the government wants to fix it they need to cough up land and putea to fix their fuck up.