ZB ZB
Live now
Start time
Playing for
End time
Listen live
Listen to NAME OF STATION
Up next
Listen live on
ZB

Andrew Dickens: Oranga Tamariki - damned if they do, damned if they don't

Author
Andrew Dickens,
Publish Date
Fri, 14 Jun 2019, 12:21PM
Police were in involved as a precaution after a stand-off between a young mother's whanau and Oranga Tamariki. (Photo / NZ Herald)

Andrew Dickens: Oranga Tamariki - damned if they do, damned if they don't

Author
Andrew Dickens,
Publish Date
Fri, 14 Jun 2019, 12:21PM

Last night I chose to watch Melanie Reid’s 40 minute documentary of the uplifting of a baby from her parents by Oranga Tamariki at Hawkes Bay hospital.

It is a very tough watch.

There were at least three attempts by the child welfare agency to take the baby from her 18-year-old mother who was cuddling the baby in her hospital bed. 

The attempts went on until the early hours of the morning.  The room was full of the baby's whānau, midwives, iwi leaders and the Melanie Reid.  Everyone was filming with their phones.  The baby’s 17-year-old father was there throughout quietly sitting.

The case workers from Oranga Tamariki were in and out of the room constantly calling back to their own lawyers.  The whanau were also getting legal advice.

Eventually, Oranga Tamariki gave up and instead the mother was allowed to go with her baby to a care facility while the matter was further discussed ahead of a new Family Court hearing next week.

It was traumatic and dramatic but it is important to watch to understand what families and children and social workers go through when the state steps in.  These sorts of uplifts happen three times a week.

This is the scale of the issue.  According to the boss of Oranga Tamariki, the agency got 90,000 reports of concern for 64,000 children in the last year. Of those 64,000 children, the agency is working with 30,000 of them and 1750 were bought into care.

That's less than three percent, but that’s still a big number.

But I’d warn that in my opinion the video is very one sided. 

Oranga Tamariki’s side is not represented at all.  The piece doubts the veracity of the court order because the child was so young but that’s their opinion, the court order had been granted.  Oranga Tamariki are unable to defend themselves due to privacy concerns that it appears the documentary makers aren’t subject to.

It was briefly mentioned that the 18-year-old mother and the 17-year-old father had already had another child who had earlier been uplifted and placed with an English couple.  The reason for that was never explained.

The fact that this extremely young couple had created another child when they hadn’t regained custody of their first child is concerning.

It was mentioned that the 17-year-old father has issues but it was claimed that he was getting on top of them but we don’t know what those issues are.

The fact that the European couple who had the first child and would have looked after the second  prompted calls that this was similar to the Australian stolen generation. That seems disingenuous considering the Oranga Tamariki social workers attempting the uplift were both Maori themselves.

A kaumatua who was in the room and in the documentary says Oranga Tamariki goes too far.  He says it’s about Maori whānau, Maori, Maori solutions, a Maori way.  He says Oranga Tamariki have occupied this space for too long and not brought the outcomes Māori seek and he wants the agency to cede it’s responsibility to Maori.

While it was impressive to see the number of whanau in the room supporting the baby and the mum and resisting the uplift you can’t help but wonder where that whanau were as this 18-year-old and 17-year-old brought two children into the world and they’ve already lost one.

What this all says to me is that Oranga Tamariki are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. It says that uplifting children into state care is very difficult.  It says that many people criticise Oranga Tamariki either for uplifting or not uplifting in any particular case and they just can’t win.

It also says to me that I hope Melanie Reid documents a different uplift but this time from Oranga Tamariki’s point of view so we get a proper picture of the issues.

Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you