Waatea News Column: Tribunal warning on removing 7AA while Minister Chhour is forced to testify
The backlash to Minister Chhour’s political gesture of refusing to appear in front of the Waitangi Tribunal to defend and justify the repeal of 7AA that forces Oranga Tamariki to engage with Māori over the uplift of Māori Children into State Care was reignited this week with the Court of Appeal decision yesterday that determined that the Minister does have to appear in front of their inquiry.
The political Right have framed this as Tribunal over reach and that as Ministers of the Crown they are only accountable to the electorate once every 3 years.
National, ACT and NZ First all used Māori as a political punching bag this election and crushing any and all Māori aspiration inside public services seems more important to this Government that providing the public service in the first place.
Removing Te Reo from Government agencies, the perverse Treaty Principles Referendum, killing off the Māori Health Authority, backtracking on Māori representation at local council levels, and now the repeal of Section 7AA have all been examples of this new Government’s anti-Māori agenda.
Minister Chhour says the repeal of 7AA “has no effect on the need for Oranga Tamariki to keep children in state care safe”.
“The repeal of section 7AA does not prevent the consideration of the cultural wellbeing of children in state care, and existing partnerships between Oranga Tamariki and iwi and Māori organisations will continue.”
Well, that’s not completely true. OT are obligated to work with Māori care providers because of 7AA, remove it and it opens up the possibility of immediate no notice uplifts of Māori children because OT doesn’t need to take the time to find appropriate carers and can simply uplift them directly into state care.
This is deeply problematic because the entire basis of the Social Investment model that is currently being touted by this Government is to save the State money by directly intervening at the quickest time their big data algorithms tell them to uplift.
The incentive is for immediate removal, 7AA prevents this, removing 7AA will open up a tsunami of uplifts and fuel the next lost generation of Māori kids.
This matters because we have 4479 children in Oranga Tamariki’s care and this year we saw abuse of those kids in State care rise from 453 to 519.
That’s over 10% of kids in State care abused while in State care.
We need a focus on solutions, not more ideological garbage.
The Minister needs to stop playing political games and front the Tribunal and explain why removing 7AA will make those kids in care safer.
First published on Waatea News.
While all the white folk are busy Maori bashing, the Indians are the new colonists .The stupid white employers are feeding this take over thinking they are making money buy under paying these new New Zealanders .In a few short years these businesess will be closed and the owners will be working for the new colonists at the local fag and booze shop
People with nothing to hide answer questions simple as that. Chhor is but an unfortunate poster child of the system. She is being used to whiten the system and is trying to take people’s innate culture away. This law will do nothing other than cause division and harm. Unfortunately as we all know there are more ways to harm a child and making them white strikes at the very heart of their existence . This won’t end well and it is our future inquiry into state care .
Oh dear; a fog horn voice alone in the wild.
The Bill is now in parliament so its too late for the summons.
Why then did the Court of Appeal overrule the previous High Court decision?
It’s still legally useful for next time.