'Hardest decision of our lives': Foster parents return Moana to state care | Stuff.co.nz.
If you’ve followed this saga, you’ll get the gist from the headline. Marty Sharpe’s story will very likely make you angry. Unless you’ve got a heart of flint, it should also deeply sadden you.
It’s a story about good people who tried to do the right thing and have been ground down to the point where there was no option left but to capitulate.
More to the point, it’s about a vulnerable girl who found love, affection and security for the first time in her life with foster parents who wanted the best for her, but who has now been taken away from them to face an uncertain future.
It’s a shocking indictment of a perverse system that appears to have callously sacrificed a child to the culture wars.
The most depressing aspect is that the whole wretched affair appears to be rooted in a particularly cruel and destructive form of racism – only not the type of racism we normally hear about, because that’s supposed to flow the other way.
And we, the taxpayers, are involuntarily complicit in this process, because the government department pulling the strings in the case is acting on our behalf. It's not a day to feel a proud New Zealander.
Karl du Fresne, a freelance journalist, is the former editor of The Dominion newspaper. He blogs at karldufresne.blogspot.co.nz.
More to the point, it’s about a vulnerable girl who found love, affection and security for the first time in her life with foster parents who wanted the best for her, but who has now been taken away from them to face an uncertain future.
It’s a shocking indictment of a perverse system that appears to have callously sacrificed a child to the culture wars.
The most depressing aspect is that the whole wretched affair appears to be rooted in a particularly cruel and destructive form of racism – only not the type of racism we normally hear about, because that’s supposed to flow the other way.
And we, the taxpayers, are involuntarily complicit in this process, because the government department pulling the strings in the case is acting on our behalf. It's not a day to feel a proud New Zealander.
Karl du Fresne, a freelance journalist, is the former editor of The Dominion newspaper. He blogs at karldufresne.blogspot.co.nz.
4 comments:
This splendidly covered by Michael Laws on The Platfrom, recommended viewing. It is a tragedy that objective reporting of such quality now never makes it to the newspapers. When they significantly progress, as they often do, maori children brought up by pakeha are a severe embarassment to maori, who do all they can to thwart any statistics.
I suppose next some maori group will be funded to make a film of the Oranga Tamariki triumph.
It is my understanding that the people who lost the young girl back to her "caring mother"funded their own legal costs.
Whereas the others likely had financial support from Iwi and legal support from idiots at Oranga Tamariki. Not to mention the courts.
Will be interesting to follow the girls progress, if any.
A precedent has been set.
A sad, sad day.
So long as this racist cult of labour/greens is in power, with the likes of Davis in charge of OT, this kind of crap will continue. The maori politicians have certainly regressed since the days of Sir Apirana Ngata. Likewise the standard of politician has regressed since the introduction of MMP.
In the olden days you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel!
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