Friday 16 June 2023
The Weekend Sun
18
Let’s see and treat children as individuals Should a child ever be taken out of a safe, loving foster home? What if the Government did it because the child’s foster parents were the ‘wrong’ race? Could this really happen in New Zealand? Sadly, it’s happening right now.
Section 7AA was introduced into the Oranga Tamariki Act to honour the Treaty of Waitangi. It has meant taking a Māori child out of a safe and loving Pakeha foster
child is the paramount home where they’ve lived consideration of for years is encouraged; Oranga Tamariki. I that is at odds with the With Karen Chhour hope Parliament, as a agency’s primary purpose ACT List MP whole, can see that there to support the wellbeing of shouldn’t be a conflict between protecting our most vulnerable and at-risk children. the best interests of the child and race-based I’m campaigning to change this. My factors. This conflict has the potential to petition to repeal section 7AA of the cause real harm to our children. Oranga Tamariki Act has hit 11,600 As someone who grew up dealing with signatures. If you haven’t seen it, find it at: Child, Youth and Family, I have deep www.colourblindcare.nz appreciation of what children need. Each My Member’s Bill, which is due to be child, regardless of race, has their own debated in Parliament, seeks to repeal section 7AA and ensure the wellbeing of the individual circumstances and family
background – this means we should never take a blanket race-based approach. Every child should be seen as an individual and their wellbeing must come first. Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its Act should be colour-blind, utterly child-centric and open to whatever solution will ensure a child’s wellbeing. My Member’s Bill would ensure this happens, placing more value on the best interests of the child rather than the Treaty. If you agree with me on this, I encourage you to support my campaign.
Delivering infrastructure a high priority for us
Working for Real Change
One of the more common complaints I hear in the Bay of Plenty electorate is about our city’s lack of infrastructure and snarled up traffic.
act.org.nz
Authorised by David Seymour MP, ACT Party leader, Parliament Buildings, Wellington.
State Highway 2 should have been four lanes to Omokoroa by now. Pāpāmoa East residents still have to travel at 50km/hr along Papamoa Beach Rd to access the Tauranga Eastern Link while work continues on the interchange connection to the TEL. And if you travel through Tauriko regularly, you know how desperately we need an overhaul of the Tauriko-SH29 access. Having high-quality, modern and resilient infrastructure drives economic growth, boosts productivity, and enhances our way of life. Yet New Zealand has a significant deficit. In the past six years, the Labour Government has failed to start and finish one major infrastructure
project. We’ve seen endless working groups, pages of press releases and a reduced state highway budget which has destroyed a pipeline of worthy projects. Delivering infrastructure will be a high priority for the next National government. National Party leader Chris Luxon recently announced a five-point Infrastructure For The Future plan that will: create a National Infrastructure Agency; make use of innovative funding and financing tools to boost investment; develop national, city and regional deals with central and local government; create a fast-track consents process; and build a 30-year infrastructure pipeline to deliver longterm certainty. Building infrastructure is a key to growing the economy. That matters because it’s only with a strong economy that NZ can reduce living costs and interest rates, lift incomes and fund the public services our country needs.