Children's Minister Karen Chhour. Photo: RNZ
"I don't know why we ended up going to select committee if there was no intention to listen to the experts" - Tracey Martin
The repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act was front and centre at Parliament this week, with former Minister in charge of the legislation Tracey Martin telling the government to rethink its approach.
After the mammoth Abuse in Care report, she and many other voices are calling for 7AA to remain.
Reports and studies over the years have outlined how the state child protection service had been failing Māori especially. Section 7AA was added to the Oranga Tamariki Act in 2019 to directly address this harm.
It imposes an obligation on the ministry's chief executive to recognise Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and to develop strategic partnerships with iwi and Māori organisations. This means aiming to prevent Māori children coming into care, or ensuring those who do retain connection to their whakapapa - and reporting publicly on that each year.
The move to repeal 7AA is ACT party policy, its website calling for "colourblind, child-centric state care". It claims children have been removed from safe homes because their foster parents were "the 'wrong' race" due to 7AA. But analysis by Oranga Tamariki says that is not the case, and there is no evidence to support the idea 7AA has led to changes in care arrangements.
Submitters to the select committee argue the problems ACT points to are caused by a lack of funding, not legislation or policy. Children's Minister Karen Chhour (ACT) says the ministry is going through a restructure to help with that, and "what they also need to be very clear is that safety and wellbeing comes first".
Read more:
- 7AA repeal: MPs told connection to culture critical to wellbeing
- Former Children's Minister Tracey Martin tells government to stop 7AA repeal
- Ngāpuhi members travel from Northland to Parliament to protest repeal
- Hundreds turn out for rally against Māori children in state care
- Removal of 7AA could lead to higher costs for the state - consultant
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has also defended the repeal as ensuring no ambiguity, and prioritising safety and wellbeing. Under questioning from opposition parties, he seemed unable to say exactly what 7AA did.
Members of the public submitting on the policy linked cultural connection with wellbeing time and time again.
Tracey Martin (formerly NZ First) was Children's Minister when the legislation was brought in, and personally signed off on five Oranga Tamariki 7AA relationships. She says the provision shifts spending priorities away from the crisis end of things and towards early intervention.
The Royal Commission into Abuse in Care's report delivered to Parliament two weeks ago also highlights the importance of cultural connection in preventing harm, and Martin is adamant National should push back against the coalition agreement.
"If Māori are able to use their cultural norms to ... protect children, why is there an assumption that they would do worse than we [Pākehā] have? Because look at the Royal Commission - we haven't done very well, have we?"
In this week's Focus on Politics, Political Reporter Lillian Hanly examines the coalition policy of repealing section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act, and the resulting backlash.
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