Dame Tariana Turia asks Oranga Tamariki boss Grainne Moss ‘to be nice and go away’

By RNZ

Dame Tariana Turia says Oranga Tamariki CEO Grainne Moss should step aside and make way for Maori leadership.

The Maori Party says it is wrong that the highest ranking Maori leader in Oranga Tamariki is resigning from the ministry and asking for his boss to leave.

Hoani Lambert resigned as deputy director of Oranga Tamariki to take up a position in the Department of Internal Affairs.

But he insisted that his departure was not a protest against Moss.

“I was very grateful to Grainne, who gave me my first opportunity to be the executive deputy director of a government department,” Lambert said.

“In that time we have established two Treaty units, we have started the process of establishing strategic relationships with Iwi and Maori organizations.

“I have also had the privilege of establishing our first transition service – supporting young people who have spent a significant amount of their time in state care and during the four years with her. I have been very grateful for the opportunities she has given me. dice. “

Moss said the ministry was planning more partnerships with iwi. She was also open to the idea of ​​working alongside a Maori CEO from Oranga Tamariki.

“This is a wonderful idea.”

The Waitangi Tribunal has been listening to Moss as he investigates the ministry’s role in getting Maori babies out of their whānau.

The urgent hearing follows several other investigations into the baby recall and Oranga Tamariki’s overall performance.

Dame Tariana Turia was yesterday at the Waitangi Court hearing.

Today he told Morning Report that he had known Lambert for many years and that his departure was a “shocked resignation.”

Turia said yesterday that Moss “continued to blame the Crown” for the deficiencies at Oranga Tamariki.

“And I sat there wondering, who is the Crown? It’s the minister. Are you saying the minister is to blame? I couldn’t quite understand it.”

Turia said it was unusual for the head of any state agency to blame the Crown. “… [Moss] He mentioned it more than once. “

He didn’t trust Moss and said that if Lambert had her, “he wouldn’t go away.”

“As for me, why doesn’t the Prime Minister speak if the Crown is to blame?

“This is an organization that cares for 70% of Maori children, so it deserves Maori leadership.”

He said the government recognized that by appointing Kelvin Davis as Minister for Children.

“I think there is room for Grainne to be nice and maybe go away.”

Davis ordered Oranga Tamariki to stop carrying out “reverse lifts”, when a child in the care of the state is separated from his permanent adoptive parents and placed with whānau.

The order follows the recent Newsroom documentary that followed four tamariki who faced reverse changes.

A Davis spokesperson confirmed that a report on the incident had raised questions about some system-wide processes within Oranga Tamariki and wanted them reviewed.

– RNZ