NZ Centre for Political Research

Unbelievable story.
With all the hype about caring for children in recent times, what rock has this man been living under?
He may not be, but he's doing a very good impression of someone affected by drugs - or something!

The Police MUST find this man and they MUST throw the book at him.
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No thanks from dad after child rescued from sea
| Saturday, 12 January 2008

The father of an 8-year-old boy found alone and calling for help in the waters of the Marlborough Sounds was not very happy with the boatie who returned him.

The Christchurch boatie, John Fisher, found the boy floating off Blumine Island without a life jacket last night.

Sergeant Lindsay Turner, of police southern communications, said the boatie was cruising in the area when he heard the voice of a young child calling out, `Dad'.

The boy had apparently come off a boat operated by his father.

The boatie rescued the youngster and then caught up with the father's craft, Mr Turner said.

"The child was returned to the man who was not impressed and did not show any concern for the child."

The father grabbed the boy and motored off again without thanking the rescuer, Mr Turner said.

Mr Fisher told The Press he could see the boy's head in the water because it was calm.

"He was in a very distraught state, slowly going under - it was just terrible."

Mr Fisher saw a boat heading away a couple of kilometres away and caught up with it.

"The guy never even stopped his boat. I said 'are you missing something mate?' He said 'no, what's your problem?'

"He had all these kids onboard and none of them had lifejackets ... he didn't say anything (when the boy was returned), he just drove off."

Earlier police said Mr Fisher may have saved the youngster's life.

Picton police were investigating but said details were sketchy and they had not been able to locate the boy's father or the boat.

The boat was believed to be a 12m bridgedecker, white with a red flag, last seen heading towards Anakiwa.

- NZPA

Good post, Peter - but why has it taken five years for the coroner to make his report? Surely that can't be standard?

Another case where CYF's failed and although they claim to have made changes to the system they are still failing to provide the proper protection to those that need it.
Unfortunately it seems that in Coral's case her school made a serious error as well.

Mistakes made in Coral case says coroner
5:00AM Wednesday January 09, 2008

Coral-Ellen Burrows. Wairarapa Times-Age
An inquest into the death of Wairarapa schoolgirl Coral-Ellen Burrows has found errors made by Child, Youth and Family and the primary school the little girl attended.

But Wellington coroner Garry Evans stopped short of making any recommendations to CYF or the school, as both had already made key changes to their internal processes.

Mr Evans found the 6-year-old died from blunt force trauma to her head, inflicted by her stepfather Steven Williams on September 9, 2003.

Williams was sentenced to at least 17 years' imprisonment before being eligible to apply for parole.

Coral-Ellen's father, Ron Burrows, had contacted CYF in January 2003 with concerns about the well-being of his daughter and his son, Storm.

His phone call, which lasted just over 20 minutes, was not recorded or details entered into the computer system and no action was taken.

CYF national call centre manager Greg Versalko said the call-taking process had been changed and since 2005 all calls have been recorded and A better note-taking system had also been put into place to record details of each call and staff had increased supervision.

The coroner also heard that on the day Coral-Ellen did not appear at school, a mistake in its absentee process meant her mother was not alerted to her disappearance until after the school day was finished.

Coral-Ellen's absence was noted on the wrong day of the week on the weekly absence sheet.

South Featherston School principal Tracy Smith said as a result of Coral's death the school had replaced the weekly diary with a yearly diary, which had one page for each day.

It had also added further ways for parents to make contact with the school.

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Yes Peter, I have Christine Rankin in my sights, especially after the comment in the article below about Cindy Kiro being a waste of space.

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'Silent' marchers speak out loudly against child abuse (+ photos)
12:18PM Saturday August 25, 2007

A so-called 'silent march' down Auckland's Queen Street was anything but as protested raised their voices against child abuse.
An angry Christine Rankin slammed Children's Commissioner Cindy Kiro as a "waste of space" as she addressed the loudest 'silent march' against child abuse yet.
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However my effort to contact her in October about this issue, via her Executive Assistant Bev Adair, has been ignored. After seeing todays article (which you have Posted), I'm going to try again.

I would like to know just what her "For the sake of our Children" organisation is actually doing, other than being available to comment to the Newspapers every time something like this happens.

She might just need me as her Secretary.

Christine Rankin has got it right and she backs your comments about drugs Christine ,I am sure she has no confidence in CYP's iether.

Summary | Newstalk ZB | NZPA
Saturday January 5, 10:13 AM
Rankin claims efforts to stop child abuse are failing
A campaigner for children says the death of a two-month-old baby girl proves attempts to stop the violent abuse of children are not working.

Tahani Mahomed died on New Year's Day after being admitted to Starship Hospital severely malnourished and badly beaten. Police say they are treating the case as a homicide, and have removed Tahani's two-year-old sister to a CYFS foster home.

For the Sake Of Our Children Trust spokeswoman Christine Rankin says it is clear current approaches to the problem have not made a blind bit of difference. She says it proves the anti-smacking law is a complete failure and the message just is not getting through to those who need it most.

Ms Rankin says we need to start responding strongly to drug and alcohol abuse.

Correct me if I'm wrong - but the charges this 'girl' ( not deserving of the title 'woman' in my eyes) faces relate solely to driving over the alcohol limit. Can a person be charged with putting children at risk?

If there was such a charge, then a lot of children would be saved from serious harm if the public could report such incidents, and the Police could do something about it.

Of course we can report it to CYF, but they do nothing about it until the child is in hospital or dead.

But Peter G and I are working on that......
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21-year-old mother caught drunk in car with her children
Wednesday, 02 January 2008


A 21-year-old mother is to face charges after being caught driving at almost double the legal breath alcohol limit with her two toddlers in the car.

