Mokopuna Māori — end Māori child removal

The Policy: TPM Mokopuna Māori Policy — 2023 Election →

Pitched as a fundamental restructuring of how the New Zealand state relates to Māori children and their families, Te Pāti Māori's Mokopuna Māori policy proposes replacing Oranga Tamariki's jurisdiction over tamariki Māori with an independent, iwi- and hapū-governed Mokopuna Māori Authority — arguing that Māori children's removal into state care constitutes a structural breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and a continuing harm to whakapapa connections stretching across generations.

What it does:

• Replace Oranga Tamariki for Māori children: The policy, first announced on 2 August 2023, proposes establishing an independent Mokopuna Māori Authority — a by-Māori, for-Māori national body — to assume primary care and protection responsibility for tamariki and rangatahi Māori. The Authority would receive $1 billion from the state, redirected from Oranga Tamariki's existing $1.5 billion budget, and implement a three-year transition away from the current model.
• End uplifts without whānau consent: The policy commits to immediately halting the removal of children without the consent of whānau, hapū, and iwi — including ending at-birth uplifts. Māori babies were, as of 2019, five times more likely to be removed from their families than non-Māori babies; between 2015 and 2018, the rate of Māori babies entering state care rose by 33 percent — against a stable non-Māori rate.
• Establish a whakapapa-centred network: Drawing on the guiding philosophy of "Hokinga Whakapapa, Oranga Mokopuna" (Return to genealogy, wellbeing of descendants), the Authority would build partnership networks across hapū, iwi, urban Māori organisations, and state care survivors — ensuring children remain connected to whakapapa rather than severed from it through institutional placement.
• Close Youth Care and Protection residences: The policy also commits to closing all Youth Care and Protection residences, scaling up the Ngā Tini Whetū early-support programme, and reviewing the Child Protection Protocol.
• A Members' Bill lodged in 2025: On 14 February 2025, Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi entered a Members' Bill to formally establish the Mokopuna Māori Authority, asserting rights under He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
• Who it targets: All tamariki and rangatahi Māori currently in, or at risk of entering, state care — approximately two-thirds of the 3,500–4,000 children in state care at any given time are Māori, despite Māori comprising roughly one-third of the under-18 population.
• Who it does not cover: Non-Māori children in state care would remain under Oranga Tamariki; there is no detailed proposal addressing how mixed-ethnicity cases or cross-jurisdictional disputes between the existing agency and the new authority would be resolved.

The result:

The context for this policy grew sharper during the 2023–2026 parliamentary term, when the National-led government moved in the opposite direction. The Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Act_Amendment_Act_2025) received Royal Assent on 7 April 2025, removing the legal obligation — in place since 2019 — for Oranga Tamariki to reduce disparities for Māori children and partner with iwi. Children's Minister Karen Chhour argued the provision created "confusion and conflict" and that "safety must come first every single time." Labour MP Willow-Jean Prime and Māori policy experts countered that no evidence was produced linking Section 7AA to any safety failures. The Waitangi Tribunal found the repeal "breached the Treaty's guarantee of Māori self-determination"; 60.9% of public submissions (2,282 of 3,748) opposed the bill.

Outcomes data underpinning the Mokopuna Māori policy's urgency is stark. The Independent Children's Monitor's June 2025 annual report found 34% of young Māori currently in care had attempted suicide in the previous 12 months — double the rate of peers outside the system — and that three-quarters of young Māori released from youth justice custody had subsequently spent time in prison. Former participants in the system were nine times more likely to require emergency housing as adults and 50% less likely to be employed. Budget 2026 allocated $90.5 million to strengthen Oranga Tamariki frontline services, but VOYCE–Whakarongo Mai CEO Tracie Shipton questioned whether investment in kaupapa Māori approaches was consistent: "If we know these approaches are making a difference, why aren't we investing in them consistently?"

Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer described the current system as "fundamentally broken because it's designed off a system that assumed Māori could not look after our tamariki," while the Kelvin Davis (then Minister for Children under Labour) argued in 2023 that establishing another bureaucracy was "just missing the point" given existing iwi partnerships. The policy remains an opposition pledge — not enacted — with the 2026 election the vehicle for pursuing it.

*Note: This policy is constitutionally and racially significant; the overview presents all positions with attribution and does not endorse any viewpoint. Section 7AA's repeal is contested law, not settled consensus.*

The impacts to watch:

• Waitangi Tribunal scrutiny: The Tribunal's interim findings against Section 7AA's repeal signal ongoing Treaty litigation risk if a future government adopts or expands Mokopuna Māori Authority proposals; iwi legal challenges to the current framework remain live.
• Budget and accountability gaps: Redirecting $1 billion of Oranga Tamariki's budget would require detailed legislative drafting on accountability, oversight, and crisis intervention; critics argue the policy's current form lacks those safeguards.
• Kaupapa Māori evidence base: The Children's Monitor's June 2026 report identified specific kaupapa Māori-led programmes (Mahuru in Te Tai Tokerau, Hapori in Porirua) producing measurable improvements — the question is whether the Authority model can scale what is currently pilot-scale.
• Generational pipeline: With a 70% likelihood of generational continuation of state care involvement for families already in the system, the structural intervention Te Pāti Māori proposes — if credibly resourced — targets a cycle that spending at the margins has not broken.