Wall LouisaLOUISA WALL (Labour—Manurewa): Tēnā koe Mr Chair. I would like to speak to my Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) 332. Just reminding everybody—the context of this particular amendment is related to new section 4 inserted by clause 6 the purposes of this Act which are to promote the well-being of children young persons and their families whānau hapū iwi and family groups by—" and it is: "(f) providing a practical commitment to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi (te Tiriti o Waitangi) in the way described in this Act:". What my Supplementary Order Paper seeks to do is to I guess provide more tools for the CEO's tool kit and the CEO of Oranga Tamariki's ability to fulfil duties of the chief executive in relation to the Treaty of Waitangi.So the duty is a moral or legal obligation or responsibility of the chief executive of Oranga Tamariki and what I am proposing is that under new section 7AA(2)(c) "the department seeks to develop strategic partnerships with iwi and Māori organisations including iwi authorities in order to—" to insert "assist the department in developing and implementing policies practices and services that are appropriate to advance and improve outcomes for Māori children and young persons including those policies practices and services under paragraphs (a) and (b)."New section 7AA(2)(a) says: "the policies and practices of the department that impact on the well-being of children have the objective of reducing disparities by setting measurable outcomes for Māori children and young persons who come to the attention of the department:". It is relevant because 61 percent of the children in care and protection are Māori. And paragraph (b) says: "the policies practices and services of the department have regard to mana tamaiti (tamariki) and the whakapapa of Māori children and young persons and the whanaungatanga responsibilities of their whānau hapū and iwi:". The reason I believe this amendment is required is that when we look at the relationship as it is outlined it is to "provide opportunities to and invite innovative proposals from …; set expectations and targets to improve outcomes for Māori children …; enable the robust regular and genuine exchange of information …; provide opportunities for the chief executive to delegate functions under this Act …; provide and regularly review guidance to persons discharging functions …; agree on any action both or all parties consider is appropriate."It seems to me that the relationship outlined is a contractual one and if the Minister and this Committee think that these are the Treaty obligations that the chief executive of Child Youth and Family or Oranga Tamariki has to exercise to provide a practical commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi then I think we have completely misunderstood the context and relevance of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty of Waitangi is a constitutional document. That constitutional document when we look at the responsibilities that the Crown has is about partnership; it is about how Māori participate and how we are protected within the public system. So ensuring the chief executive of Oranga Tamariki has to work with Māori to develop and implement policies practices and services is actually about how Oranga Tamariki is going to do the work that it needs to do to make sure that that 61 percent of children in the system who are Māori have their needs and aspirations met.I would have thought for example that the chief executive cannot do this by herself; she will need a partnership with Māori organisations which will include the iwi leaders and presumably other Māori who are interested in being involved in the care and protection of our children. So I think that this amendment then allows the chief executive of Oranga Tamariki to develop an entity to have a formal relationship with. I do not think that can happen otherwise. I would have thought that we as a House we as a Parliament would want to give the chief executive the tools that they need to actually provide a practical commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi. So I am hoping the Minister is going to support this SOP and see it for what it is which is a contribution to the debate that I think adds value to this piece of legislation. I did not hear the Minister speak against it. She answered some questions that my colleague the Hon Nanaia Mahuta brought up but I think this is actually critical.My colleague Jacinda Ardern talked about a board. Well I think that there should be a board that is set up by the chief executive to help give effect to the Treaty of Waitangi because otherwise we are setting the chief executive up actually. It would be very difficult for her to do her job and I think it is broader than just reducing disparities. So we want to go from 61 percent to—I do not know—55 percent or 50 percent. What is a good measure? I mean it is bigger than that. It is bigger than that. This is about how Oranga Tamariki is going to do the work that it needs to do in a culturally competent and a culturally appropriate way to make sure that we get the outcomes that we are hoping to seek.I agree Minister that we do not want our children in care and protection. You know that is a shocking statistic—that 83 percent of the people in prison have got a care and protection history. We have got to stop it. It has to start somewhere and we need to recognise that the institution itself is part of the problem. So I am hoping that you see this in the spirit that it was actually created.Like my colleagues I find this is an incredibly emotional topic to talk about. We talk about our whenua. When we have our Treaty settlements this House is usually packed and it is so emotional because we have to relive a lot of the horrific abuse that our whānau hapū and iwi have actually gone through. Well that is the same mamae that we all feel about discussing this bill and the children who are captured within the system.The last thing I would like to contribute is that earlier this year as members of the Justice and Electoral Committee we had an opportunity to visit Justice McClellan and the royal commission that the Australians have convened on institutional responses to historical child sexual abuse and we have not really talked about the impact of what happens in the intergenerational trauma which my colleague Adrian Rurawhe talked about. We also had an opportunity to visit with the Prime Minister's office and talk about women who have had and have experienced family violence and talk about the practices that are developing in Australia. There they are not taking the children away from women who are suffering from family violence who may have drug and alcohol issues or who may have parenting issues. What are they doing? They are supporting those women. They are giving them homes. They are giving them income. They are giving them the support that they need to be able to look after themselves and keep their children.So I think that our response should be the same and we should recognise that a lot of the children in care and protection—I think Marama Fox talked earlier about some of our women picking partners and the blended families and the risk that that our tamariki face. But for whatever reason it is incumbent on us I think to support people through that process.I can understand that there are certain times in a child's life when we have not got the time to allow the family to rehabilitate which is why if they are given to the extended whānau and their hapū and iwi there is a chance for them to come together at some point in time because you know the whānau will be a whānau and they will gather at certain events. They will gather on the marae so the relationship between the parent and child is not completely severed. It is not like an adoption.I would just like also to contribute that the issue of historical abuse of children in care will not go away. I think it is completely interlinked with what has happened historically in our Child Youth and Family system. I know that tomorrow at 1 o'clock there will be people gathering on the steps of Parliament because it is about time that we as a country faced up to some of the historical abuse that happened in State care to children who were the responsibility of the State. To say to those people "You can go through a criminal justice system to get redress." is actually a further abuse I reckon of those people in care and it is the Government not taking responsibility which it should do. Thank you."