Minister Chhour is right to attack OT reverse uplifts but utterly wrong to repeal 7AA + Māori Party are better than their smears against her

Controversial Oranga Tamariki bill passes vote, after officials’ and Tribunal’s warnings

A controversial bill, which will remove Treaty obligations from the Oranga Tamariki Act, passed its first vote in Parliament – despite strong criticism from the Waitangi Tribunal and Oranga Tamariki itself.

The bill will now go through select committee, after securing the support of National, ACT and NZ First during its first vote on Tuesday night.

The attack by the Māori Party on Karen Chhour was as poor as Kelvin Davis’s attack on her.

I respect Karen Chhour.

To overcome the trauma she suffered at the hands the State, and to then become Minister of the very State Department that hurt you is a remarkable journey no matter her politics.

Her voice as a person damaged by that State is powerful and always worth consideration.

I believe that Karen is someone who very much wants the best for the children in State care.

However.

She is utterly wrong about repealing 7AA.

Our colonised past has seen the same mistakes many colonised country’s have made when uplifting indigenous babies into State care.

7AA is an attempt to redress that social mutilation.

Instead of uplifting Māori babies into a State care system that abuses and damages them, 7AA forces Oranga Tamariki to work with Māori Community Groups and uplifts Māori children to those groups rather than State care so as to keep Māori kids culturally anchored in their identity while providing on going wider whanau support.

THAT was what 7AA was supposed to facilitate.

Māori children, uplifted by the State, would go to these Māori Community organisations and (most crucially) the funding for that child follows that child to the Māori Community Organisation.

This was going to be a means to fund Māori Community Support and provide material resourcing, this was an actual solution and a way to get the abusive State out of the picture.

Now.

Did OT egregiously misinterpret Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act to reverse uplift Māori children from pakeha foster parents?

YES!

Was that an outrageous abuse of power and total misapplication of this section?

Absolutely.

Is there a good reason to ensure newly uplifted Māori children have the option of being placed in culturally appropriate environments?

Of course!

One of the complaints about the uplift process has been a lack of decent research to find appropriate whanau to place the children with, and thanks to the Social Investment model, the focus is removing the kids immediately to save the State money downstream.

The issue is that the Māori providers are being resourced properly to ensure they can provide material well being and security for those children!

While we can righteously damn OT for the manner in which they defined 7AA, repealing 7AA would be throwing the mokopuna out with the Marae.

OT policy towards Māori children being uplifted should be Whanau First not Whanau Always.

Any Māori uplift should go to Māori Community Organisations alongside the funding.

This needs to be established and established now because the dreaded Social Investment Model is coming!

The Social Investment Model uses big data algorithms to pinpoint when a child needs uplifting. For it to work properly and deliver the savings downstream to the State, the uplift must be as soon as Orac tells the State to uplift.

When they switch it on, it is going to generate an enormous tsunami of uplifts.

Removing 7AA removes the requirement for OT to talk to Māori, which is a green light for mass uplifts.

Placing uplifted Māori children into Māori Community Groups rather than the statistically likely abuse within State care is an actual solution (as long as the funding follows the child).

What ACT, National and NZ First are really fighting for here is to turn Orac on and let the magic of AI determine which child gets uplifted and which one doesn’t!

Think of it as a cross between Kindergarten Cop, Minority Report and The Handmaid’s Tale.

Karen is caught between two worlds here. The world of knowing what the abuse feels like as a ward of the State and a Political Party whose philosophy is immediate removal over any cultural considerations.

Repealing Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act could see another lost generation of Māori kids once the imperatives of Social Investment kicks in and immediate uplifts become seen as a means of ruthlessly breaking the cycle.

The Minister needs to be clear about what her agenda is,  and that must be children in State care not being abused.

Attacking her identity doesn’t protect those children nor does it stop ACTs agenda.

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