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Download AudioThe Green Party says the Government is attempting to dodge accountability over its rewrite of the Oranga Tamariki Act.
On Monday, Children’s Minister Karen Chhour introduced her bill to repeal section 7AA, which requires the ministry to consider whakapapa and the Treaty of Waitangi when making decisions about children and young in state care.
The move means she avoids appearing before the Waitangi Tribunal, which says the repeal is a treaty breach.
Greens’ spokesperson Kahurangi Carter says Minister Chhour has been found to be making decisions based on anecdote rather than evidence, and the ACT Party is acting out of spite.
“To use one case, to then throw away 7AA, that is working, that is ensuring the best interests of our children are put first. They are using lies and smoke and mirrors and they’re not being accountable so we want to see them showing up for our tamariki,” she says.
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