Māori leaders launch inquiry into tamariki being taken from their whānau

Monday, 19 August 2019

The idea of a Māori inquiry into Oranga Tamariki has got plenty of interest - about 1000 people have attended the two hui organised by the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency. Pictured is the Monday meeting in Hamilton.

It might be 'like pushing tūtae [s…] up a hill with a three-pronged fork' but a group of Māori leaders is forging ahead with an inquiry into tamariki Māori being removed from their whānau.

About 300 people packed into Hamilton's Novotel Tainui on Monday afternoon, some from as far as Gisborne, to help agree on the focus of the Oranga Tamariki inquiry.

Māori whānau expect their leaders to do something about what they are experiencing, Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency chair Merepeka Raukawa-Tait said.

The independent Māori review was launched not long after Newsroom's June story on the attempted uplift of a newborn baby from Hawke's Bay Hospital.

It's a result of Government inaction on issues with the actions of Oranga Tamariki, a statement said, 'in particular around the un-ethical, forced removal of babies and children from their whānau', said a statement from the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency.

The inquiry was mooted not long after a story about attempts to uplift a newborn baby from a young mother in Hawke's Bay Hospital (file photo).

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

* The Detail: Māori plant flag over uplifted children

Grievances with Oranga Tamariki have been taken to the Beehive (file photo).

* State care of children has 'failed', says Minister

* Findings of internal inquiry into Oranga Tamariki child 'uplift' won't be public**

All is not well with Māori whānau and they expect their leaders to do something about it, said Merepeka Raukawa-Tait, chair of the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency, which organised the meetings, told the crowd.

'A thousand people in these two hui have said they will give support, they will have a say, and their expectation is that there will be some good outcomes from our mahi (work).'

People in rural areas won't be forgotten, she said, as the inquiry will go 'where the people are, the ones who can't get to us but who are so important'.

The inquiry will focus on children being uplifted from their families - both now and in the past - and the impact of that.

It will draw on experiences of whānau [family], hapori [societies], and those who have lived experience of the Oranga Tamariki system.

The terms of reference will be presented at Tūrangawaewae Marae on Tuesday and the inquiry is expected to produce a final report in February 2020.

Governing group member Dame Naida Glavish, sometimes called the 'kia ora lady', talked about the importance of hope with the inquiry.

'We know it's going to be like pushing tūtae [s…] up a hill with a three-pronged fork,' she said. 'We're going to do it.'

'Do you know how difficult it is to get a roomful of Māoris to agree on one thing?' she said. 'What this proves, of course, is that we can do it.'

The inquiry would be for Māori and by Māori, she said, but also Māori for all - because what is good for Māori is good for everyone.

And people are missing the mark when they talk about what should be done for tamariki in danger, Children's Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft said.

'I'm so disappointed that the media and public discourse has reduced itself to to two polar opposites: either keep a baby at home and risk murder, or remove somewhere. If only we could be true to the current statutory mandate, which is early, preventive, interactive, supportive, community based, involvement. And if there is removal, it's in the context of retaining whakapapa links.'

He pointed out the history of the problem - referring to the 1988 Puao-te-ata-tu report which found a culture of racism at the then Department of Social Welfare.

'Our little office has historically had the independent statutory mandate to monitor and assess the policies of Oranga Tamariki … Frankly we've been under funded chronically for that role. We've had the resources hardly to monitor more than the 200 that are locked up, in lock and key custody.'

Sir Mark Solomon, who is on the inquiry's governing group, started with 'a really perverse comment'.

'I would like to congratulate Oranga Tamariki for the nonsense that happened up in Kahungunu [Hawke's Bay]. This time, it seems to have galvanised us to do something.'

He saw women he had worked with in the audience, adding that some of them were 'literally hiding children from Oranga Tamariki because of the nonsense that happens within that system'.

'Maybe now we can confront it.'

But, to confront it, people also need to address violence within their own whānau, he said.

'It's not just that organisation called Oranga Tamariki. We need to look in here also, at what we do.'