October 27, 2020
Waitangi Tribunal challenged on racetrack hearing
A Hawkes Bay elder is criticising the Waitangi Tribunal for holding its Oranga Tamariki hearing at a racetrack rather than a marae.
The tribunal is in the second week of hearings for a claim about the disproportionate number of Māori children taken into state care.
Des Ratima says the tribunal put convenience ahead of tikanga.
He says claimants also had to fight to get it to hear testimony from the Hastings family at the centre of an attempted uplift of a newborn baby last year which sparked multiple reviews of the agency.
"The fact they didn't want to bring the uplift family in shows the sort of entrenched thinking that exists and even the racial prejudice that was shared today by the two men from the Mongrel mob. Some might say they deserve it because they wear the patch. No, their point was is doesn't matter what kind of clothes you wear, you should still be entitled to fair justice and fair treatment," Mr Ratima says.
Des Ratima says he and Ngāti Kahungunu chair Ngahiwi Tomoana stayed away from the opening welcome because of the choice of venue, but they will present evidence later in the week.
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