Minister for Children Karen Chhour. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Legislation stripping Treaty provisions from the Oranga Tamariki Act has passed its third and final reading in Parliament following a heated debate.
The coalition has long promised to repeal Section 7AA, which binds Oranga Tamariki to the Treaty of Waitangi's principles, and requires it to work in partnership with iwi and hapū, reporting back regularly on how that is going.
The third reading started on Wednesday, and Minister for Children Karen Chhour said she was "pleased to lead this bill into its final stage in the House."
She said she was proud to ensure the "system we trust as a nation to take good care of vulnerable children and young people is focused on safety and wellbeing above all else."
Chhour said section 7AA was "well intended" but it "resulted in children being put second."
She provided context for why she believed the bill was necessary.
"I've stood in front of you and in this House multiple times to share stories from caregivers and Oranga Tamariki staff and people who deal with Oranga Tamariki whose experience has highlighted that section 7AA of the Act has been misused and potentially put children in harm's way.
"We can no longer accept or excuse this. We can no longer deny that section 7AA has led to confusion and conflict in a system that cannot afford to get such a crucial care decision wrong."
She said the bill doesn't negate the "importance of cultural connections for children", but safety needed to come first "every single time."
"These children's lives are not lived in theories or in the comfort of academia or privilege. The harm that comes their way is not academic; it is real.
"That is why I make no apology for repealing section 7AA from the Act to remove any confusion for people on the ground making decisions on a daily basis to keep children and young people safe."
Labour's spokesperson for children Willow-Jean Prime. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Labour's spokesperson for children, Willow-Jean Prime spoke next, and said there was no evidence to support the move, and no consultation about it.
"Let the record show that political ideology has driven this repeal and that vulnerable Māori children will be the ones who pay the price.
"Let the record show - let the history books show - these tamariki who could be the subject of a future royal commission into abuse in State care, because this is the very sort of thing that the royal commission that we recently had inquired into and reported on."
Prime pointed to Oranga Tamariki noting there was no "empirical evidence to support the notion that section 7AA has driven practice decisions that have led to changing in care arrangements."
"Her own officials telling her there is no empirical evidence to support the cases that she is using to justify this case. Closed-minded, doesn't care, never cared from the beginning."
The third reading continued on Thursday. NZ First's Tanya Unkovich spoke of her time on the select committee considering the bill.
"It was quite an emotional time to sit through it - I'm not shy to say that.
"During the submissions process, there were a number of things which were summarised by the officials, and the themes that they summarised these submissions under were wellbeing and safety, Treaty obligations, evidence, legislation and practice, equality and equity."
National's Carlos Cheung pointed out the disagreements between parties.
"I think we've heard a lot of different speeches from different parties.
"Obviously, none of us agree with each other, but I think there's one thing we all agree on across the whole House: we are here to fight for the best interests of our children - for our children in care."
The Greens Ricardo Menendez March called the bill a "dog whistle" that "aims to attack tamariki Māori and to not pay attention to the bridge that has been created by the Crown that has led to so many tamariki Māori being split and detached from the communities that they belong to."
Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
Te Pāti Māori's Mariameno Kapa-Kingi condemned the Bill, calling it the "Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Culture, Repeal of Custom, Repeal of Safety, and Repeal of Protections and Prosperity) Bill."
Kapa-Kingi referenced the history of babies being removed by "colonial hands."
"The justification of this, to save a Māori baby from the so-called evils of the pā, the evils of our people. This is your and our shared history."
She said the act set the tone for generations, and was summarised by "one simple term: uplift."
"A word coined by the coloniser to mask their statutory act of thievery."
Kapa-Kingi said she'd chosen to take the Bill "very personally".
"I challenge every Māori in this Whare and every non-Māori-and part Māori... that is responsible to and for mokopuna tamariki Māori, to check your privilege, to check your fragility, to check your white tears, to check your racism, and to check your sexism and misogyny and get some counselling and education and free your mind.
"This is what happens when you internalise the racism and thank the oppressor for the experience."
The bill passed 68 to 54 with the support of the three coalition parties.
Te Pāti Māori has now called on the Governor-General to withhold "royal assent" from the Bill.
The next step in the law-making process is for the Governor General to grant royal assent, which means the bill has the approval of the King - New Zealand's Head of State.
Te Pāti Māori has written to Cindy Kiro, who is the Sovereign's representative, and said the Bill would represent a "fundamental breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi if passed into law."
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