SpeechHARETE HIPANGO (National): Every child's life matters. Malachi Subecz's life matters. The debate in this House today and the call that I take is in the memory of Malachi. Often I hear members in the House stand and say It's a privilege" and they take a call with pleasure. Today I take this call with privilege but with a strong sense of despondency dismay a gut that's wrenched and disappointment that the State failed Malachi and his family and loved ones. The first duty of the State is to protect its citizens. The most serious responsibility and duty of care of the State is to protect its most vulnerable and our children are vulnerable. The culture of our country does not value our tamariki as taonga in the way that it should. Regrettably our State welfare agency Oranga Tamariki—which is meant to be about the wellbeing welfare and best interests of our children—did not provide the blanket of protection and security for Malachi and also many other children. This debate my address to the House is in the memory of Malachi. It's all very well for members in this House to stand and speak about "what if". We've heard the Minister speak about future directions; that future direction must factor in the importance of Malachi's life in a way that the agency and its agents—who were responsible for providing that blanket of protection—did not. As a former child advocate and child welfare lawyer knowing full well the system having worked in the system of Child Youth and Family as it was and within the Family Court system it's not just the system that let this little boy down; it was the agents working the system. This is an awful avoidable tragedy and obviously and understandably our thoughts are with Malachi's family. He was an innocent and vulnerable child who was failed by Oranga Tamariki. Chief Ombudsman Judge Peter Boshier has provided a most compelling finding describing Oranga Tamariki's response as a litany of failures. I add to that that this is also about the State being held accountable for its litany of liabilities. I acknowledge the Green member of Parliament Jan Logie for putting the motion to the House so that we can raise and we can alert and lift the level of alarm to New Zealanders about the appalling state and culture and attitude we have towards our children. For the moment that these matters are before the media there is this anguish there's this disgust there's this outcry and then it disappears. This House must hold Oranga Tamariki to account for its failures and its flaws and its faults that have been identified in Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier's report. He is the Officer of Parliament who formerly served 25 years as a Family Court judge and a Principal Family Court Judge and prior to that served many years as a family lawyer so the recommendations that he makes are profound and are based on experience. It's long overdue that the Government and child welfare sector took the politics out of this and listened to those who know—listened to those with lived experience—and take heed. I heard the Minister in the House talk about the changes that will be made by this Government. However this Government fails to listen to those with lived knowledgable experience. There is a commission of inquiry into the abuse of those in care that is still ongoing. However this Government saw fit to pursue its agenda with the oversight of Oranga Tamariki bill—now law. The very purpose of that bill—now law—was to ensure that there were not going to be failings like this case. There has been the appointment of an independent children's monitor who looks externally. The advice that was given to the select committee not only from me but from other members working in the sector is that there are the internal mechanisms within the agency that need to be adjusted. Instead the Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System Act—now—totally overlooks that and here we have yet another review which for some reason Oranga Tamariki failed to heed the initial recommendations and findings of the Ombudsman saying that before it took action to apologise to Malachi's whānau they would await the outcome of their internal practice review. The Oversight of the Oranga Tamariki System Act has external agencies—the independent children's monitor which was set up to look over complaints as an external independent agent without going into the internal mechanisms and failings and flaws of the processes within the organisation itself—bolstered the Ombudsman's office with fiscal resources and then restructured the Office of the Children's Commissioner the most significantly responsible and respected children's advocate voice and representative. The details of Malachi's case and the memory of his death should not ever be forgotten. There are failings within Oranga Tamariki—its systems—but there are also failings in terms of accountability for poor practice. It's been outlined that if this were an accident or a death in a workplace undoubtedly WorkSafe New Zealand would be in there without hesitation and would take action. That has not been done six months later. Where is the responsibility of this Government and its accountability to recognise that a child has died because of its litany of failures—the litany of liabilities this Government must be held responsible for and account for? It needs to go internal and look not just externally from independent agents but to make amends and in making the amends never forget that every child's life matters. How many more deaths do there need to be? Take care of our children; take care of what they hear take care of what they see take care of what they feel for how the children grow so will be the shape of Aotearoa."