Tova podcast: ‘Children will be worse off’ - former children’s minister on Government law change
Thursday, 25 April 2024
Section 7AA. It’s a small part of a very big law causing an enormous legal and political fracas. This week on the Tova podcast, we talk to the former children’s minister who oversaw the law coming into effect - why she said it was enlightened legislation then and why she still believes that now, and why she thinks children will be worse off if it’s repealed.
In a compelling and unusual case this week, the children’s minister took the Waitangi Tribunal to court - and won.
As Glenn McConnell reported from the High Court in Wellington: The “long hearing saw comparisons to former South African President Jacob Zuma, ex-UK prime minister Boris Johnson and the Watergate case, where ex US president Richard Nixon tried to fight a summons.”
All told, 15 lawyers gathered to argue about the case.
The case was in response to the minister - ACT’s Karen Chhour - being summoned by the Waitangi Tribunal to give evidence about her plan to repeal Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act.
The part of the act which requires Oranga Tamariki to take the Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti o Waitangi into account. A lot of it centres around Māori children being placed with whānau, hapū and iwi.
ACT says it creates a conflict between protecting the best interests of the child and race-based factors.
It’s created political drama too with NZ First and ACT making comments critical of the Tribunal - Shane Jones called it a “star chamber” and David Seymour suggested it be “wound up”.
The prime minister told Jones and Seymour to effectively pull their heads in, saying their comments were ill-considered.
But Seymour bit back, telling Stuff, “I’m surprised to hear this. If you have a concern about another leader’s comments you should raise them directly rather than through media, which is what I now intend to do.”
The PM says they’ve now had a “deep and meaningful” conversation.
Chhor is fighting the summons, which the Crown says is a “coercive” power that the Tribunal had never used against a minister. The Crown has also argued that senior Oranga Tamariki officials have appeared, which is sufficient.
But the Tribunal says the only person capable of properly explaining Chhour’s reasoning is Chhour herself.
Lawyer Annette Sykes is planning to appeal the High Court decision - so it’s not over yet.
But let’s return to the heart of all this squabbling - Section 7AA.
Tracey Martin was Children’s Minister when the law - containing the contentious section - took effect.
The former NZ First MP joined the Tova podcast for an in-depth interview about Section 7AA, job cuts at Oranga Tamariki, having her work undermined by her old boss Winston Peters and her future political prospects.