5. Question No. 5—Prime MinisterRAWIRI WAITITI (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 5—Prime Minister5. RAWIRI WAITITI (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori) to the Prime Minister: Fakaalofa lahi atu. Kia ora tātou. Does she have confidence in all her Ministers?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Fakaalofa lahi atu. Yes.Rawiri Waititi: How can she have confidence in her Minister for Children when 5-year-old Malachi Subecz died in Oranga Tamariki (OT) care after suffering months of abuse at the hands of his carer under Oranga Tamariki despite multiple warnings from family members as to the safety of the child?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I have confidence in the Minister for Children because his entire focus is about preventing the kind of tragic and horrific circumstances that we've seen reported around the death of Malachi. There is additional work that's being done alongside the report that's already been released; we need to learn from all of them. But in the meantime you can see the work and some of the outcome from the investments that have been made. They're about prevention—stopping the uplift of children. Because we're working much earlier with whānau we've seen uplifts come down we've seen greater investment in preventative care we've seen greater partnerships with iwi organisations who know whānau and can work with them directly. But we have to try and do everything we can to prevent another circumstance like Malachi.Rawiri Waititi: Does she accept the findings of the Ombudsman that there were a litany of failures" from OT leading up to Malachi's death including the failure to investigate multiple reports of concern and not considering the obligation under the Child Protection Protocol at any point?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I'm advised that Oranga Tamariki has accepted the findings of the Ombudsman. Important to remember that of course there is also the Oranga Tamariki practice review and the Government-wide system review as well. We need to understand every different contributing factor to the circumstances that led to Malachi's death. I personally believe that we need to make sure that we have all such reports so that we can make sure we leave no stone unturned.Rawiri Waititi: Point of order Mr Speaker. The question was clear. It was: does she accept the findings—not whether Oranga Tamariki accepts the findings.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yes.Rawiri Waititi: Is she concerned that accountability for Oranga Tamariki in these situations will be even more difficult under her Government's new oversight regime which weakens oversight to the point where the only watchdog will sit within the Education Review Office of all places?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Actually I think here the member is leaning very hard on the findings of the Ombudsman. In fact the changes that have been put through this House reinforce the role of the Ombudsman and demonstrates that actually the Ombudsman has long held a role in investigating circumstances such as this. But I think everyone in this House wants to be in the position where we're not at a point where it's about receiving complaints about the experience in care but we prevent children from entering care in the first place because we work with whānau to prevent these circumstances. No one wants to be in the situation we have—the Ombudsman monitoring these circumstances—because it led to tragedy in this case.Rawiri Waititi: Will she ask for the Minister's resignation given that no officials have been stood down let alone fired following this tragedy?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: No I will not. Also I would add that we are still awaiting the Oranga Tamariki practice review which is equally important for us to get a full understanding of what's happened here as well. I would also just acknowledge when I was Opposition spokesperson on children yes we must all keep calling for the change that's required to protect our tamariki. But I will also always draw a distinction over what it was the Minister held personal responsibility for."