Hundreds of critics have voiced their concerns over the Government's plan to overhaul how embattled children's agency Oranga Tamariki is monitored.
Detractors include survivors of abuse in state care, the Children's Commissioner and Amnesty International.
But the Children's Minister says they're just having a grizzle.
Retired police officer Chris Graveson has spent his life fighting for children's rights and safety.
He knows the laws and how it's failing those who should be protected.
"[There are] 445 pages of legislation," Graveson says.
He says he knows bad legislation when he sees it.
Graveson is appalled by a proposed Bill designed to improve oversight of Oranga Tamariki.
"I'd describe it as probably the worst legislation I've read in any jurisdiction anywhere," Graveson says.
The bill intends to increase the monitoring of the children's agency and would do this by removing the investigative powers of the Children's Commissioner and replacing them with a government monitoring agency that sits in the Education Review Office. It would also give more powers to the Ombudsman.
"We want to make sure that children in care are safe, looked after and that their wellbeing is paramount," Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni says.
State care survivors, Amnesty International, the Human Rights Commission, Save the Children, the Children's Commissioner and Graveson all hate it.
And all of those groups have made submissions.
"We are concerned this Bill has a significant impact on the role of the Children's Commissioner and effectively disestablishes this role as well as powers to directly report to the Prime Minister," says child rights advocacy and research director at Save the Children NZ Jacqui Southey.
"I certainly think the submitters are very credible," Sepuloni says.
But her colleague, the Children's Minister and third-highest ranked Cabinet minister Kelvin Davis, reckons those credible submitters are simply grizzlers - saying so in an interview on Radio Waatea last month.
"To be honest I don't know what the concerns are - I think it's just something to grizzle about," Davis said.
"The ministers need to be able to take that consultation on board and comments like that show they're not listening," ACT MP Karen Chhour says.
"It was just basically insulting to them and I've never known a minister to say that about submitters," Graveson says.
"I think when people are talking about issues outside of the scope of the Bill it's personally fine to disagree with them," Davis says
A robust difference of opinion is vital to the process of making laws, however with Davis refusing to apologise there are those who feel the democratic process of allowing the vulnerable to come forward has been undermined.
