December 27, 2019
Maori Oranga Tamariki report brutally frank
The chair of the North Island Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency says the Māori inquiry into Oranga Tamariki may come as a shock to people who thought the attempted uplift of a newborn baby in Hastings in May was an isolated incident.
Merepeka Raukawa Tait says the report is being peer reviewed and its recommendations finalised so it can be presented to the Iwi Leaders’ Forum in the lead up to Waitangi Day.
She says Hastings was just the tip of a much larger problem, with the child protection agency using court orders to break up hundreds of families in recent years.
With people like Dames Tariana Turia, Rangimarie Naida Glavish and Tureiti Moxon fronting the inquiry, there has been an outpouring of stories and pain from whānau Māori affected by the agency’s policies and action.
She says when Social Development Minister Tracey Martin asked whether the report would be balanced, she responded it’s not about balance.
“This is a report by Māori families who want to tell us, and they have been absolutely brutally frank,” she says.
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