February 16, 2017
Government has no appetite for abuse inquiry
Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox says there seems to be no appetite in the Government to look into the historic abuse of children and young people in state care.
The Maori Party has backed a call by the Human Rights Commission and iwi leaders for a full inquiry into the what happened to many of the 100,000 New Zealanders taken from their families between the 1950s and the 1990s.
Prime Minister Bill English says what happened is fairly well known, and what's important is it doesn't happen again … which is why the state care system is being reformed.
Ms Fox says it's not good enough.
"Those people who have suffered at the hands of the state while in state care, they are owed an explanation. (The government) had the confidential listening post which was supposed to settle this, everything was done in private you got to have your say, and then they said 'very sorry, thank you, bye bye,'" she says.
The Maori Party won't drop its support for the National on the issue, but is could walk if the government doesn't budge on dropping a legal requirement that priority be given to placing children with members of their wider whanau and hapu.
FULL INTERVIEW WITH MARAMA FOX
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