MEDIAWATCH: Te Ao with Moana on 7aa brings context not justification

Exclusive: Couple from ‘reverse uplift’ speak out for the first time

‘People are judging us. It’s wrong. It’s all wrong. We’re good people.”

That’s according to the couple at the heart of the so-called ‘reverse uplift’ case that has been cited in the coalition government’s controversial decision to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act.

Until now, the pair – who cannot be named because it could lead to identification of the children involved – have never told their side of an explosive story featured in a Newsroom documentary. This week, they spoke exclusively to reporter Hikurangi Kimiora Jackson on Te Ao with Moana (Whakaata Māori, Monday, 8pm).

“We’ve never been able to share our story. The media shared the caregivers’ story over and over. They supported them but no one shared our story.”

When they took their nieces and nephew into their home, the couple never imagined ending up embroiled in a storm of outrage. Neither did the uncle and aunt expect those tamariki to feature in media coverage and political commentary that would drive subsequent discussions around s7AA. Believing themselves to be unfairly cast as ‘the baddies’ in what has been repeatedly labelled a “reverse uplift” by Children’s Minister Karen Chhour, the frustrated couple was clear where the blame lay.

Hikurangi Jackson is one of the best journalists in this country and Te Ao with Moana one of the best current affairs shows and this important focus on the family of the reverse uplift adds context to the 7aa debacle but it doesn’t justify it.

The important points that are raised here are the same complaints that have been made against Oranga Tamariki, CYFs, CYPs and the other dozen name change departments before that which is the lack of research by the State agency in finding appropriate whanau for the uplifted kids.

This complaint has been made time and time and time again!

Yes this whanau were demonised and that was utterly inappropriate, but this case of reverse uplifts was just the tip of the iceberg, there were dozens of other cases like this going on, and the Moana Case that was Oranga Tamariki’s test case of how they were defining 7aa, not as a new system of delivering every newly uplifted Māori child to Community Iwi, but as a new woke critical race theory ideology that white people could not culturally look after Māori children.

The Moana case and the manner in which Oranga Tamariki attempted to influence the Judge while the trial was going on was utterly inappropriate.

What this important story on Te Ao tells us is that if OT had done their job properly in the first place, these children could have gone straight to appropriate whanau and we could have avoided the trauma of placing them with a white foster family for years, telling them that this is their forever home and then ripping them away from that home because a bunch of Woke Wellington Bureaucrats have decided to go on a woke culture rampage and put ideology ahead of material well being.

1: We need 7aa to ensure the State works with Community Iwi by placing any newly uplifted Māori child into their care while ensuring the funding follows the child to that Community Iwi organisation.

2: Woke Wellington Bureaucrats defining 7aa as a justification to reserve uplift Māori children placed in white foster care despite the trauma that generates only provides the Radical Right political ammunition to denigrate and undermine 7aa.

7aa should be about newly uplifted children, it should not be defined by overzealous Woke Wellington Bureaucrats to implement Critical Race Theory as social policy.

This matters because if this hard right Government gets its way, they want to use Social Investment to determine uplifts which could trigger a tsunami of uplifts. If OT can barely find appropriate whanau as it is, what happens when there’s a jump in uplifts?

Te Ao with Moana is providing insight and oversight and context like few current affairs programmes are capable of.

Amazing journalism.