Flavell Te Ururoa: Child and Family Protection Bill — Second Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Child and Family Protection Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:666;Page:13873] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker Roy. Kia ora tatou katoa. I have been listening to the stories that Su’a William Sio—talofa lava—presented to the House today. I recognise that people like Simon Bridges have had to prosecute people involved in some of the incidents that have been described. It is pretty hard to sit and listen to some of those issues. It pretty much turns me off; I do not want to hear any more. I want to get rid of it and get it out of sight and out of mind. 
Having said that I have been involved with and seen some of these issues amongst my own whanau—not to the degree that has been presented today thank goodness but bad enough—such as cases of husbands hitting wives. I am not talking about very close family but about being in a household where it happened. Those stories bring it all home. In that regard I am sure it will come as no surprise across the House when we all say that the protection and the best interests of our tamariki and their families is of the utmost importance to us all. That is the declared position of the Maori Party. 
During the last couple of days we have talked about section 59 of the Crimes Act—we heard from Mr Garrett and others last night—and about the importance of our tamariki and in particular our wahine and looking after them as te whare tangata. I suppose today I am reiterating many of those discussion points. As I have said in the past—actually at the start of the week—it is inspiring to know that within our waiata our haka and our korero in Te Ao Maori there are stories that tell us about the world we have now. Indeed we have not just the stories but also wharenui. In wharenui we have tukutuku the coloured panels one might see. There are patterns like kaokao which are stylised armpit designs that for many represent a parent’s comfort and protection of their children. All the stories are there whether they are able to be seen in wharenui or in terms of haka waiata and poi. As I say there has to be a real commitment to move back to those concepts while recognising of course the statistics in respect of Maori. 
I hear from Su’a William Sio that this issue is not solely the preserve of the Maori people but reaches across the country. I will talk for my own people simply because we have those stories and we need to move back to regaining our tikanga our own korero and our matauranga. We are certainly trying to promote that through Parliament but also in terms of a presentation of kaupapa to our people. 
We support the intention of this bill: to provide more protection for children who are the victims of domestic violence to ensure that family courts can manage concurrent proceedings involving children appropriately and to reduce administrative barriers to court processes. As other speakers have alluded to the bill gives significance to addressing the needs of children and young people once there has been an incident. Everybody has been talking about the fact that we need to look at that and in particular at the instances of domestic violence. The Maori Party totally supports the focus on recognising the interests and rights of children exposed to all forms of family violence including psychological abuse and we welcome the move to increase consistency between the Domestic Violence Act and the Care of Children Act regarding the day-to-day care of children and contact arrangements for children when violence is present or where an allegation of violence is made. For far too long children have been huddled in fear in a corner watching on as a violent incident has gone unchecked. Any moves to address that are important. 
All we do in failing to address the protection of children is breed another generation of what the justice sector likes to call victims and perpetrators. We prefer to focus on a pathway forward te ara tikanga and that is a vision that focuses on whanau ora and the well-being of whanau members. But we must not forget the need for preventive mechanisms which ought to be put in place to ensure as far as possible that violence does not occur in the first place. We would like to see a greater investment in preventive measures to avoid incidents of violence against children. 
I would be interested to hear from the Minister of Justice about the progress of the Domestic Violence Reform Bill which has remained on the Order Paper since its introduction in September 2008. The Domestic Violence Reform Bill includes examples of provisions for preventive measures that could be considered. In particular the scope of eligibility for people to attend State-funded domestic violence programmes and parenting courses ought to be broadened to ensure that the widest whanau circle can be involved. 
I note today that a person in my electorate Grace Dorset has been working amongst the community for a very long time asking for more resources to assist in dealing with domestic violence issues in particular for programmes that are focused on the men themselves. I note that there was a press statement of that nature today in the  
Daily Post 
 back in Rotorua in respect of the work that Grace is doing and we fully endorse that work. 
For Maori it is essential to understand that violence occurs within a broader whanau and social context and it is complicated by a range of factors and influences. It is time to open up the curtains on violence and expose it to the light of day. The Maori Party is currently working on some initiatives that we hope we might be able to advance either through Minister Paula Bennett through the Minister of Maori Affairs or through Minister Turia. We are interested in empowering whanau to determine their own solutions which is of course at the heart of Whanau Ora giving the whanau time to put things in order and have a life without violence before the State enters into the whole scenario. 
I wanted to raise another issue and that is the relevance of the 1955 Adoption Act. I have been interested in the recommendation from the Children’s Commissioner John Angus that a comprehensive review of the Adoption Act itself is long overdue. I note that although this bill proposes a specific amendment to the Adoption Act that will increase penalties for those offering or accepting financial gain for adoption it neglects to take up the opportunity to look at the bigger picture around adoption. 
Maori have frequently raised the view that adoption is a legal fiction meaning that one can never and should never artificially separate a child from knowledge of its birth parents or its whakapapa—its family tree. We would be interested in further discussion around the options of shared guardianship or enduring guardianship where birth parents and whakapapa are valued and indeed around the uniquely Maori concept of whangai. We would welcome the Minister’s views on the concept of adoption within this discussion of child protection because protection of whakapapa and the value of whanaungatanga is clearly important to us. 
Other aspects to this bill include the mechanism to strengthen the legal framework against international trafficking of children and their commercial exploitation. We of course wholeheartedly support that provision. The bill also reduces the risk of children being wrongfully removed from New Zealand which is another feature that we strongly support. But I refer one further anomaly to the Minister. The amendments to the Immigration Act enacted in November 2009 have effectively cancelled the rights afforded to New Zealand citizen children whose parents are overstayers. The number of New Zealand citizen children affected by these amendments is believed to be more than 1000 so it is an important issue. Basically the removal of overstayer parents has resulted in the de facto removal of citizen children by the State in doing so sacrificing their citizenship right. I would like the Minister’s assurance that that issue could be looked at. 
To conclude despite the issues before us we definitely support the bill and we look forward to further debate.