Last week the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care was released. It revealed that at least 250,000 people were affected by abuse in Aotearoa’s state care system from 1950 to 1999.
Now the Government must move forward with redress, saying they will be issuing apologies to victims and survivors.
For our weekly catch up producer Evie spoke to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about how this redress will be approached, and how the government will ensure the system will avoid such dire outcomes in the future.
We also talked about the government moving to overturn the court appeal on the Marine and Coastal Area Act.
Last week, the Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill passed through its second reading.
The bill would reverse changes made to increase Māori representation in local government by reverting the Māori ward rules to restore the referendum mechanism.
This would mean if any council wanted to establish a Māori ward, and a petition that had been signed by 5% of people was presented, a binding referendum would have to be held.
Wire host Sofia caught up with ActionStation Director, Kassie Hartendorp, (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) about this and their campaign to keep Māori wards.
On Wednesday, 24th July, the final report from the Abuse in State Care Inquiry was made public, detailing abuse within and by Aotearoa’s state care system. Of particular note in the inquiry were the impacts on Aotearoa’s Māori, Pasifika, and disabled populations, who experienced on average further hardship than other groups.
The final report makes several recommendations to parliament to ensure meaningful change in Aotearoa’s state care system. Tuesday Wire host Castor discusssed the expectations, impact, and potential outcomes of the abuse in state care report on Pacific communities with Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Auckland, Doctor Tamasailauu Sualii.
Producer Evie speaks to the ACT Party’s Simon Court about the government's findings from the abuse in state care report and the overturn of the court appeal on the Marine and Coastal Area Act.
She spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Mariameno Kapa-Kingi about the same issues.
Wire host Sofia speaks to ActionStation Director, Kassie Hartendorp, about the Māori wards bill passing its second reading last week.
And Tuesday Wire host Castor speaks to Associate professor of Criminology at the University of Auckland, Dr Tamasailauu Sualii about the abuse in state care inquiry and its impact in Aotearoa’s Pacific communities.
Following the foreshore and seabed controversy of the early 2000s the government introduced a system for Māori to make claims to coastal land.However Māori claimants had to prove they had exclusively used and occupied an area from 1840 to the present day without substantial interruption.
Last year the court of appeal made a decision that groups only needed to show they had enough control over the area that they could keep others from using it - making it substantially easier for Māori to claim their rightful land.
But one year on, the government now wants to overturn this, claiming the decision will affect other New Zealanders rights to the land.
I spoke Te Pāti Māori's Mariameno Kapi-Kingi about the government's backwards move and what it means for Māori.
We also talked about the recent findings of the Inquiry into Abuse in State Care, and the disproportionate representation of Māori.
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