Children's Minister Karen Chhour. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi
A select committee led by coalition MPs has called for the proposed repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act to be softened.
Section 7AA binds Oranga Tamariki to the Treaty of Waitangi's principles, and requires it to work in partnership with iwi and hapū, reporting back regularly on how that is going.
ACT campaigned on stripping those requirements from the law, but the select committee report said the Children's Ministry chief executive should still be required to develop partnerships.
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"On balance, we consider it important to retain aspects of section 7AA that relate to the obligations on the chief executive of Oranga Tamariki to develop strategic partnerships with iwi and Māori organisations, including iwi authorities," the report, released on Friday, said.
It advised replacing sections 7AA(2)(c), 7AA(3) and 7AA(4) with new paragraphs that "would be similar to the duties currently set out" by those sections.
The committee received 3748 written submissions. It is led by a majority of coalition MPs, who wrote the report, but Cabinet will make the final call on whether to accept its recommendations.
Children's Minister Karen Chhour, in a statement, said she would consider the changes ahead of the Second Reading.
"I want to thank the people who made submissions and those who appeared before the committee in person, that is not an easy thing to do," she said.
"I wanted the Bill to have the full select committee process so that everyone who wanted to comment, had a chance to do so. I will now consider the report ahead of the Second Reading of the Bill."
She refused RNZ's request for further comment, saying she would do so after reading the report and taking advice.
In a minority report, Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori said they opposed the bill as a whole "in the strongest terms" due to its "failure to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi, its misrepresentation of tikanga Māori, and the harm it risks imposing on tamariki and their whānau".
They said the bill would "erode accountability within Oranga Tamariki and dismantle one of the few genuine mechanisms for Māori to exercise partnership with the Crown" when it comes to child protection.
Labour's Children's spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime, in a statement, said the government should "just come clean, admit they got it wrong and stop work on these unwarranted and unwanted changes".
She said the recommendations to retain some parts of 7AA showed the government was "feeling the pressure", but it was worrying that "crucial parts of 7AA, including the Treaty principles, and the requirements of the chief executive to reduce disparities and report on mokopuna under their care will still be removed".
"Make no mistake this is still a large breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Government members of the select committee ignored officials' advice that there is no evidence to push forward with this Bill, but are feeling the heat so are watering it down in an attempt to make it look more palatable."
"Just like the Treaty Principles Bill, it's crystal clear that Christopher Luxon is helpless to stop David Seymour's ideological attacks on Māori and vulnerable tamariki. If the Prime Minister was truly concerned about the risk of harm to Māori tamariki, then he would not be allowing the ACT Party to tamper with the protections in place. The Government should not take us back down a path where children have been harmed before."
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