Submission re Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Amendment Bill

As an academic, I could have written a long and well referenced submission. I chose here to submit from the heart and my convictions. So the submission is shorter, in plain English, and to the point.

Submission re Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Amendment Bill

Tēnē koutou Select Committee,

My name is Fiona Beals. My family descends from:

* One of two convict ships which came to New Zealand (Pankhurst boys) (the Beals family

* Fencibles sent to protect Auckland from invading Māori who would not give up their land (the Kelly family

* The Wakefield settlement of Wellington, and the first Treaty grievance filed with Queen Victoria (the Wilton, Hayward and Blade family)

* Lost records due to closed adoption.

I call on the Committee to make sense and not progress this bill any further. Moreover, I call on the Government of New Zealand to relook at the issues that are allowed to drive elections. It is not appropriate that youth crime is repeatedly used as an issue to drive votes. This Bill ensures that we have a system in place which will effectively damage children (particularly Māori and Pacific). Instead, there needs to be an increased focus on addressing inequity and disadvantage from birth so that crime is not seen as a option to achieve success in life.

There is no international evidence that military style inventions work. In fact, the evidence points out that for a small number of young people a military style intervention might work (Campbell Systematic Review of Evaluative Studies), but for most this type of intervention damages and effectively makes better criminals.

Policies in New Zealand should be developed from evidence, not emotions and this is very much an example of a policy promised by a Government in an election driven by emotive issues.

This policy also effectively puts into law the ability to abuse our most vulnerable population. Approving the use of force is not appropriate at a time in which the Government is in the middle of apologising and redressing the damage down by State and Faith institutions to children (many of these children are now adults in gangs and in prison). I call on this Committee to join the dots …

I ask this Committee to effectively look at the causes of youth crime (not the response). As a country, we should be committed to ensuring that the causes of youth crime are eliminated – poverty, child abuse, institutional racism, generational dependence on the State, an education system which is geared towards pathways into academia rather than vocational trades (ie our compulsory schools focus in on academic subjects not subjects that involve the hands which alienate whole groups of children) are all areas that the State should first focus on.

What this effectively means is that the Government should first look at Child Welfare; not Youth Justice.

Finally, as stated, I call on the Government to review the issues that are allowed to drive elections. As a country, we should not have issues that drive division or arose emotive and reactive responses as issues that  can be campaigned on.

Thank you, Ngā mihi

Fiona Beals