Children not helped by commissioner’s racism claim

Govt carer takes boy to gang pad for a lesson

As you can see from the cartoon above, issues around the treatment of children in care had an inconvenient complication when news broke that a government carer dropped a boy at a gang pad in Hastings because he was getting cheeky.

Oranga Tamariki removed the boy from there and confirmed he was safe and with his family as soon as it was alerted to the situation, and is "working to wrap as much support as possible around him and his whanau due to the attention that this is gaining on social media." See https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/oranga-tamariki-carer-allegedly-drops-boy-gang-pad-being-cheeky

Hastings was in the news for a series of unwelcome reasons over the past week. It was where Mongrel Mob blocked Te Mata Peak for a gang ceremony while police did traffic duty. At a later urgent meeting, the council and police confirmed that such public events were quite OK. See https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12230447

The local iwi chair supported such gang gatherings subject to the gang correcting its manner of ancestor worship. See https://www.maoritelevision.com/news/regional/replace-gang-call-ancient-call-ngati-kahungunu-chair?fbclid=IwAR2NPyfNArX9-k1Olp03tnq7AIaKXVUYupyXoJlZEvulN4l5VFgezGwMXbc

Children not helped by commissioner’s racism claim

Hungry, scared, abused children are not being helped by Children's Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft claiming that racism is infecting child welfare decision-making.

Becroft was commenting on an incident at the Hastings hospital this month when Oranga Tamariki staff tried to take a baby from his mother because of allegations that the family had a history of violence and drugs.

Outraged by the comment, a self-described white woman who for years was an emergency placement/foster parent in Auckland and was employed with the police for 20 years largely involved with domestic violence, wrote to him and copied the letter to us. She said almost every victim she helped was Maori. She wrote:

“Every child I dealt with was Maori, from hideous homes, hungry, filthy, scared, gang homes where the kids barked at me as communication.

Every child was loved, cared for, bathed, clothed [by me], and treated to life experiences such as going to the movies, Rainbows End etc, a first for them…all at my own cost.

I cannot believe your attitude about keeping Maori children within the family. In every instance of my dealings, the families were incapable of caring for their kids, the entire family! kids having kids, generations of incompetent parenting, dependence on welfare, a never-ending cycle. It appears you are advocating children staying in this environment.

In almost every child murder in New Zealand, and I cite Delcelia Whittaker (as I have personal knowledge of her murder) the family and friends knew this precious child was being abused. Their child rearing standards were so low, they tolerated her physical attacks, knew she was sleeping on a urine stained mattress, and did nothing, treated it as normal.

The Kahui Twin's murder, again the entire family knew what was happening with these precious babies. The family “closed ranks”, and to this day a murderer walks free.

These children often need to be taken as far away from their “families” as possible.

There is a lot of people like me, who have worked tirelessly for these kids, who are white, not racist!”

The needs of the children are paramount and welfare should be colour-blind. Shifting the blame for child abuse to racism and colonisation can divert attention from some tough decisions about protecting children from their dysfunctional parents.

When dealing with the safety and well-being of a child the only driving factor that should be considered is the immediate protection of the child. Clouding the issue with race and social drivers serves only to delay intervention.

See https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/388886/oranga-tamariki-accused-of-bullying-racism-over-removal-of-baby