Since Labour became the Government the demands from Maori leaders have become more bizarre and extreme.
They claim there are too many Maori in prison. But instead of focussing on preventing crime by ensuring that those who can work are in employment, education or training, rather than feeling aggrieved on welfare, they are calling for the abolition of prisons!
They claim that too many Maori children are being taken into State care. But instead of railing against single parenthood and State dependency – the family environment in which most child abuse occurs – and condemning all violence against children, they are calling for the disestablishment of Oranga Tamariki, the government agency charged with preventing child abuse!
They claim there is too much Maori socio-economic disparity in society. But rather than encouraging families to better themselves through education and work, the tribal elite are using their disadvantaged as a lever to weasel their way into gaining more power and influence.
These radical demands to abolish prisons, disestablish Oranga Tamariki, and share power are some of a series of recommendations that can be found in a report from a Government-funded ‘Maori Hui’ on the future of the justice system, that was released last month.
Mark Solomon, the former head of Ngai Tahu, was one of the authors of the report whom the Minister of Justice Andrew Little acknowledged: “I thank ta Mark alongside the organisers of the Hui Maori, for delivering a successful event and the report. I had the privilege of being invited to this event. The depth of feeling toward the justice system was obvious, as was the sense of urgency that we collectively need to grasp the generational opportunity to improve the justice system.
“There was also a genuine intent to partner with the Crown to lead work for a more effective system for Aotearoa New Zealand. I acknowledge there is work that we must do to improve the justice system, and the Inaia Tonu Nei report contains many recommendations that this Government will take the time necessary to examine.”
Such is the power of the seven Maori seats held by Labour, that in modern-day New Zealand even absurd ideas have every chance of shaping our future laws.
The journey to this racist report began last year, when the Government held a Criminal Justice Summit to explore options for the future reform of the justice system. While 200 of the 600 attendees were Maori, Maori leaders complained that the “Maori voice” was not strong enough. As a result the Maori-only Hui was convened by the Government and held in April to develop a Maori plan for overhauling the criminal justice system.
Their report demands that the Government ‘shares’ power with Maori by honouring the Treaty “partnership” – even though we all know the claim of a partnership is a fabrication.
The Treaty of Waitangi was a contract that established the Queen as our sovereign, protected private property rights, and gave Maori equal rights of citizenship. It did not elevate Maori rights above those of other New Zealanders, and nor did it raise the tribal elite to the status of a sovereign.
If they ever succeed in gaining half of the power through a ‘co-governance’ partnership arrangement, the tribal elite would control government decision-making in New Zealand. Under such a scenario representatives of the 15 percent of the population who identify as having Maori ancestry would rule all New Zealanders. ‘Power sharing’ would no doubt entail half of all taxpayer funding being allocated to Maori.
They say in the Hui Maori report, “the Crown must let Maori lead in true partnership” with “help, shared power and funding from the Crown”. And, “If Maori are partnering with the Crown, funding must be appropriately allocated”.
When it comes to the justice system as a whole, representative at the Hui claim it is responsible for the “legacy of colonisation and intergenerational trauma” that affects Maori today. “The justice system is racist and biased against Maori”.
To unpick such claims, we need to step back.
Essentially, it is Maori leaders who want to define New Zealanders by race – it suits them to do so.
Until the mid-seventies, the official count of race was based on ancestry and blood quantum. To be classified as being of Maori descent, someone had to be half-caste or more. But due to the extremely high rates of intermarriage in New Zealand, the numbers were in decline. As a result of the advocacy of Maori leaders, the definition was changed to be based on ethnic affiliation and self-identification.
From that time on, anyone with even a trace of Maori ancestry is categorised as Maori for official purposes, if they mention it on their Census form.
An analysis of the impact of this change, published for the Ministry of Social Policy in September 2000 by Dr Simon Chapple, then a Senior Research Analyst with the Department of Labour, found that this practice significantly over-stated the number of Maori in New Zealand by including the growing proportion of those with mixed ancestry.
He advised that to be more accurate, official statistics for the Maori ethnic group should consist of those identifying as Maori-only in the Census, along with half of those of mixed Maori ancestry.
But his advice was ignored and through a process that ‘prioritises’ ethnic groupings, the official figures of Maori ethnicity are inflated – which is exactly what Maori leaders want. The higher the official count of Maori, the more Maori electoral seats they gain, and the more funding they receive for the Maori-only services they now provide to the government.
The problem is that overstating ‘Maori’ in some official statistics such as crime, has resulted in claims that the system is racist. But that is a nonsense. Crime is not a factor of race, but instead is related to a multiplicity of well-defined social influences such as family breakdown, substance abuse, educational failure, unemployment, long term welfare dependency, and violence.
The answer is not to abolish prisons, nor have a separate justice system for Maori, by Maori, paid for by the taxpayers. The answer is to support disadvantaged families into employment to give them purpose and improve their lives.
In calling for “the abolition of the current prison system”, participants at the Hui said they wanted “community accountability”. They seem to believe that keeping perpetrators within the community is “more meaningful for defendants” and is also more “appropriate and effective for victims of crime and the wider community”.
