SpeechORANGA TAMARIKI AMENDMENT BILLSecond ReadingHon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister of Foreign Affairs) on behalf of the Minister for Children: I present to the House a legislative statement on the Oranga Tamariki Amendment Bill.DEPUTY SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the parliamentary website. Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: I move That the Oranga Tamariki Amendment Bill be now read a second time.The bill amends the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 by partially repealing the subsequent child provisions so that the subsequent child provisions will only apply in respect of parents with a conviction relating to the murder manslaughter or infanticide of a child in their care; repealing a redundant provision relating to data sets; making a number of minor and technical amendments aimed at improving clarity and addressing omissions and ambiguity in the Act. I'll talk more about the partial repeal of the subsequent child provisions later in this speech.But before I do I'd like to thank the Social Services and Community Committee for their examination of the bill during the select committee stage and all of the submitters for their time and contribution to the bill. By majority the Social Services and Community Committee recommends the passing of the bill with a number of changes aimed at improving the readability and workability of the bill. These changes are set out in the legislative statement so I'll only mention three of the changes in this speech.The first change reflects the importance of ensuring that the family is able to have private deliberation time as part of family group conferences without the chief executive and/or their delegate present unless they're invited by the family of course. New clause 6A clarifies that there is no automatic entitlement for the chief executive or their delegate to attend family deliberation time.Another change relates to clauses 33 and 34 and new clause 6B. Clauses 33 and 34 sought to clarify that youth justice family group conferences could make decisions and formulate plans when a child or young person was not in need of care or protection but was in need of assistance. However submitters considered that the phrase in need of assistance" required further clarification. The committee has recommended modifying section 28B of the Act in new clause 6B and clauses 33 and 34 to remove the term "in need of assistance". These changes will also help to align provisions relating to youth justice family group conferences with those relating to care and protection family group conferences.The final change I want to mention relates to the power to make regulations in relation to the assessment training and support of caregivers and care providers. Submitters were concerned that clause 43 as drafted would mean that an assessment of the suitability of care providers would no longer be covered. The committee has recommended changes to address this and clarify the wording used to describe care providers.I'd also like to acknowledge that there were and are some submitters who are disappointed that this bill does not make the fundamental changes to Oranga Tamariki. I can understand that—people particularly Māori have been waiting for change for a number of years. When Oranga Tamariki was established it was recognised that what had gone before and its predecessors had not worked—that is they were not sufficiently working with families and whānau hapū iwi and communities to protect our children. We know that Oranga Tamariki still has more to do to live up to expectations in that regard. Many of us want to see change and that Oranga Tamariki make a positive difference in the lives of all children and young people and for the families and whānau and the communities in which it operates. At the same time I'm aware that progress and results will not happen immediately. Trying to achieve quick wins will not result in the fundamental change required.This brings me back to the partial repeal of the subsequent child provisions—the part of the bill that is not supported by all members of the committee and I'm disappointed in that. The subsequent child provisions were enacted by the previous Government and currently apply where a parent has previously had a child permanently removed from their care or has a murder manslaughter or infanticide conviction for the death of a child in their care. The bill proposes to partially repeal those provisions as they apply to subsequent children where a parent has had the care of a previous child removed and it has been determined that there is no realistic prospect of return to the parents. These provisions will however be retained where they relate to parents who have been convicted of the death of a child in their care. This reflects the seriousness of those offences.The proposed change reflects a first-principles review of the subsequent child provisions which found that the provisions were not promoting the best interests of children rather the provisions were causing harm particularly for children with an older sibling already in care. This is because a court is required to determine that there's no realistic prospect that an older sibling who has already been removed would be returned to their parents' care a process that results in additional and potentially traumatic court proceedings of that older sibling. The subsequent child provisions have also placed social workers in a difficult position and undermined their ability to work meaningfully with whānau hapū iwi and communities. The proposed change will support social workers to use their skills their expertise and their professional knowledge as appropriate in an area of work that requires significant sensitivity and skill. Finally the subsequent child provisions have significantly damaged the relationship between Oranga Tamariki and Māori. The Waitangi Tribunal found that the provisions caused prejudice to Māori and would be a continuing breach of the Treaty until they are partially repealed. Partial repeal therefore supports a rebuilding of relationships with Māori. Rebuilding the relationship with Māori and with communities is an important part of the future direction for Oranga Tamariki which is about empowering communities empowering whānau hapū and iwi to support their own to help the children and young people the parents and the whānau who live in their communities. And that change is vital if we're going to improve the outcomes for children young people and their families and whānau in the long term.Finally I think it's important again to acknowledge social workers and the work they do to support our most vulnerable children and young people and our most vulnerable families and whānau. Nō reira kei ngā kaihāpai ngā kaitiaki o ā tātou nei whānau tēnā koutou katoa.[And so to the advocates and the caregivers of our families thank you all.]Thank you for what you do.DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to."