Te Pāti Māori have launched a petition to stop the repeal of Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act. This announcement comes prior to the first reading of the Section 7AA repeal bill in Parliament today.

“Section 7AA forces the Government to adhere to Te Tiriti o Waitangi with respect to the care and protection of our babies; our taonga,” said Spokesperson for Children and Te Tai Tokerau MP, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.

“It asserts that our babies should be placed with and reconnected to their whakapapa.

“This repeal, this system, this Government and the Minister is trying to make us believe that we are better off handing our flesh and blood to Pākehā; that we are not good enough to raise our own.

“We will no longer allow our mokopuna to be exterminated from the inside out by ripping them away from their culture and identity. Every single attempt by this Government to erase whakapapa from mokopuna lives must be stopped” said Kapa-Kingi.

“Te Tiriti was created so the Queen of England could control her unruly Pākehā in Aotearoa. Te Tiriti never envisaged Pākehā taking our babies away from us. That was only ever to be the prerogative of whānau, hapū and iwi. Nōku ōku uri! Kauaka rā ō ringa e Te Kāwana.

“Our petition seeks to empower the right of Māori babies to be placed with whakapapa through the maintenance of Section 7AA.

“Only Māori can understand the prevalence of our identity and culture, and though our whakapapa can never be taken away, it can be erased from our reality.

“We are asking people of Te Tiriti to support this petition to stop this action by the Government to remove mokopuna Māori from themselves,” Kapa-Kingi said.

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