Their aim is to “decolonise the justice system” and replace it with “a Mana Orite model of partnership that puts in place Maori at all levels of decision-making”.
In other words, they want the prison system devolved to Maori.
When it came to child protection services, the Hui recommended that “Oranga Tamariki is disestablished”.
They said, “No child should be removed from its mother or whanau at birth. Uplifts of children in this manner should be illegal.”
They believe that removing a child to keep them safe, “denies the right of the child to their whakapapa”, and they wanted to “Devolve services from Oranga Tamariki to whanau, hapu and iwi to provide care and protection services with and for whanau in their own communities”.
In other words, they want to put culture ahead of the safety of the child.
Brain Giesbrecht, a former Canadian Judge, presided over many child abuse cases when their child protection services were being devolved to indigenous groups. He explains that prioritising culture over the safety of children was a disaster: “I strongly denounced the system of categorizing children by race, and stated that best interests should be the only test for all children. The province basically disregarded my recommendations and went ahead ‘devolving’ child care responsibility based on race only. Indigenous children became – in effect – the property of their racial groups. This pattern continued for many years – substandard care, ideology over common sense – best interests trumped by racial considerations. Racial considerations are still given far too much emphasis, and the numbers of Indigenous children being abused are still going up and not down.”
Once were Warriors author Alan Duff mentions a child abuse case that has haunted him in his latest book, A Conversation with my Country: “Poor Shahlaya wasn’t 11 when I first saw her. She was discreetly pointed out to me at a low socio-economic primary school many years ago. ‘See that girl… the sad-looking one? The one not smiling? We know she’s on a house-to-house circuit, suffering sexual abuse. A tragedy, and too many like her.’
“The sub-society she was born into stole and violated her right to childhood. Men took turns at possessing her body, subjecting it – not her, the innocent child – to indecencies. Too weak to resist, she was an ‘it’, a body solely to give pleasure to sick-minded adult males. And you can bet they figured out that should she go to the police or to the school authorities, her allegations would not be believed. It probably did occur to her abusers that what they did was wrong, but wrong only if they were held to account.”
He then explains: “These days she lives in another town in another state-housing area; has five children to five different fathers, her firstborn when she was 14…”
Instead of dealing with the reality described by Alan Duff, Maori leaders are calling for the resignation of the Chief Executive of Oranga Tamariki and are planning Court action against the agency.
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, welfare researcher Lindsay Mitchell exposes the misinformation that Maori leaders are using to justify their vindictive campaign against the agency:
“In mid-June Dame Tariana Turia called on the Chief Executive of Oranga Tamariki, Grainne Moss, to resign. She disputed that Maori children are six times more likely to be abused than non-Maori children, and called the rate of uplift by Oranga Tamariki overkill.”
Tariana Turia had claimed, “In the last few years since 1993, we have had 83 non-Maori children killed, we have had 17 Maori children die, so the fact of it is this is an overkill when it comes to Maori families. Now if you don’t want to call it racism, you can call it what you like.”
But Lindsay has checked the official sources of child abuse deaths, finding that between 2001 and 2015 a total of 105 children and young people lost their lives to child abuse or neglect, and of those, 51 (49 percent) were Maori. That’s “a significant over-representation”.
Maori leaders have also claimed that Maori children are being ‘tortured’ and ‘abused’ while in State care. This was in response to data from Oranga Tamiriki showing that of the 6,400 children in care, three quarters of the 103 children that had been abused in the first three months of this year were Maori.
However, Lindsay points out that over half of the children in State care are living with their parents or their wider family – “the majority of the harm to Maori children happened in placements where they had been left with their family.”
This whole crusade against Oranga Tamariki is a well-orchestrated campaign of gross misinformation that’s being driven by Maori leaders to try to shift public opinion to view the State as the villains in Maori child abuse statistics. Their aim is to force the Government to pass control of child protection to them. It’s a deception. It’s dishonest.
But it seems to be working. Just this week, the Minister for Children Tracey Martin told a gathering in Rotorua, “Nothing will change unless Maoridom gets the chance to design it [new systems of state care].”
One hopes the Minister will come to her senses and not cave in to the demands of Maori leaders. Their desire for power would cost children their lives. Their focus should instead be redirected onto supporting vulnerable families within their communities.
Responsibility for child abuse rests with parents. Until parents stop harming their children, the State must step in to keep them safe – it’s the only right thing to do. The best interests of the child must always come first.
THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
Is Oranga Tamariki right to remove at-risk Maori children from their Whanau?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| They must protect the child regardless of race. | Sam |
| Yes. The news letter says it all. Just honest and well presented FACTS. The TRUTH needs to govern decisions. | Neil |
| They have it in their own hands to change how they respond to their children, within the wider family. Again they take no action and blame the “Colonials” | Robyn |
| Our infant murder is appalling and one of the highest in the developed world. Shameful !!!! | Colleen |
| Not just Maori children, but any child that is at risk. | Bill |
| Of course it is and Maori leaders must wake up to the fact that it is their own people that is causing the problem. They wont be happy until they have total control of the government and heaven help us. | Fraser |
| It would appear that whanau ARE the abusers, so allowing them total jurisdiction of abused children will only allow them to abuse whenever, wherever, whoever they want so long as their Maori. How shameful! | Nick |
| Please use English only in these forums. Apart from Proper nouns, Maori place names, I refuse to be bullied by the left wing media into using this backward, contrived M. language so I do not expect to see it in these newsletters. Family is family finish. I will use the Children’s Ministry rather than the ridiculous O.T. We should be very proud that we are an English-speaking country. It is an international safety language. I notice that a lot of prisoners are illiterate so what use is the M. language to them. That is something people can learn as a hobby. No child should be owned by tribes, racial groups or whole families; sometimes they need to be removed from the whole toxic mess, they will be the ones who thrive. | Monica |
| Otherwise the family will kill the child instead therefore costing the tax paper even more | Joe |
| If it is to keep them safe | Claire |
| Absolutely !!!! | James |
| If the Government had the balls to publish the true facts instead of siding with the lies that the Maori leaders tell their “people”, then the rest of us may be able to look at fixing the problem.This country has to be very careful that a system, where a minority rules the majority,is seen as being acceptable. South Africa tried it and look what happened to that country. | Barry |
| This is all about power and control, by Maori, over all the rest of us. It is just one facet of the trend toward a racist Oligarchy, where one small group rules the rest. That’s all. Maori children probably ARE overly represented as victims of violence,. Their revered “culture” was violent. They warred continuously with each other over anything. They had UTU, a perpetual revenge; they still have it. Really, it isn’t about the children, it’s about power, and they want it. | Joyce |
| Absolutely | Craig |
| Dr Newman, whichever party you belong to is going to get my vote. The politicians’ bizarre views on the TOW are so far from the the truth that I am despairing for our country. | Grant |
| Yes, of course it must act. But what an indictment on Maori! They are endowed with the same intellectual potential as any other racial group yet many seem to elect to waste it. How sad, how shameful! | Peter |
| Children must be kept safe. If the family can’t do it, the state must. | James |
| Where did Tariana Turia get her figures from for child deaths and abuse? She does not tell us. We know that she makes all sorts of unsubstantiated claims. Remember the “holocaust” in Taranaki? She should be hauled in by the media and told to answer a few basic quiestions,m, such as, Where were the concentration camps? Who built them? where were the gas chambers? who built them? show us their location on a map of Google earth. What sort of gas were the colonisers using, given the state of chemistry knowledge in the mid 1800’s? and where were the ashes of the victims buried? If Turia cannot or will not answer those question s then it shows that she is simply having another episode of part Maori brown supremacist Hate speech. Her claims would have been offensive to the Jewish community, but Turia doesn’t care who she offends, although she will be one of the first to take offence if anyone criticises her fabricated views. | Donald |
| Why wouldn’t the tribal leaders want whats best for the children? Is their motive to cover up child abuse by their own? – the same as the Catholic Church has been accused of recently. Hiding the pedophiles and abusers from public accountability doesn’t make the problem disappear – it makes it worse! For the government to ignore the safety of the children makes them culpable of facilitating abuse by Maori. | Rex |
| Parents should only have children they can love and care for. That’s why welfare is so dangerous. It pays women to have children that they do not really want and are not really able to look after properly. The sole parent benefit should be abolished. | Kat |
| But there will be no improvement until the welfare system incentives for multi-father solo mothers are radically reformed. | Peter |
| ANY child at risk should be removed for their safety | Murray |
| YES to the question about Maori Children. Take race out of the question and my answer remains YES. One people, one law. | Brian |
| Maori have revenge in their DNA. They are cunning and will resort to any disgraceful form of claiming victimisation to gain an upper hand. They do not get to be an equal partner with the Crown. This would be a disaster in waiting. | Robert |
| Colour doesn’t count when it comes to child abuse. | Glenda |
| The safety of the child is paramount. End of story! | Scott |
| Any child at risk should be removed from the harmful environment. | Rick |
| It has become a religion driven by unbalanced social media- seriously lacking in facts | Bruce |
| If the in need children are not removed we will have abused kids like the Kahui twins with all the whanau keeping quiet and all get away scot free | Al |
| Yes 100%. The Whanau and often partners associated to that whanau are the source of so very many cases of abuse. | Bruce |
| the prime factor is the safety off the child, too many children die through family violence, these family’s need to have a truthful look at themselves, they are the ones to blame | Rodger |
| Protect the child is the first priority and the evidence shows the Whanau are often the abuser | David |
