Roof Top Protest: Review Distracts from Government Accountability

After numerous reviews, there's a point where a review stops being about transparency and instead delay's accountability. We're at that point!

Another review. That is what is being promised after yet another rangatahi led roof top protest within an Auckland Youth Justice residence.

Though the young people’s voices have been largely silenced within the debate so far, some journalists have reported the rangatahi sharing with them that denial of food and fresh air was the trigger behind their roof top action.

It's important to note that this particular facility is the same recently reviewed by Mana Mokopuna, the Children and Young Peoples Commission. That review, released earlier this year, found significant concerns for the health and safety of the children living in this institution, largely resulting from poor practice from kaimahi, a lack of resourcing and adequate training, and a lack of oversite and access to independent advocates and social workers.

But, that was just the latest review, there have been countless others, all documenting similar, if not the same, challenges over and over again (including the Mike Bush review released in 2023).

Consistently, these reports document poor practice, lack of resourcing, and conditions that don't align with the goal of healing rangatahi and empowering them to thrive.

It's easy to call for a review. And generally, reviews can be a good thing, they can create accountability, show us what's going wrong, give us clear actions to move towards improvement.

And yet, there comes a point, when a review stops being about transparency, and starts acting as a tool to delay accountability.

We are at that point.

This review will likely find the same problems that are reported year after year. Oranga Tamariki will acknowledge the findings, commit to doing better, and the Minister responsible for this system, will write a strongly worded letter to the Chief Executive, express their disappointment, demand better, and assure the public about the Government's commitment to fix this.

What is unlikely to happen is an acknowledgement from Government that it is they, who hold ultimate responsibility for the care and protection of these children. And it is they who set the parameters for what is possible within Oranga Tamariki.

The Government decides how much money they are willing to pay to ensure the health and safety of the children in their care. The Government set the political parameters for what services can be developed, and what institutions stay in place.

This is not a partisan issue, nor one that allows any Government, past or present to hold any sense of moral superiority.

Successive Government’s hold responsibility for underfunding and under resourcing Oranga Tamariki, restricting what is possible, and preventing best practice in service design, resourcing and development.

Without side stepping the responsibility of those who hold significant responsibility within Oranga Tamariki for the care of our children, it’s important to acknowledge that these children are in the care of the state, meaning the ultimate parental responsibility sits with the Prime Minister of the day.

Yesterday it was Chris Hipkins. Today it is Chris Luxon. Tomorrow, who knows.

The point is, we can spend the next few generations debating how to fix Oranga Tamariki, but at some point we have to acknowledge that if our Government will not pay to care for our kids in the way they need to be cared for, and if our political leaders choose ideology over evidence, than what our public servants can achieve for our children is limited to the parameters set for them by these very political leaders.

Yesterday, there was a lot of talk of personal responsibility, consequences and accountability, by people in positions of power and influence over these kids lives. People who hold responsibility for the welfare of these children and responsibility for the conditions many of these kids have grown up in.

If a child is in a youth justice residence, they are in the care of the state. This means, our Government, and by extension all of us, have a parental responsibility to these children.

If their needs are not being met, if they are not safe, cared for, loved, provided with the support they need to heal and thrive, then that responsibility sits with all of us.

It's easy to throw stones at children trapped in a cages. But, the harsh reality is that these children are in these institutions because our society has failed to care, Love and support them.

It's time we took some collective responsibility, for our Government to acknowledge the evidence, and begin living up to the parental responsibility it holds to provide safety, care, love, and support to these children.

If I'm honest it has been heartbreaking to hear people in positions of such power, speak of our kids with such disregard. As I’ve listened I’ve thought of the young people I know, the trauma and suffering that paved their way into these systems. I thought of all the ways they had been failed. I thought of the stories these kids would tell, if their voices had not been drowned out by powerful adults congratulating themselves on their intention to punish traumatized children.

I thought of the kids I spoke to living on the street just this week. Of the absurd reality that we would rather allow our children to sleep on our streets, and then funnel them into prison, than love, care or house them.

There is no pathway forward for a society that chooses to exact violence and revenge against our most vulnerable.

But, this is us New Zealand. The heartlessness. The cruelty. The disregard for the suffering and pain of children. This has always been us.

But it doesn’t have to be.

#LoveIsTheWay

A.J. Hendry is a Youth Development Worker and rangatahi advocate, working in the Youth Housing and Homelessness space. He leads and co-founded Kick Back, a youth development organizations responding to youth homelessness and is also an advocate working collectively to end youth homelessness in Aotearoa. He is also the curator and creator of When Lambs Are Silent.