Māori inquiry into Oranga Tamariki: 'We have a right to stand up for our babies'

Saturday, 13 July 2019

Waatea Marae chairman Willie Jackson says 'tikanga before taking' will be a key focus of the Whānau Ora inquiry into Oranga Tamariki.

A midwife at the centre of an outcry over baby uplifts by Oranga Tamariki says people on the front line should have more of a voice.

Midwife Jean Te Huia was among the speakers at a hui about the Government's child protection agency in south Auckland on Saturday.

The hui was a response to the attempted taking of a newborn baby from his 19-year-old mother at a Hawke's Bay hospital. Te Huia was in the room as the attempt played out.

A video showing Oranga Tamariki's attempt to take a newborn boy from his mother led to an outcry.

'We need justice for our families and we need a legal system that listens to our families,' she said on Saturday.

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'We as midwives, we don't have a voice to stand up for that whānau. We walk into their homes every day. They should be asking us,' she said.

'We have a whole Māori community, we know what's best for us … We know [the system] doesn't work.

'We are tangata whenua of this country and we have a right to stand up for our babies.'

The hui, organised by Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency, discussed how to incorporate tikanga Māori values into the organisational processes of Oranga Tamariki.

Board chairwoman Raukawa-Tait said the practice of taking babies and children from their families had alarmed Māori communities for decades.

At least 45 babies were taken the day they were born in 2017. More than half of those babies were born to young Māori mothers.

On average, three children a week were uplifted by Oranga Tamariki.

MP Willie Jackson spoke as the chairman of Nga Whare Waatea Marae. He said members of his marae have seen firsthand for decades what it was like working at the coalface.

'We all know we have to protect our babies and our whānau but the time of forgetting about us has to be over,' he said.

'We know those babies, we know their mothers, and their whānau, and that is what we are saying to Oranga Tamariki.'

More than 500 people had registered for the hui, including Māori elders, healthcare workers and MPs.