| Sickening to see how easily deceived the weak and naive labour members can be twirled about by racist opportunists pursuing their own ends | John |
| Without question, the protection of the children from harm, and certainly further harm, must be the first consideration, not what race their biological parents believe them to be. Lies, more lies , and damned Lies seems to be the order of the day for the Green Party as they lead the charge for co-governance and the downcrying of colonialism. Surely the drive for division must come to an end once and for all. | Michael |
| No question. | Valerie |
| Absolutely | Philip |
| Of course they are. They need protection from abusive whanau | Laurie |
| Yes however can someone please advise as to why we are rapidly becoming a TWO sided racial Country, with”Maori” taking over N Z more and more (as they now say is their “Right”) | Marylin |
| No comment needed. The answer is obvious | Richard |
| Protect the poor little buggers from their thuggish culture. Hopefully they will get a chance of a purposeful and happy life away from it. | David |
| If parents and whanau are failing in their responsibilities who else is there? A regulated, professional, national and accountable organisation such as Oranga Tamariki is essential. | Gary |
| Evidence would suggest that the Whanau is complicit in the high rates of child abuse and death in Maoridom | John |
| The present Maori population will never be happy unless we kowtow to their IWI Leaders who will only be happy when they can take a child in care and give them back to their idiotic parents who will abuse them in more ways than one .As long as we have this awful MMP electorate system which have given us far too many Maori MP who are using their collective clout to demand more and more say in the way they look after (or Abuse) their children the abuse will go on. SIr Apirana Ngata was so right when he said “Don’t give me people welfare. You will ruin them | Colin |
| Skin colour or culture is not a predictor of a good parent | Jeffrey |
| Until Maori face the fact that ‘family’ are the main perpetrators of their children’s abuse there is little Chance of achieving any real improvement in the near future. A firm bipartisan hand needs to be bought to bear, and actively enforced immediately, regardless of the ‘noise’ from the background. | Mike |
| Muriel Newman has got it right. The children in danger must be put into safer conditions. | June |
| abuse is abuse .does not matter what colour you are | barry |
| And perhaps the name Oranga Tamariki should revert back to a European title. | John |
| If a child is in danger within their family, yes, remove them and give a chance for them to have a better life. Of course the social workers will be blamed and called incompetent but Maori have to own their own problems and do something about them. Don’t keep blaming all and sundry for their faults. | Elizabeth |
| The abuse and killing of Maori children by their so-called whanau is a blight upon this country and makes me feel ashamed to be called a New Zealander and I am of Maori descent | Mary |
| I don’t believe any child would be removed without just cause. Too many Maori children are harmed or Killed by members of Whanau Time that Maori took responsibility for their actions, and stopped blaming the System for all their actions and lifestyle. | Don |
| Yes. Not only Maori but all at risk children. Well written Lindsay. | Doug |
| Their whanau are the problem in the first place and to be given back to them is on the highway to hell | Erin |
| Yes. The core function of a government in a free society is to protect its citizens from the common criminal, invaders and to settle disputes. The state must take care of children in these tragic circumstances. | Don |
| Why are they having more children when they are unable to look after the ones they already have. | Ross |
| It would be much like putting the fox in the henhouse and expecting things to improve. I don’t understand what their alternative is? | Phil |
| The claim of the significance of whakapapa is greatly diminished where there are five fathers to five children in the mothers care. | Pete |
| Agree with your article. Wish the every day media was as intellectual and more interested in truths than stirring up trouble. | Denise |
| YES – The Childs safety and wellbeing comes before the rights of abusive, neglectful family and care givers. | Bruce C |
| All children have the right to be safe. | Liz |
| YES! The ambulance at the bottom of the cliff approach is too late to save the child sometimes. | Mark |
| Of course the government agency for protection of children is right to remove any child from a place of danger and if the maori elite feel aggrieved about it, well too bad. They really should be taking responsibility for the part some maori are taking in this disgraceful abuse of defenceless children. | Rob |
| Looking at the whole picture we are in fact facing a massive paradigm shift in NZ society. The aggressive stance and blatantly demonstrated reversed racism against everything and everyone who is not “tangata whenua”in the eyes of these radical left /maori activists becomes more obvious .These politically dope heads in charge ( and unfortunately we can count in this so called opposition aka National Party anymore) are instrumental to this imminent downfall. No wonder why they are hell bent to take away guns from us. .I personally give us may be three to five years max. Then a more totalitarian tribal leader driven regime will have established itself to such a degree that a few of these political warlords will call the shots and the rest of us will have two choices: Either leave this place ( if one is able to ) or l be forced to live the live of a second class citizen in a Apartheid state. The chance of civil unrest will become a stark reality, because there will be people who are not willing to submit to this. | Michael |
| Oranga Tamariki have the right to take any child from an abusive situation. Race colour or religion should have nothing to do with it. The ministry has a duty to the child. The Iwi or Whanau have the duty to ensure family members do not treat their children in such a manner that requires ministry intervention. | Dennis |
| yes because it is simply very wrong to leave children in danger of abuse | Gerard |
| Absolutely !!!!! Perhaps if they didn’t have the usually unwanted or accidentally conceived children in the first place or if they did had stable and drug free parents then they wouldn’t have CYFS after them.. | Alan |
