Baby uplift order set aside after marae escape

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Waatea Team Baby uplift order set aside after marae escape

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The Assistant Māori Commissioner for Children, Glenis Philip-Barbara, has endorsed a marae which took in a whānau trying to stop a baby from being taken from its mother.

Radio New Zealand is reporting a Family Court judge yesterday set aside an order that the nine-month-old boy be handed over to a distant relative, and there will be further hui to try to resolve the dispute.

To prevent the uplift, the mother spent the last week on a Pakipaki marae.

Glenis Philip-Barbara says the pressure on the 17-year-old must be intense, and it must have been a relief to have five generations of whānau gathering around, and their marae offering sanctuary.

"From the (Office of the Children’s Commissioner) perspective, of course, we are really interested to see whānau living, thriving, existing, within the context of hapū, iwi and the wider community so this is a signal of all of those aspects of our community coming together to tautoko one another so I think that is an important indicator of health and well being," she says.

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