5. Question No. 5—ChildrenHon WILLOW-JEAN PRIME (Labour) to the Minister for ChildrenQuestion No. 5—Children5. Hon WILLOW-JEAN PRIME (Labour) to the Minister for Children: Does she stand by her statement that Oranga Tamariki needs to get back to its core focus which is care and protection of our young people"?Hon KAREN CHHOUR (Minister for Children): Yes. I'd like to see a system where every child and young person that is brought to the attention of Oranga Tamariki is assessed and has the help based on their needs not on everyone else's needs. Oranga Tamariki has grown it has become too broad in its focus and we need to get back to its core purpose which is the care and protection of children and young people. I want to see a system where children and young people come first.Hon Willow-Jean Prime: How is disestablishing the International Child Protection Unit which investigates cases on cross-border child sexual and labour exploitation protecting our children?Hon KAREN CHHOUR: I have been advised that there is no proposal to disestablish the international child protection and intercountry and domestic adoption services teams. What is proposed is to bring both teams together under one manager for adoptions and international case work and it's my expectation that the best interests of the children and young people will be at the forefront of any final decision in the future structure. This work will continue.Hon Willow-Jean Prime: How is cutting the lawyers who are called on to do things like urgently responding to child safety concerns and abuse in State care protecting children?Hon KAREN CHHOUR: I am advised that front-line staff roles are not to be considered for cuts and lawyers are not classed as front-line staff. I am advised that front-line staff roles that are considered to be children's workers are defined in section 23 of the Children's Act and lawyers are not front-line workers.Hon Willow-Jean Prime: How is a hiring freeze at Oranga Tamariki protecting our children?Hon KAREN CHHOUR: Oranga Tamariki is currently under a restructure proposal. I've been advised that the chief executive has released this proposal on a future structure for Oranga Tamariki. Consultation is still ongoing and no final decisions have been made.Hon Willow-Jean Prime: Does she agree that services like counselling social workers in schools intensive family support parent programmes and early intervention protect children?Hon KAREN CHHOUR: Absolutely. But what we need to do when we're looking at a restructure is make sure that all services are actually producing the best results for our young people and that's what this restructure is about. No final decisions have been made.Hon Nicola Willis: Is there any evidence that the considerable and unprecedented build-up in back-office staff at Oranga Tamariki under the previous Government led to children being any safer?Hon KAREN CHHOUR: It shows that bigger Government departments may not necessarily mean better results for young people. I will refer you to the Safety of Children in Care report that during July 2022 and June 2023 519 children in care experienced harm even though we had bigger Government departments.Hon Willow-Jean Prime: Why then has the Minister not confirmed funding beyond June this year to community organisations that provide these services that I just mentioned?Hon KAREN CHHOUR: It is normal to review contracts in an annual process and I expect that these reviews will prioritise the outcomes for children. Some of these decisions are still Budget-sensitive and we will find out more when the Budget is announced."