MEDIA RELEASE

24 September 2015

The State is a poor defacto parent

The State of Care Report released today has shone a light on the Child, Youth and Family system. It reveals that rather than making children safer from harm, instead, it perpetuates further damage and revictimises our most vulnerable members of our society.

“The State should never cause further harm to those children they like to describe as vulnerable. If damage is caused to a child because of state intervention - then that is something we must address immediately,” says Māori Party Co-leader Marama Fox.

“The Government must take immediate action, act with urgency and remedy the situation for tamariki and their whānau”, says Mrs Fox.

“This Report is a shameful reflection of how we treat our most precious citizens. It is a system failure of epic proportions and we owe it to our tamariki to restore their trust and faith in a society that enhances their self-worth.”

“The Māori Party supports the need for transformational change in the State care of tamariki and we also know that we need to address the root cause of the problem which is the wellbeing of whānau.

“I am interested to know therefore how we support whānau to take up their rightful roles and responsibilities to care for the next generation of leaders”, says Mrs Fox.

“Children told the Panel that they want to know who they are – that is a fundamental driver to their sense of self. And at the heart of Whānau Ora is connection, belonging and identity within a whānau.”

Mrs Fox says the Māori Party also supports the raising of the age of care from 17 years old to at least 18 years old “to ensure vulnerable rangatahi are able to access the support services they need.”

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