Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick says the Government is "terrified of accountability" as a minister refuses to front at the Waitangi Tribunal over repealing an Oranga Tamariki law.
However, ACT leader David Seymour said it's not the Waitangi Tribunal's role to tell the Government how to govern.
Last week, the Tribunal summonsed Children's Minister Karen Chhour for an urgent hearing over the Government's plan to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act.
Section 7AA is a practical commitment to the principles of the Te Tiriti o Waitangi Treaty of Waitangi. It requires the Oranga Tamariki chief executive to publicly report on the agency's progress in improving outcomes for Māori children in state care.
As part of the National-Act coalition agreement, the Government is repealing the section.
Minister for Children Karen Chhour said the legislation is well-intentioned, but the unintended consequences have been dire for many children and caregivers around the country.
She said the section has resulted in Māori children being uplifted from loving homes due to having non-Māori caregivers.
The Tribunal had called on Chhour to provide evidence at an urgent inquiry into the repeal, including examples of children being placed in unsafe conditions because of Section 7AA.
Chhour refused to front the Tribunal and Crown lawyers have filed judicial proceedings in the High Court to block the Waitangi Tribunal summon.
Appearing on AM's political panel on Monday, Seymour said it would be "extremely disrespectful" to democracy and ministers if they set the precedent that every time a Government wants to make a policy, the Tribunal can call you in for "half time commentary".
"As a Government, we have a right to make policy without being called in by this tribunal, which is not a court. They should be respecting our part of the world, just as we should be respecting theirs," he told co-host Lloyd Burr.
Also appearing on the panel, Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick hit back at Seymour's comments
"The kind of hot take I'm getting from this is that the Government is terrified of accountability. They have been legislating incredibly quickly without all too much opportunity for public participation," she said.
She said the reason Chhour was summoned to the Tribunal was because she refused to participate in giving them any written or oral evidence voluntarily.
"If they have concerns of how that [Section 7AA] is being applied, we should have that debate and we should have that evidence in the public arena – the Waitangi Tribunal is the place to do that," Swarbrick said.
Seymour said it's not the Waitangi Tribunal's role to tell the Government how to govern.
"It was never anticipated that they would become the accountability mechanism for ministers."
He said there will be a select committee hearing for the repeal of Section 7AA.
Watch the video above for more.
Newshub.
