The Green Party once again calls on the Government to withdraw its Oversight of Oranga Tamariki Bill.
A new report released today by policy experts confirms what the Green Party has been saying all along: that the Bill is designed to work for the Government, rather than the children and young people who need protecting.
“The Bill will undermine improvements of the so-called child protection system. It runs the risk of perpetuating a vicious cycle of abuse and creates the potential for abuse to be swept under the carpet,” says Jan Logie, Green Party spokesperson for children.
“Today’s report is a rigorous and damning analysis by two leading public policy experts. It joins a growing list of reports, submissions, and petitions calling on the Government to withdraw this Bill and actually listen. The Government can no longer ignore these calls to stop.
“This new report clearly exposes the inconsistencies in the Government’s claim the monitor will be truly independent and lays out the risks associated with that. By establishing the monitor within a government agency, close to the centre of power, it is going to destroy the trust and public confidence in an already fragile system.
“Just a few weeks ago, law academics from the University of Auckland called on the Government to taihoa because the Bill seriously breaches our obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
“The Greens are once again calling on the Government to put this bill on hold and listen to the overwhelming evidence that shows it will not work. If the Government cannot carry the trust and confidence of the sector, the experts, or the children and young people who will be affected by these changes, then they are failing our children.
“We owe it to everyone submitting to the Royal Commission of Inquiry to Abuse in State Care to ensure their experiences shape our solutions, and to ensure we protect children from what they’ve gone through, and we know is still happening to this day.
“The Government needs to put this Bill on hold.”
