Flavell Te Ururoa: Corrections (Mothers with Babies) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Corrections (Mothers with Babies) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:632;Page:4036] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Madam Assistant Speaker. Kia ora ano tatou katoa. The Maori Party has a vision for the nation that is about uplifting and strengthening whanau and restoring thriving positive whanau environments. Whanau can be the site of generosity and respect in which our future success is shaped and that can be whether one’s tupuna is Turei Horomia te Heuheu or Kahui. I was reminded about the importance of whanua in the last 2 weeks. Unfortunately I have been to five tangi. In one case a young woman from our kura was killed in a car crash and I was with the police when I had to tell her father on Saturday that she had died. Last Saturday a relation of mine had to bury his wife of 24 years. On Sunday a friend buried her 21-year-old son who died as the result of an asthma attack. When we have to experience burying our own we realise the importance of whanau no matter what ups and downs we ever have to go through. 
For those reasons we will support this important legislation which extends the opportunity for children aged from 6 months to 2 years to enjoy their fundamental right to be with their mama. Those children have committed no crime but the price they pay for their mothers’ offending is steep. Currently babies aged up to 6 months can stay with their mothers who are imprisoned. But we have to ask whether prison facilities are the best place to support the mental emotional and physical development of a child. Prisons as they are at present are not a safe and positive environment for women babies or young children. We are in a catch-22 situation. It is not a question of choosing between a good option and a bad option; it is a question of alternatives each of which is problematic: separating a 6-month-old baby from his or her mother or isolating an infant from his or her wider whanau. Whatever arrangements are made for babies and children on the outside the impact of their mothers’ imprisonment affects every aspect of their lives. The rest of their lives will bear the stigma of imprisonment the trauma of isolation and the separation experienced at a critical stage of their development. 
The introduction of this bill is influenced by similar developments overseas. The Maori Party has been especially interested in developments for Aboriginal women in Australia. Tauto Sansbury chair of the National Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee has identified the need for programmes to assist indigenous mothers and children—and I quote: “In a population where incarceration rates have been so high for so long we need to consider what the effect of this is upon the next generation—the impact does not end with the generation that is in prison now … the impact will continue to be felt by every child who has been deprived of a parent who has seen their parent locked up who has known what it is to fear the justice system.” When mothers are given a jail sentence their children are given a life sentence. They are sentenced to the effects of family separation and the strength of whanaungatanga is restricted by the barriers of cell walls. 
In the last fortnight there has been a call for collective courage in addressing the issues of how best to care for children for our tamariki. Those thoughts are fundamental to Te Ao Maori. Our well-being is intrinsically linked to the width and depth of our whanau network. As a part of that we absolutely believe that women need support to maintain contact with their children while they are incarcerated. The well-being of our children depends on appropriate support and education being readily at hand to ensure their needs are met. The Maori Party is therefore supportive of the concept of a parenting agreement and particularly of the provision that states parenting education will be provided and the mother must participate in it. We believe that is the key. If we want our children to be loved to be nurtured and to be treasured we need to assist our whanau to know how to do that. 
I was thinking today as I do most days about my own five children. When my wife and I had our first child we lapped up the advice and stories that whanau shared with us eager to do everything just right. We took part in antenatal classes read the books and talked to other young mums and dads. One thing that helped me at that time was the belief that this new-born baby was a taonga. She was our legacy our contribution back to our people and she needed to be treasured as the precious hope of our future. That way of thinking was strengthened as her brothers and sisters duly arrived and it is a way of thinking that reminds me of the honoured place they hold in our lives. I hope this Corrections (Mothers with Babies) Amendment Bill will nurture and develop that way of thinking. Kia ora tatou.