April 26, 2024
Chhour ducks tough questions
A Māori legal scholar says Children’s Minister Karen Chhour shouldn’t be allowed to hide behind collective cabinet responsibility to avoid questions about changes to Oranga Tamariki.
Waitangi Tribunal claimants are appealing a High Court Decision that the tribunal can’t summon the minister because of the principle of comity, that the various arms of government stay in their respective lanes, and because cabinet signed off on the decision to repeal section 7aa which sets out the Treaty of Waitangi obligations of the department.
Carwyn Jones from Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka says Minister Chhour’s cabinet paper was light on sourcing and reasoning, and it was at odds with a regulatory impact statement from Oranga Tamariki saying the section was working well.
“The tribunal can’t ask the minister to breach cabinet confidentiality or that collective responsibility but individual ministers also have responsibility for their portfolios and they have responsibility in particular to explain policies and what’s happening in their own portfolios,” Dr Jones says.