October 30, 2019
Pepi not uplifted from happy homes – Collins
Senior National Party MP Judith Collins believes the Waitangi Tribunal inquiry into Oranga Tamariki is unnecessary.
The tribunal has decided to conduct a narrowly-focused hearing into the crown's policies and practices around the child protection agency's uplift of Māori babies.
Ms Collins says the Royal Commission into Abuse in State Care has all the powers needed to get to the bottom of such issues, including the ability to compel people to give evidence, which the tribunal does not have.
Responding to those who point to the high percentage of gang members and prison inmates who experienced state care, she says the fact is they came from families where there was a high risk of continued violence if they had stayed.
"If families and whānau want to look after children well, there's no reason at all for the state to be involved because the state isn't involved in most cases around children. Most children are not in the care of the state and I think the state is a terrible parent but at least the state doesn't actually set out to beat children or kill them as we've seen over the years," she says.
Judith Collins says her aroha is for the social workers and courts who have to make the hard decision to uplift a baby or child.
Copyright © 2019, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com