| Definitely if it is suspected the child could be harmed. It’s hardly a “wait and see what happens” situation. | Juliet |
| obviously, The whanau are the ones doing the damage . maori just are in total denial that they are the cause. | Steven |
| OT are correct in removing at risk children from their family environment if they have strong evidence the child is at risk. | Keith |
| I remember walking along my street in the 60’s and everyone’s front door was open, no car in the open garage, no one at home. All done without thought of burglary. In these day’s there was an average of one murder a year with everyone talking about this terrible, rare event. Then some PC twerp decided hey, “murders have rights” and so the right to life was stripped from the innocent, transferred to the murders by abolishing hanging. And this is the reason some innocent person is murdered nearly every day in what used to be “God’s own”. Now some PC idiot wants to abolish prisons and give the inmates rights over their victims. New Zealand sure is sinking into the third world where armed guards are required to protect property. Guess it’s time more people searched, “one world order” then it might encourage the fearful masses to write to Government for return of “Corporal Punishment” | George |
| We simply must impose contraception for unsafe breeders until they can be reprogrammed (if at all), otherwise this problem will only ever multiply. I blame the do-gooders who will never face facts. | Fiona |
| YES! YES! YES! These are vulnerable children. Would you leave YOUR new baby with this family? | Sylvia |
| Has no one in power got the ball’s to stand up against these people. It’s been well known for 40 to 50 years this has been going on. Even back to the generation from the 1920’s onwards, and even before that. It’s almost a Maori tradition. | Graeme |
| Statistics don’t lie. | Sandy |
| Absolutely it is, to protect the children | Terry |
| Maori need to get over the the hard done by syndrome that some of the Maori radical elitist think that they endure. Get a job and get on with life. Stop blaming everyone else for your wayward ways and start to take on your own responsibility in today’s world. | Wayne |
| isn’t it obvious | David |
| Of course Maori children should be removed from any suspected child abusers. Maori activists and racists are slowly but surely destroying New Zealand’s social fabric | Mike |
| They have the right to remove any at risk child from its family, regardless, in my opinion . Historical records of Maori treatment to their own people are not good . What makes them think that they are any better today, beats me !!!! | Tom |
| The safety of the children is more important than covering up the failure of Maori parents | Harvey |
| If the Maori way, Whanau, and iwi is the best place for these children, why isn’t it working now? I’d be very happy to make it their problem ,but that would be unfair on the children. If they got cas they will undoubtedly ask for, more funding, then it might work, as would the existing underfunded and staff regime. It won’t be the same playing field for sure. | Steve |
| Regardless of whatever source for figures on this matter, Maori children are at serious risk of being abused, hurt and ill-cared for the reason that life is expendable in the culture they are born to. Their parents think of themselves first and are unwilling to provide the necessities of life to their young. We see this all the time in our schools – bare feet,insufficient clothing, no breakfast or prepared lunch. They think the Govt owes them a living , to be spent on drugs, tattoos, and booze. | Robyn |
| The NZ political scene is generally going mad in this country – surely someone has the guts in parliament to stand up and speak the truth, to defend the “system” before it is damaged beyond repair? | Roy |
| I believe that if Oranga Tamariki (Why not not call it Ministry for Children’s Safety) remove an at-risk child they have they have good reason to do so. Maori are simply muddying the waters by claiming otherwise, The statistics for child abuse clearly show that Maori children are most at risk and proportionately far out-weigh the number of European and other ethnicities children at risk. | Clinton |
| definitely if a child is at risk | Joff |
| The cynicism ,blindness and guile displayed by many in Maoridom will haunt them in the not too distant future when the damage is truly beyond repair. | Peter |
| More to the point, Just stop the lowlifes that are abusing and killing their kids, from ever having more kids, so they can repeat their savage behavior all over again. This government doesn’t have the guts to deal with it .. or anything Maori for that matter. | Des |
| If a lie is repeated often enough, it generally comes to assume the status of truth. Maori activists and their non-Maori enablers have presented a farrago of lies about the supposed victimisation of Maori on the basis of race; some of them have undoubtedly come to believe the rhetoric themselves. Handing back abused children to their relatives is as foolhardy as pouring petrol on a fire. No, it’s not the fault of the white colonisers: Maori have to own this problem. And yes, the idea of a “Treaty partnership” is a myth that’s convenient to the Maori separatists. It’s time that some of our mainstream politicians took this by the scruff of its neck and gave it a good public shaking. | Graham |
| Its TIME some-one posted this on FACEBOOK & TWITTER so its made VERY CLEAR TO EVERYONE whats behind these STUPID claims from maori & the govt. pandering to them & ALSO a copy to Paula Bennett seeing shes running Nationals election in 2020. | Cindy |
| Better yet, to stop them breeding in the first place | DigNap15 |
| Oranga Tamariki by all the evidence available is performing the functions they are charged with competently and that includes removing children from the prospect of harm when that harm is apparent from the history of the ‘ care givers’ | Richard |
| until sterilisation is an option for those that cannot cope through circumstance. | Chris |
| Everyone should read Alan Duff, A coversation with my Country. | Chris |
| Why leave under severe risk with parents or whanau, if those they are left with are capable of abusing them more than they will ever be abused under state care | Greg |
| Absolutely. Leaving them in these situations only gets worse and the cycle continues. | Graeme |
| Keep Maori children safe & the only way of doing that is to seize them. I have been through all of that myself | Tony |
