Te Pāti Māori have today announced a policy plan to end state care of mokopuna Māori by establishing an independent Mokopuna Māori Authority.

We will do this by:

• Creating transition plan to end state care of mokopuna Māori
• Reforming Oranga Tamariki, making immediate change to guarantee tamariki wellbeing
• Establishing independent Mokopuna Māori Authority governed by Māori, for Māori, according to Māori
• Reallocating $1bn of Oranga Tamariki’s $1.5bn funding to the Mokopuna Māori Authority
• Requiring the Mokopuna Māori Authority to establish a partnership network across hapū, iwi and Māori organisations to ensure mokopuna Māori remain connected to their whakapapa

“State care has been used as a colonising tool to sever mokopuna Māori from their whakapapa and to undermine our culture and sovereignty” said Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

“Generations of our kids have been abused and mistreated by the state, and report after report has shown the racism and abuse that lies at the heart of Oranga Tamariki” said Ngarewa-Packer.

“Under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Crown has no legal right to remove mokopuna from their whānau, hapū and iwi” said co-leader Rawiri Waititi.

“How many more chances do we give a Crown agency which continues to breach Te Tiriti in removing our tamariki and mokopuna from their whānau? The answer? None” Waititi said.

“We will shift power, funding, and workforce from Oranga Tamariki to an independent Mokopuna Māori Authority within a three-year timeframe” said Ngarewa-Packer.

“As 70% of kids in state care are Māori, 70% of Oranga Tamariki’s $1.5 billion annual funding must be reallocated to the Mokopuna Māori Authority” said Ngarewa-Packer.

“The Mokopuna Māori Authority will be responsible for ensuring our kids are cared for and remain in their whānau, hapū and iwi” said Waititi.

“In the meantime, we will reform Oranga Tamariki, close down their care and protection residences, and end their worst practices, such as uplifting mokopuna without whānau, hapū, iwi consent.

“Our Aotearoa Hou means bringing our babies home, reconnecting them to their whānau, their communities, Hapū and Iwi; wrapping around the entire system for collective healing and wellness” Waititi said.

“Māoridom protested en masse for the protection of our foreshore and seabed and its time we do the same for the protection of our babies” said Ngarewa-Packer.

“The Government continue to deny their contribution to the ongoing trauma of our whakapapa through their negligence, so we are taking our babies back” Ngarewa-Packer said.

The full policy is attached.

https://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/2308/TPM__MOKOPUNA_MAORI_POLICY.pdf

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