Weekly Media Roundup

March 02, 2017 at 6:44 PM

Dame Susan Devoy calls for inquiry into abuse of Maori children

OPINION: Years ago in a small town a Maori boy was caught stealing lollies at the local Four Square.

A report labelled him a "thug" and he was made a state ward. He was 10 years old. Put in a boy's home where he was physically and sexually abused, he ended up doing very long stretches in isolation.

And so I am retelling the sad story of this small boy's life because my suspicion is that children like him were more likely to be put into state institutions if they were Maori.

It is the very definition of institutional racism or systemic discrimination: but without an inquiry into the abuse suffered in our state-run institutions we will ever know its true extent.

Privacy Commission investigates data-for-funding proposal

Sexual violence and counselling services are among groups from which the government is demanding private client information in exchange for funding.

The Privacy Commissioner has launched an investigation into the proposal and is expected to report back in a month.

Domestic violence costs employers millions of dollars - Green MP Jan Logie

New Zealand businesses are being told that offering leave to victims of domestic violence makes good financial sense.

Green MP Jan Logie's Domestic Violence Victims' Protection Bill is set for its first reading in Parliament on March 8.

It would give victims of domestic violence 10 days of paid leave and guide employers on how they could support them.

It also clarifies that domestic violence is a workplace hazard.

Calls for independent CYF watchdog

There are calls for an independent authority to be set up to act as a watchdog investigating complaints and failures by Child, Youth and Family (CYF).

It comes after CYF admitted it failed by sending a toddler back into a P-using household where he died.

Law Society family law chairperson Michelle Duggan wants an independent complaints authority set up at the Children's Commission to oversee badly-handled CYF cases.

CYF admits failures over toddler's death to family

A Child Youth and Family manager admits the agency failed multiple times when it sent a Southland toddler back into a P-using household where he died.

A secret recording of these admissions, made in a meeting with the 17-month-old's extended family, has been given to RNZ by the family.

Tara Brown begged for domestic violence order against Lionel Patea - but was turned down

Two Queensland police officers have been disciplined for failing to grant desperate Tara Brown a domestic violence order against Lionel Patea - as chilling footage shows him fleeing from the murder scene moments after he bashed her to death.

Tara Brown, 24, was bludgeoned to death with a metal fire hydrant cover by her ex-partner Lionel John Patea, 25, after he ran her car off the road on a suburban Gold Coast street in Queensland in September 2015.

Patea, a former Bandido bikie, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday to killing Ms Brown, a mother-of-one.

'Self-centred monster' Lionel Patea had long history of violence

Tara Brown sensed she was in grave danger a week before New Zealand man Lionel Patea bashed her to death with the cover of a fire hydrant.

Patea - who was yesterday sentenced to life in prison for murdering the New Zealand-born mother of his child - had intimidated Ms Brown in the days leading up to the fatal attack on 8 September 2015, when he ran her vehicle off the road and bashed her on a Gold Coast street.

Police release CCTV footage of quarry attack

Police have released CCTV footage showing a vehicle going in an out of an Auckland quarry where a woman was attacked.

The woman had been out with friends in Ponsonby on Saturday night and said she did not recall anything from that time until she woke in the quarry being attacked.

Corrections breached torture conventions - Ombudsman

Prisoners at risk of self-harm have been subject to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, according to a investigation by the Ombudsman.

Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier said the Corrections Department has broken the law and breached the Convention against Torture.

The report found the general management of at-risk prisoners was "substandard and detrimental to their well-being".

Toddler's violent shaking death: West Coast caregiver sent to jail for five and a half years

A West Coast caregiver who belatedly admitted causing the death of a toddler after shaking it so violently in frustration that the child immediately went blind and resulted in severe brain injuries, was yesterday jailed for five and a half years.

The caregiver appeared before Justice Williams for sentencing in the High Court in Greymouth.

Mother knew her husband was sexually abusing her daughter, police say

A Hawke's Bay mother who allegedly knew her young daughter was being sexually violated by her husband is believed to be the second person charged under new child abuse laws.

The 42-year-old woman faces two charges of being a member of the same household as her daughter, and knowing she was at risk of sexual assault or rape, but failing to take reasonable steps to protect her.

Woman who abducted baby already had three children removed by CYF

A woman says she had no idea she was part of a plot to abduct a newborn until the infant's cries came out of a jacket she had been given.

She was drawn into the scheme by the baby's mother, who has had multiple children taken from her care by Child, Youth and Family due to her volatile family situation.

By teaching children to fear men, we are letting our kids down

COMMENT: A lot of people, upon reading an article like Kasey Edwards' "Why I won't let any male babysit my children", would probably react with anger.

I know I did. It's hard to be told that you've been classified as a potential predator – that, without knowing anything about you, someone has already decided that their children need to be protected from you – without feeling pretty offended.

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Weekly Media Roundup

March 02, 2017 at 6:44 PM

Dame Susan Devoy calls for inquiry into abuse of Maori children

Privacy Commission investigates data-for-funding proposal

Domestic violence costs employers millions of dollars - Green MP Jan Logie

Calls for independent CYF watchdog

CYF admits failures over toddler's death to family

Tara Brown begged for domestic violence order against Lionel Patea - but was turned down

'Self-centred monster' Lionel Patea had long history of violence

Police release CCTV footage of quarry attack

Corrections breached torture conventions - Ombudsman

Toddler's violent shaking death: West Coast caregiver sent to jail for five and a half years

Mother knew her husband was sexually abusing her daughter, police say

Woman who abducted baby already had three children removed by CYF

By teaching children to fear men, we are letting our kids down