Oranga Tamariki chief executive Grainne Moss steps down

Friday, 22 January 2021

The head of Oranga Tamariki, Grainne Moss, is deeply concerned about the rise in methamphetamine use and the effects it has on children and families. (Video first published in October 2020)

Oranga Tamariki chief executive and Secretary for Children Grainne Moss has stepped down.

Sir Wira Gardiner has been appointed as acting chief executive in her place.

Moss said leading the ministry for over four years has been a privilege but “it is the right time” for her to leave.

“I would like to acknowledge all those at Oranga Tamariki and our partner organisations who work tirelessly in some of the toughest environments.” Moss said in a statement.

'I am proud of all that we have achieved over the last four years. However, I believe it is the right time for the agency for me to step down and make way for new leadership. I feel the focus has been on me rather than how we work together to improve the well-being of children.”

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Minister in charge of Oranga Tamariki, Kelvin Davis. (file)

She has previously faced criticism after a Waitangi Tribunal urgent inquiry into the agency’s removal of Māori babies, but had always said she would stay in her role.

Minister in charge of Oranga Tamariki, Kelvin Davis said leading the agency was one of the toughest roles in the public service “and I respect the decision she has made and the dignified way in which she has done it”.

Last year Davis publicly refused to express confidence in Moss. He said that was now a “moot point” since she had tendered her resignation. Davis said he did not have the power to ask her to resign.

“And now I welcome Sir Wira Gardiner into the acting CE role and his record speaks for itself. My focus is working with the leadership of Oranga Tamariki and fixing the system and implementing the government's work programme.” Sir Wira would remain in the role for “as long as it takes”, Davis said.

Former Oranga Tamariki chief executive Grainne Moss.

He said crucial to this was a partnership with Māori “and we have an opportunity now to make that happen”.

Oranga Tamariki would be more regionally focused in future and would make sure it was working with Māori “in Māori ways”, Davis said.

Davis said he did not know any details about any potential golden handshake provisions in her employment agreement, or any employment concerns after fellow Minister Peeni Henare suggested last year they would replace Moss.

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“I have to reiterate my comments that Mr Henare’s comments were inappropriate for the time. It’s really not appropriate for me to talk about the employment of the CEs.”

Sir Wira has whakapapa links to Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Pikiao, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and te Whakatōhea. He has been involved in significant iwi settlement negotiations.

He was the founding director of the Waitangi Tribunal, and founding Chief Executive of Te Puni Kokiri, the Ministry of Maori Development.

Māori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. (file)

Last year Moss fronted to media after appearing before the tribunal and was adamant she would stay in the role despite the controversy that still lingered around the 2019 removal of a baby from its mother in Hastings hospital.

It followed a public rebuke by Davis of Henare for suggesting that they would replace Moss.

Davis told Henare to stick to commenting on his own chief executives after Henare told media that Moss was on her way out of the role, potentially very quickly.

“He knows, we all know, that I don't engage in discussions about my [chief executives] in public,” Davis said. “And you know it’s not appropriate for Cabinet ministers to talk about other people’s CEs as well.”

The Māori Party has welcomed the announcement of the Moss’ departure.

Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the resignation “was the only right thing to do”.

If Minister Davis did not “get some cojones” and implement major changes, he risked being seen as part of a leadership that normalised the forced removal of children without connecting them to safe whānau, she said.

“The Government must now…follow the advice of the Children’s Commissioner – begin the process to disband Oranga Tamariki and shift the powers and responsibility to an independent by Māori, for Māori agency.”

Last November the Office of the Children’s Commissioner released a report calling for the state to loosen control of care for at-risk Māori children – handing over every “every aspect” of decision-making for removing children to Māori.

It recommended the Government start by resourcing iwi, hapū and Māori organisations to figure out how the system would work.

Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft said the old model of Oranga Tamariki “can’t continue”.

The Hastings hospital case wasn’t isolated, he said. “In fact the strength of reaction that developed from it shows that the issues regarding decision-making about Māori by the state really had been simmering for decades…it really was an explosion of longstanding and profound concern.”

The issues that Oranga Tamariki faced in the past two years were not about leadership or personalities, but was about structure, he said. “I do think her principled resignation is an opportunity for a reset.”

As reported by Stuff, before she took on the role with Oranga Tamariki, Moss was the first Irish woman to swim the English Channel and later, Cook Strait, study internationally at the highest level and lead a 3800-strong workforce for the health services company Bupa in the aged-care sector.

Moss has accepted a role as the chief executive leading the Public Service Commission’s pay equity work.