Lawrence Smith/Stuff
A lawyer representing whanau who have had dealings with Oranga Tamariki has said the government department should be replaced with a Maori authority focussing on prevention.
There is no other way to stop tamariki Māori being disproportionately taken into state care than to disestablish Oranga Tamariki, the Waitangi Tribunal has been told during closing submissions for the urgent inquiry into the child protection agency.
The inquiry started in July last year after Oranga Tamariki came under fire for the systemic removal of tamariki and pēpi Māori.
The purpose of the hearing has been to find out why there has been such a consistent disparity of tamariki Māori being removed from their families, whether legislative and practice changes had made any difference, and what further changes to legislation might be required to secure outcomes that uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi.