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Kia Ora Friend,
Te Pāti Māori have launched a petition to stop the repeal of Section 7AA from the Oranga
Tamariki Act. This announcement comes prior to the
first reading of the Section 7AA repeal bill in Parliament today.
“Section 7AA forces the Government to adhere to Te Tiriti o
Waitangi with respect to the care and protection of our babies; our
taonga,” said Spokesperson for Children and Te Tai Tokerau MP,
Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.
“It asserts that our babies should be placed with and reconnected
to their whakapapa.
“This repeal, this system, this Government and the Minister is
trying to make us believe that we are better off handing our flesh and
blood to Pākehā; that we are not good enough to raise our own.
“We will no longer allow our mokopuna to be exterminated from the
inside out by ripping them away from their culture and identity. Every
single attempt by this Government to erase whakapapa from mokopuna
lives must be stopped” said Kapa-Kingi.
“Te Tiriti was created so the Queen of England could control her
unruly Pākehā in Aotearoa. Te Tiriti never envisaged Pākehā taking our
babies away from us. That was only ever to be the prerogative of
whānau, hapū and iwi. Nōku ōku uri! Kauaka rā ō ringa e Te Kāwana.
“Our petition seeks to
empower the right of Māori babies to be placed with whakapapa through
the maintenance of Section 7AA.
“Only Māori can understand the prevalence of our identity and
culture, and though our whakapapa can never be taken away, it can be
erased from our reality.
“We are asking people of Te Tiriti to support this petition to stop
this action by the Government to remove mokopuna Māori from
themselves,” Kapa-Kingi said.
Click here to sign
Petition.
Ngā mihi,
Te Pāti Māori
https://www.maoriparty.org.nz/
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