| Yes definitely, we need to protect those kids. | Jay |
| The intension is to provide a safe haven for at risk children NOT about control or power of some Maori. Those proposing such a move should be ashamed of themselves. It is about the safety and nurturing of children. | Chris |
| Without a doubt it’s time Maori are held to account which contradicts JArdern’s own vocal statement telling Maori they should hold Government to account! And so it is at the expense of all NZ! The Current Government & the Greens are blanketing us all by force-feeding us the White Guilt Syndrome that all NZers are eating their force-fed daily bread! Some of us have long awoken to the more nutritious diet of Conscious Truth! Sadly the children rely on truthful parents with a good conscience which many sadly lack being enabled to do so by ministers agreeing of the twisting of the Treaty believing all Maori grievance is caused by white colonialism! A convenient amnesia allowed of previous tribal land grabs by genocide & cannibalism before white colonisers of the 1800’s arrived! Upon our Governments shoulders is a heavy blanket of shame that they don’t even notice the weight,as we’ve made it easy for them to deny the truth by allowing them all to just continue ignoring truth! However, truth always has a way of surfacing! | Pauline |
| One law for all New Zealanders! | Andrew |
| I trust them | Tom |
| Until Maori start taking responsibility for the welfare of families, systems like those practiced by Oranga Tamariki must stay in place | Jenny |
| Not to do so would drive this despicable activity underground. Separatism is not to anyone%u2019s advantage in the long term. | Lawrie |
| Not to the extent they are doing. The nanny state is no better at raising children than all but the very most dangerous families. Most uplifts are anti-male discriminatory and family-wrecking, taking children simply because the mother continues to have contact with an unfavoured male often the father of the child | Hans |
| This is crazy stuff! | Janet |
| Yes absolutely, if it is truly justified. | Harry |
| They think long and hard before removing a child, and it is always with the child’s safety being paramount. | Sue |
| Whanau care has preen proven as the most hazardous environment for Maori children. | John |
| Maori prey on the young and the weak they the adults are nothing but savages and when caught the justice handed down is pathetic .If Maori want respect they need to adjust and live like all other like minded New Zealanders There is a ground swell of Kiwis that have had enough of this Government and are becoming anti Maori .and if Maori are not careful they risk of becoming a target of resentment. | ken |
| The responsibility for upbringing & raising children rests with the Parents. If this results in serious abuse of the children then the state should intervene and remove children from the parents. | Pierre |
| They need to take action before another kid is killed at the hands of whanau. | Kate |
| Present ministers are far too weak to resist the racist onslaught | Bruce |
| Absolutely NOT | Margaret |
| The question should be:- “Is Oranga Tamariki right to remove any at-risk child from their whanau / family? | Bill |
| Last Sunday night’s documentary about Oranga Tamariki in Tauranga left us in no doubt about the motives and passion of our social workers. They are to be commended for what they do in the interests of the children in abusive homes. | Jan |
| They aren’t removing children because they are Maori. They are removing them because they have either been harmed or are at risk. The fact that many are Maori is coincidental and actually shows Maori in a very poor light. Obviously they are either abusing their kids more than any other ethnic group or aren’t looking after them properly. The solution is to start looking after their children and bringing them up in a two parent home. Marriage would be ideal because it’s been proven that this is the best situation for a child, rather than the mother having a succession of boyfriends unrelated to the child. | Helen |
| I they think the child is in danger for whatever reason then yes, they should have the power to do that. Who else is going to look after that child to make sure they get a decent life. | Kerin |
| Divide and conquer seems to be the aim of Maori elite. | John |
| Oranga Tamariki has no desire to do this – simply, they HAVE to, because of the ignorance, neglect & abandonment of parental responsibility | Bob |
| This should be done through the courts….. | Carl |
| But it totally depends on the circumstances of family history with mother’s other children, woman’s partner(s), etc. Treat each on a case by case basis. | Don |
| for sure.We all have a basic human right to exist in safety. Regardless of culture or elder led antiquated opinion. <self motives?? True facts dont lie. Or we can give them>> maori a go and they can fund it from treaty $$s or drug sales. income!! Time for maori to acknowledge and change and lead by example: Show us how to be successful. They doing it to themselves. | mike |
| They destroy everything they touch now so what’s the difference? | Ian |
| supported by paediatricians | Laurie |
| A definite yes ! | Karen |
| Surely the interests and safety of a child must be paramount. | Ian |
| Those poor kids NOT uplifted will probably end up victims..abused and even murdered..many times. It is a national disgrace. | Donald |
| All children need their family – this is a must for all races. To disinherit the family would be a disaster with grave consequences for society and the nation. | Brian |
| The best interests of children must always come first | Jim |
| The needs of the child should be the first concern. | Gary |
| Maori who abuse and harm their children need to be dealt with with extreme measures. It is not the states role to raise the children of abuse and failed socialist policies. The parents must be held to account and that needs to start with the Maori elite taking action. More handouts and less policing and turning a blind eye is making matters much worse. | Richard |
| If the Children that are in Harm’s way were NOT picked up, then I feel that Group they came from would tend to try and hide this fact. Until these People recognise, that this is their problem, nothing will ever be solved. The main problem with a gross lack of education is, that anyone can easily manipulate this Group and usually does. | Geoff |
