November 09, 2020
Davis calls for help to reform Oranga Tamariki
The new Minister for Children says he isn’t out to dismantle Oranga Tamariki, but he is set on changing it.
Kelvin Davis says he asked for the portfolio because it is an area where he can make a difference for Māori.
He says he wants to stop the pipeline of Māori children going into state care and then into coming under his main portfolio of Corrections.
He says his first call was to talk to some of the child protection agency’s critics like Dame Naida Glavish to see what sort of solutions they have to offer.
"Just like in Corrections, I went in and didn't say 'I've got all the solutions.' I said "I need Māori to tell me what those solutions are and we will try to make those solutions a reality,' But whatever we do, we have got to do it right. I'm not going to rush in and dismantle Oranga Tamariki for the sake of it. What we do has got to be better than what we’ve been doing," Mr Davis says.
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