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Associate Social Development Minister Tariana Turia is concerned at the level of state intervention proposed in new child welfare laws.
Minister Paula Bennett is proposing a raft of changes including a new system of child harm prevention orders against people considered to be a risk to children.
Mrs Turia says she has major concerns about the number of children being abused or killed, but a large part of the answer lies in whānau speaking up.
She says too often her office gets calls from families whose children have been removed because parents are fighting or drinking.
"We've got to think about all this, and at what point do we think that 'enough is enough?' I think Paula has been very bold and brave to step up as she has done. But I do not believe that we should have the state intervening in families when that's the role of families to do that," she says.
Tariana Turia says in her own whānau she has no hesitation about stepping in if she hears about any untoward behaviour.
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