| My late husband and I were foster parents many years ago to 12 children over 15yrs. 9 of these children were removed from their Maori families because of extreme abuse, both physical & sexual. 6 were eventually returned when their mother or whanau member could have them in a change of address and safe environment. They were the lucky ones. So many have lost their lives to violence within the family, and no one speaks up. Time for a big change in Maori attitude. | Judith |
| Absolutely! What other chance have the poor little guys and girls got.. | Ron |
| Historical records show this is just a cycle and claiming it is mainly caused by mankind a total ruse to raise money. Cindy will say and do anything for her UN masters this much is obvious. | Kevin |
| time Maori got out of there victim mentality and got on get sick of there moaning about every thing possible and learn to with live with the rest of us of all nationalitys the rank and file Maori gets on with life with the rest of us with out any fuse | Russell |
| They are right to remove ANY at risk children from an abusive environment | Kevin |
| The only the two good things about child killing is the dead child can’t breed and hopefully the perpetrators are incarcerated and can’t breed for a while. The rest is abhorrent. | Roger |
| Of course- unless the government thorough the people begin to say NO to these people they will distort our society so badly that it may never recover. | Roger |
| However, they need to have a form of judicial authority for each removal on basis of presenting a clear case to an independent arbiter evidencing risk to the child. Otherwise we will end up like Australia with the Aborigines – we risk creating the next social injustice wave of financial settlements in a few years to come!! | Mike |
| Absolutely no matter there race or colour. Having seen first hand the dysfunctional denial of Maori families who are aware and a party to (by ambivalence) child neglect I strongly advocate for state care and the removal of these children until their safety and circumstances are proven to inadequate. The state however must also be accountable for processes and systems that ensure the absolute safety and protection of these children while responsible for them. Race has nothing to do with the issue. | |
| Family Planning should be installed way before this happens. | Roger |
| Absolutely. This is all about Maori power. Nothing to do with the safety of their children. Interesting that abuse in family placement was blamed on the oranga Tamariki | Jeff |
| Of course, just as it is criminal to leave vulnerable children in the hands of abusive “caregivers” in acceptance of some perceived indigenous entitlement. | Kevin |
| What else can they do other than leave the unfortunate kids to be treated worse than an animal by parents who in a few cases clearly aren’t much better. | Donald |
| Yes definitely, as long as they go to a safe home where they are loved and cared for. | Jim |
| I grew up in working-class Manger not the sixties. It was semi-rural then: new group-housing amongst farms. A solitary state house was built in our street, and a Maori family moved in. They had a daughter our age. This house was the scene of many parties and conflict, much drinking and noise. Police were frequently there. The little girl was always barefoot, poorly clothed, never had lunch at school. She was neglected and, I suspect, abused. Fast forward to 2019,,,,,Nothings changed, it’s only worsened. The social experiment is a disaster. | Sharen |
| Best interests of the child and the young should apply to all offspring. May be change the name to Child Support and stop giving everything a Maori name. | Stan |
| any child at risk should be removed to a safe place. | Cherryl |
| What other ideas are there to stop Maori children being killed by their whanau. Time to stop feeding the wild animals, which will make them able to support and be accountable for all their actions | Anne |
| Of course they are, how ridiculous not removing them | Graeme |
| Definitely. | James |
| A culture that does not care for the next , generation and take steps to protect them from abusive adults cannot declare itself able to provide a safe and caring culture. | Helen |
| They would not do it if it was not essential. | David |
| Maori can’t be trusted with the safety of their own children, how bloody awful. But that’s what Maori represents, child abuse and poverty, crime, welfare abuse,racial hatred. | Don |
| The state is obligated to protect the most vulnerable. | Mark |
| Any child in danger should be helped. Iwi should be helping raise the standards of their own people so that children at risk are better taken care of. | Willy |
| They should be removing children at risk regardless of race | Terry |
| So sick of APARTHEID in NZ. | Geoff |
| Why are Maori determined to ‘hide’ injustices behind their closed door Whanau where there appears to be some rough behaviors occurring to the detriment of their family and children, when help is available through The Ministry for Children.. | Stuart |
| A re write of stats to accommodate the prevailing views will of course be done. | Alan |
| ALL CHILDREN at risk should be removed | Kelvin |
| Just take a look at the news who is the most prominent race in trouble? And why they seem to have completely different priorities to the rest of society come down harder on all crime look at how many murders we have had over the last year this is becoming a very unsafe country | Peter |
| The people complaining are living on another planet | Merryl |
| Children must be protected from their abusers. | Chris |
| Those children are only removed as a last resort. Better still….don’t breed them if you can’t raise them in a loving family. Show some personal responsibility and social conscience and get sterilized. | Tony |
| Any child in danger should be removed | Colin |
| The answer is that Child youth and family have the right to remove at risk children from their family regardless of race, | Frank |
| Remove at-risk children from everywhere. | Coral |
| Watch out NZ. The Maoris are being racist and fact selective to gain their own way. | Kevin |
| The choice is to remove them in an upright position as soon as necessary or remove them in a casket after the whanau have done their damage. When are politicians going to wake up. Too much of this touchy feely crap. | Terry |
| We are continually berated by Maori that ‘we’ are not doing enough for Maori but if anything is done that shows them up in a bad light , some how everyone else is to blame. | Max |
