Oranga Tamariki staff in Kaitaia were forced to work from home today following verbal abuse and intimidation by a group of protesters.
Reti Netana Hohaia Boynton has been camping outside the Kaitaia Oranga Tamariki office day and night. Photo: Supplied / Reti Netana Hohaia Boynton
Yesterday, the doors of the office were barricaded shut by a protester from United Families 4 Justice, a network of aggrieved families who want the government agency shut down.
Oranga Tamariki Te Tai Tokerau regional manager Rena Hona said her staff were verbally abused.
In a statement, she said all 17 Oranga Tamariki staff members in Kaitaia were working remotely because of concerns for their safety.
She said police had been assisting with the situation and protesters had agreed to move from the site this afternoon.
Hona said while groups had the right to protest, she asked that they did it respectfully.
United Families 4 Justice national spokesperson Steve Evans said he had "no empathy" for the Oranga Tamariki staff impacted by the protest action.
"If they feel uncomfortable, maybe they should have considered their behaviour, or they should have considered joining a corrupt, lawless organisation."
The protester who barricaded the door, Reti Netana Hohaia Boynton, said he initially locked one of the gates because protesters were provoking staff.
He was concerned some of the younger protesters might start a fight.
Later on, when he claimed that staff members provoked protesters again, he took further action.
"They've come out their side door and they've provoked us again and I'm worried about my rangatahi that are here who may react, so I've actually closed down that door so I've made it so they can't open that either.
"This is all done by way of safety, so they can't actually give any provocation."
Kaitaia Oranga Tamariki office doors were barricaded shut by a protester from United Families 4 Justice. Photo: Supplied / Reti Netana Hohaia Boynton
He said he did not want Oranga Tamariki to have access to tamariki and to make decisions on their behalf.
Oranga Tamariki has been under fire over the past year, with five reports revealing failings with the way the agency removes children from their families, particularly tamariki Māori.
The latest report by chief ombudsman Judge Peter Boshier, released in August, found that the agency routinely removes newborn babies from their parents without warning.
One of those driving the movement to stop the state removing tamariki Māori from their whānau is Laura O'Connell Rapira, who helped co-ordinate the Hands Off Our Tamariki Network march in July last year.
She said the action taken by protesters in Kaitaia was an expression of their pain.
"I think that there is a lot of frustration from people in the community about government inaction around calls that te ao Māori have been making since I was born - since the '80s - and those calls are for the government to stop taking Māori children from their whakapapa context of whānau, hapū and iwi, to share resources and decision-making power with whānau Māori so that we can care for our own children, and I think when you've been ignored for such a long time, anger and frustration comes out in a lot of different ways."
O'Connell Rapira said while she did not condone staff being made to feel unsafe, there was trauma and mamae, or pain on both sides.