McKee NicoleNICOLE McKEE (ACT): The debate raised in the House today was brought about by the tragic death of five-year-old Malachi Subecz and the concerns that all of us across this House and indeed across all New Zealand have at this young boy's untimely and tragic death. Questions have been asked and they continue to be asked as to how Malachi was left in such a situation that he was suffering daily beatings burnings and malnourishment at the hands of a carer that Oranga Tamariki approved and that our agencies paid to take care of this young boy. It is mind-boggling that our agency Oranga Tamariki has failed not only this child but others and it is a continuous pattern which is contributing to the death of our children our tamariki. The Ombudsman to his credit has fairly quickly figured out what went wrong: Oranga Tamariki did not conduct an investigation into the report of concern about Malachi's welfare made by his cousin; Oranga Tamariki denied a complaints process to Malachi's uncle; Oranga Tamariki omitted to do all that was necessary and desirable for that child's wellbeing; Oranga Tamariki did not speak with Malachi to check that he was safe or that he even wanted to be with his carer; Oranga Tamariki did not consider conducting a safety check on the home that Malachi was living in; and contrary to Oranga Tamariki's own policies which require the wellbeing of children and families to be central to their decision making they did not even fulfil their own bare minimum requirements to ensure Malachi's safety his welfare and his wellbeing. Not once did Oranga Tamariki prioritise Malachi. Between June 2021 when Malachi's mother went to jail and 12 November 2021 Malachi's protection and safety were compromised many times. Complaints went unchecked. Photographs of Malachi with bruising around his eye were simply filed away. Oranga Tamariki failed this young lad and within five months he was dead. Where was the Minister on this—where is Kelvin Davis the Minister for Children on this tragic death? We have legislation in place to protect our children. We have processes we have guidelines we've got frameworks and we have laws—for goodness' sake—designed to ensure that the welfare and the interests of all children that come through Oranga Tamariki are prioritised. The bare basic minimum legal requirements were not carried out by this Government's agency and so I ask again: where's Kelvin? Where is the Minister for Children? Hiding behind a report that isn't written yet a report not written by the organisation that enabled the death to occur in the first place. He's hiding behind his Government's failure to protect some of our most vulnerable children—the failure of his agency to not follow through with their own mechanisms to keep our children that need them safe. I heard the Minister say in an earlier speech that uplifts were down but that doesn't mean that our tamariki are safe. It's like the prison population: if it's down that doesn't mean that there are no criminals out there. It means that we're not addressing the issues and I'm not surprised by that. I'm not surprised to be told that 67 children who are known to Oranga Tamariki have died since this Government took office in late 2017. What I am surprised by is the silence of this Government to the nation's outrage. Then while we continued to hear no condemnation from the Minister we were advised of another report just yesterday of a child who has suffered 63 injuries—that's right another child—who has now been left with a permanent disability from a head injury he received at the hands of his carers. They are people that Oranga Tamariki allowed this child to go back to even after they had already lost that child due to abuse—carers who had hurt this child so badly that he needed two craniotomies. He had fractured ribs he had retinal injuries to his eyes and he had damage to the ligaments in his neck. This child who was abused when he was nearly four years old now needs a wheelchair and this child was reportedly placed back into the care of his abusers. At this point I'd like to acknowledge the work of our medics who fight to save our children who present with such injuries. Hawke's Bay Hospital staff saved the life of the child that I just spoke about. I'd also like to acknowledge the bravery and stamina of our community who fight for the rights of children all over this country and I acknowledge the families who have fought loved and lost children—especially Malachi's uncle and his cousin. There will be an apology at some stage for Malachi but apologies hold little weight if the children in need are forgotten in the process. If nothing changes—if another child dies—then the apology is empty. We implore the Minister to stop sitting on his hands and to do something and to say something. Stop hiding behind unfinished reports. When Minister Davis walks his bridge he needs to look down at his shoes and see the cracks that are appearing because our children are falling through them and the lifeboats under his bridge are either gone or they're sinking. We need to save our vulnerable—our at-risk tamariki.