| Most of the people involved can’t look after themselves never mind children | Jimmy |
| It speaks for itself. | Mark |
| Part Maori murderers, paedophiles and abusers need to be exposed . Then the mothers and fathers if they know who they are need to be sterilised. There can never be any excuses for this behaviour never ever . The government , police and judiciary need to grow some balls.These evil people get away with it as people are too scared to stand up for fear of being labeled racist!!! This is inter generational and needs to be stopped, It is costing us taxpayers a fortune . | Greg |
| Those poor children don’t stand a chance if any of their extended family play a part in their ‘care’. Let’s not use the word ‘whanau’ – don’t bastardize the English language. | Patrick |
| Absolutely! No matter your colour, race, creed a child’s safety should be at the top of the pile. When are these representatives of ours going to start thinking/talking sense?.. | Maddi |
| Yes and whanau should be held accountable for their unique expression of aroha Name and shame these buggers and tell the truth about poor family values and parenting | Phil |
| I think Oranga Tamariki need to be left alone and Maori leaders keep out. Let the State and Oranga Tamariki to work it out with the Maori families. You don’t need Maori leaders in there orchestrated a campaign for them. | Robert |
| It is part of Maori Culture to gain the advantage through lying. They don’t consider the consequences. These abused children often end up in prison. Maori only want to close prisons to cover their own debauchery. | Dave |
| …. provided that they are placed in loving homes where they will not be abused, and preferably with Maori. | John |
| safety of children comes 1st | George |
| Care of the child should come 1st. Im horrified to find out 60 children were returned to families as part of a treaty settlement for 1 tribe. | George |
| The child’s safety is paramount, irrespective of their culture. | John |
| The only way to see that they survive to become welfare recipients. | Anne |
| They are less likely to survive with Whanau. | Bryan |
| What would I know I’m a white Male? Yea right. What is the world coming to? | Tim |
| One only has to have daily interface with these children to see the damage done in their early lives. The wider Whanau don’t seem to be able to do any better in a lot of cases, which means the children are shifted on yet again to other carers and history repeats. | Laurel |
| would be better to remove the source of the abuse. Maori claim to have this great sense of whanau and they supposedly look after each other. Let them do it | Russ |
| they are right to remove all at risk children no matter of race | Nigel |
| Too many are murdered by their Whanau | Arthur |
| Safety of the child first and the statistics support that. | Di |
| All children deserve protection | John |
| The record shows that Maori children are safer being taken away into care than being left with abusive Maori families.Why Maori parents have children and abuse them is impossible to understand,no doubt things like drugs, booze, poor living conditions, ignorance and an inability to control tempers are issues that cause most of the problems. One must ask “will Maori ever learn or are they everlastingly stupid. | William |
| All at risk children should be removed to a safe environment. Maori are no exception. The underlying dysfunctional situations must be addressed. | Lee |
| Maori seem to be the only race on the planet that kill their children. Even animals don’t do that. Lets hope this present Government doesn’t cave into misinformation | Jon |
| While children continue to die at the hands of their whanau I feel they should | Alison |
| All abused children are removed from their abusive environment no matter what colour they are. | Maurice |
| Remove them ONLY if they are “at risk”. Too many children are removed from quite ordinary families for imaginary reasons. CYFS would tolerate abuse by CYFS caregivers which would lead instant uplift if done by parents. Few children do well in state “care”. | Alan |
| That the Ministry of Children is always referred as Oranga Tamariki would suggest that Maori are the Ministry’s main source of clients/victims etc. If not why the emphasis on a Maori reference to this Ministry when other ministries are referred to by their English title? Regardless of race if the children are being abused then the Ministry must step in. And if the touchie-feelie social engineers don’t like the statistics they should advise the victims parents to give up stone age parenting. | David |
| Children have to safe and come first. | Andrew |
| If a child is at risk their safety must be paramount regardless of race or political correctness | Chris |
| The child’s safety should be paramount . | Kathy |
| Hell yes! Parents need to stop abusing their children, full stop. The problem in this country is the welfare system and the media. Keep telling Maori the system is failing them and colonisation is the problem, keep handing out money and blaming everyone else and what happens. Exactly what is happening now | Trevor |
| Most definitely ! | Alan |
| Sadly, they have to! | Hugh |
| Absolutely they should remove children that they believe are unsafe. Relatives are often as dysfunctional as the parents who abuse children, so great care should be taken before placing children with the whanau. A safe home is much more important than culture. | Roger |
| That hui report is so over the top that no government should take any notice of it at all. These people are sovereignty extremists are very dangerous – they want to take over the government from the inside. | Jason |
| Iwi have gained so much settlement money over the years but have failed to lift their people. Do they want to keep them in dependency? | Gordon |
| Of course Maori children should be removed from harm. And these Maori leaders should stop telling lies to turn the blame onto the government agency when it is Maori parents who are harming their kids. | Danny |
| If these so called leaders want the best for children then they should be encouraging marriage and employment. Few children are abused in stable married families where parents work for a living. That’s how you combat child abuse – lift everyone up to that ideal. And until then, children at risk of harm must be removed to safety. As the article says, the best interest of the child must prevail. | Monica |