“It’s high time to listen to whānau” says the Māori Party
“Inter-generational whānau care. In the past our tupuna lived in a community where everyone lived together in the village or marae. Our tamariki, rangatahi, kaumatua all lived together, and all looked out for one another. This concept worked in our tupuna time and it still works now” (Ko te wā whakawhiti: Time for change: 2020, p42)
Māori Party President, Che Wilson, is dismayed at the findings of the Māori inquiry into Oranga Tamariki, which restates the tragic continuity of disempowerment, uplifts and separation and its adverse impact upon children and whanau.
“In 2014, the Māori Party introduced Section 7aa into the Oranga Tamariki legislation, which required the department to have regard to mana tamariki, whakapapa and whanaungatanga responsibilities between whanau, hapu and iwi and Māori children. It is therefore devastating to see one of the key findings is around whakapapa trauma, intergenerational loss and trauma; precisely the issues that Section 7aa was set up to respond to”.
Other findings reinforce the impact of racial bias or prejudice; experiences of uplifts which are described as ‘intimidating and violent’ and persistent concerns with the competency, capacity and behavior of the workforce.
“The issues around navigating the Oranga Tamariki system are not new and that is what is so frustrating about yet another report revealing the hoops whanau have to jump through” said Mr Wilson.
“The answers are right in front of us – amongst our whanau, hapu and iwi; amongst our Whanau Ora navigators; in the implementation of Whanau Ora; in the direction of Section 7aa. One has to wonder why the government has taken such a conservative and cautious approach in turning the tide of fortune for our most precious taonga, our tamariki mokopuna”.
“The reports conclude in brilliant clarity: whanau with lived experience need to drive the solutions collectively with whanau, hapu, iwi and hapori”.
“Rather than throwing Budget billions at propping up the existing system, the Māori Party believes it is high time to listen to the voices of whanau who have found the courage to speak of their experience. We need to stop excluding and alienating parents and whanau, we need a system which fully engages our whanau in these life-changing decisions around their children”.
“We commend the staunch determination of iwi such as Ngati Porou and Tuhoe who have demanded total responsibility for all matters pertaining to their children in care”
“We thank the two Whanau Ora Commissioning Agencies who collaborated together, to bring the voices of whanau to the fore. The Māori Party is particularly grateful to the whanau who brought forward clear recommendations for the way support is designed, delivered, implemented and funded. Their challenge is unequivocal: whanau want tino rangatiratanga and mana back, so that all tamariki Māori can find their whakapapa, whenua and whanau.
What the hell is going on with the maori political world?
-maori kids being stolen
-resources, stolen
-assets that are producing income, sold for cash
-underinvestment
-falling kohunga and kura participation rates
The aim of Māori was always some sort of self determination and the formula for this self determination usually is rage then rebellion and then a new power.
Māori have every right to be deeply dissatisfied but when this rage gets organized we get rebellion. With minimal organisation and with more or less knowing who the enemy is and that’s what has to change.
If rebellion succeeds a new power confronts the immediate task of organizing a new Māori economy and here of course problems emerge.
The problem is where Māori succeeds it is meet with racism and FOMO (fear of missing out, which is big in the business world)
What Māori have today are much lower than before Māori language participation rates which is away of saying a portion of the Māori economy has a requirement for highly skilled and highly educated fluent Māori speakers, or not any more is fluent Māori speakers required. And this last one is a pretty big portion of the overall Māori population.
Any leader needs to know these things to know what the numbers truly mean or don’t mean. Yeah we may have a Māori middle class in good jobs now but if we run their children through kohunga and kura kaupapa Māori they might not have good paying jobs and they might not have self determination.
Why do I bring all this up because this is exactly what The Ministry of Children is avoiding. That means the implication of the Māori economy could be better captured in these words. What Māori are told is you’re not going to have good high paying jobs. What the system offers Māori instead is low pay, no benefits, no self determination, no Reo and if you can’t meet the standard crown agencies set slightly higher than the minimum then we get to steal your children. And guess what? Many Māori see the latter option as a viable alternative rather than seeking employment.
And that’s not a sign of good leadership or good governance and it surely isn’t a vision for future generations.
To me I believe it is all about ‘Tino Rangatiratanga’ something promised to us in the TOW but it has never been delivered and somehow I doubt whether it ever will be. Why? because people never relinquish there power, in fact most do the complete opposite, build more power and establish more monopolies. Yesterday I heard on RNZ the Maori commentator say quote ‘we don’t have the capacity to do all the work that needs to be done in Maoridom.’ Actually I disagree, I believe the people are there that can do the mahi, some are working in the wrong places and some just need to be given the opportunity, with mentoring, upskilling and training. But we are working against what I call ‘mainstreamism’ and many of our Maori people are working against our own people they are locked into this ‘mainstreamism’ and so making it harder for the advancement of our people and therefore Tino Rangatiratanga becomes so much harder to achieve. I see just last week five of our 5 Maori women leaders have come out swinging and this is what we need these women are not afraid to raise their heads above the parapet and we need to follow there lead and not be afraid to speak out when we believe things are not right or unfair. With all of the foreigners pouring into our country now is the time for us to take a stand and be counted, by following our five Kuia who have bravely put themselves out there. Our women have always been natural leaders it is part of our DNA. But this does not mean we have to takahia on our men, it means we have to take our rightful place beside them and compliment them and challenge them when and if we have to.