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The Maori Party wants to end the rise of Maori children to generic state care with a new entity, independent of the beleaguered Oranga Tamariki.
The proposed Mokopuna Māori Entity would be responsible for the care of approximately 4,000 Maori children in need of intensive care, backed by $ 600 million in public funds.
The party’s candidate in Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, announced the policy at an event in Whangārei on Saturday, saying that what Maori are forced to wear now “completely fails”.
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Maori babies under the age of three months are five times more likely to be abducted by the state than non-Maori, the Commissioner for Children found. (File photo)
“Our babies constitute 70 percent of the children in state care and are effectively funded to stay with people with whom they have no whakapapa connection; Maori mokopuna do not belong to generic state care, they belong to whānau, hapū and iwi, ”he said. said.
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The policy comes after a report by the Commissioner for Children called for a fundamental change in Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry of Children.
Denise Piper / Things
Maori party candidate Mariameno Kapa-Kingi says Oranga Tamariki is completely failing Maori children.
Judge Andrew Becroft said the system is racist and disappointed by poor social work, while Maori mothers of newborns involved with Oranga Tamariki called the system dangerous and brutal.
The commissioner had previously revealed that Maori babies under the age of three months are five times more likely to be abducted by the state than non-Maori.
Kapa-Kingi said that the Mokopuna Māori Entity would be a service provided by the Maori, for the Maori, to the Maori.
Denise Piper / Things
There was a sense of celebration when Maori Mariameno Party candidate Kapa-Kingi launched the Mokopuna Māori Entity policy in Whangārei with her young supporters.
It would also establish a partnership network between the Maori organizations, Hapū and Iwi, to ensure that the Maori Mokopuna remain connected to their whakapapa.
Kapa-Kingi said she had seen how the whānau system had failed in her work as a social worker, both within Oranga Tamariki and its predecessor Child Youth and Family, and in iwi organizations.
There is still a need for intervention for some mokopuna who need a level of intensive care, but a Maori entity with tikanga at its core would lead to better outcomes, he said.
Ryan Anderson / Stuff
Maori Party co-leader John Tamihere helped find a community solution to stop the uprising of two newborns at Waitākere Hospital in June.
Oranga Tamariki could stay for the Pakēhā children, if it worked for them, he said.
In June, a human barricade was formed outside Auckland’s Waitākere Hospital to prevent Oranga Tamariki from lifting two newborns from the maternity ward.
Maori Party co-leader and Waipareira Trust CEO John Tamihere said it took five minutes of phone calls to find a community-based solution rather than improvements.
“This is unacceptable conduct by Oranga Tamariki,” he said at the time. “They shouldn’t destroy families or take newborns if there is a community solution.”