The woman admitted reversing her car into a pole, smashing the rear windscreen, before being caught by police as part of a Bay of Plenty drink-drive blitz yesterday.

She was stopped on Maunganui Rd, with her two and three-year-old children in the car. Her breath alcohol reading was 782 micrograms per litre of breath – almost twice the legal limit of 400mcg.

She will appear in Tauranga District Court next month but has lost her licence for 28 days as an interim measure.

She has previous convictions for drunk driving, police said.

Call Liz to come.

WELL DONE RALPH !!!!

If nothing else, you're my hero - and I don't have many of those, so consider yourself (New Year's) honoured.

Come on down to collect your medal anytime you like - and keep up the good work. (Number 1 New Year's Resolution !!)

Settle down Christine .
After I had posted my gripe I sent an email to my local cop regarding the incidents .. All is well and I will now apply for a late AWARD of bravery medaL
HAPPY NEW YEAR
RALPH

Yes dear Ralph, you are a coward. And this has got to stop!!!!!
So what if she tells you to 'P*** off' ? Isn't the safety of those children more important?

It's up to all of us to do our bit to minimise the risks to these children. And if you're too cowardly to speak up directly, then all you have to do is ring *555 and report these incidents to the Traffic Police. If you don't get the Rego, then just the area this incident is happening should be enough.

And in many cases the people who are acting irresponsibly may also just have a little P lab bubbling away at home, or a Tinnie House in operation - where children are present.

Isn't the possibility of uncovering that worth the effort of being brave Ralph?

There are still alot of irresponsible gits around without being drunk or drugged .
I drove up to the shops to get my paper this morning and was passed by a speeding woman who had 5 kids sitting in the back of a trailer.
I came out of the shop and was getting into my car when up pulls a woman with 5 kids unrestrained in her vehicle .
No I didnt reprt them .
I failed to get the rego on the first car and the second who was known to me would have told me in no uncertain terms to pissoff and mind my own business.
So much for cowards!
Ralph

I'm putting a post here so that a Notification will pop up for me as this subject interests me greatly even though I don't have any solutions - yet. It's horrifying to think of these children at the mercy of their drunken parents.

I think your suggestion is an excellent one Christine and let's hope the authorities will pick it up. We are going to need a lot more foster homes though, aren't we. I think this may be half the problem for CYFS - finding foster homes for children removed from their families.

Think of all the "Cheyenne's" who innocently get into a car driven by a parent who is drunk.

This issue doesn't just apply to women - but it shows that women under the influence of mind-altering substances lose the nurturing instinct we'd expect them to have.

Never mind losing their license after a third drink-driving charge - how does that stop anyone from driving? But remove her kids from her care the first time this happens - then she'd have something to think about.
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Women drink-drivers 'disaster waiting to happen'
5:00AM Sunday December 30, 2007
By Rebecca Milne

One in four drink-drivers is now a woman - up from one in 20 - and police say many are driving with children and are a "big disaster waiting to happen".

Alcohol watchdogs are "flabbergasted" by an 1800 per cent increase in the number of women convicted of drink-driving charges.

The figure has risen from 274 in 1980 to 5016 last year, while the number of other offences committed by women remained largely static. During the same period, the number of men convicted of drink-driving rose from 5786 to 16,459 - almost 300 per cent.

"Finally the (female) statistics are catching up with reality and showing us what is going on out there," said Alcohol Healthwatch's Rebecca Williams. "Those statistics are pretty damning and we've really got to think creatively and look to where the evidence suggests we might act. What we are doing currently to address alcohol issues is just not working."

Auckland police road policing manager Heather Wells said one of the most disappointing aspects was women drink-driving with children in the car.

"We [police] are definitely seeing an increase," she said. "For quite a few years, women were right down in the numbers of apprehension. But we've noticed that growing continually over the last few years.

"I think, years ago, a lot more women became the sober driver, but that has changed now. There is a whole cultural change, and we've seen increases in youth drinking and driving as well."

Megan McPherson, spokeswoman for the Sensible Sentencing Trust's Cross Roads group lobbying for harsher penalties for repeat drink and drug drivers, said female drink-driving needed immediate attention.

"Our gender has let us down very badly, I'm flabbergasted by those statistics," McPherson said. "We need to look at it pretty quickly and do more research into why this is happening."

A social marketing campaign geared towards women might help reduce the convictions, she added. "I don't think any female should get her licence back after a third drinking and driving charge. We're going backwards with drink-driving and I think these statistics demonstrate it."

CAUGHT OVER THE LIMIT

In November, Whangarei woman Trevina Baker, 28, is accused of driving at twice the legal limit with six children in her car. Five were allegedly unrestrained.

Two days later, a six-months pregnant Kawerau woman is charged with driving while more than double the legal limit.


On November 23, a 45-year-old Huntly woman is found driving while three times over the legal limit with her two children, aged 5 and 9, and a 4-month-old grandson in the car.

A day later, a four-year-old girl is thrown from the car her mother is driving near Huia. The mother allegedly kept driving the car before crashing. She was charged with drink-driving.

On November 28, a 23-year-old woman with three children in her car is stopped in Karapiro and found to be over the limit.

On December 5, a heavily pregnant 23-year-old woman is caught while allegedly three times over the legal limit in the Bay of Plenty.

You're absolutely right in your observations Monica - my grandson's mother is enabling my son's dysfunctional lifestyle. To summarise:

* she tells me she "doesn't have a lot of faith in my son, but she's trying to have a good relationship with him". She has this 'romantic' view that by being 'nice' to my son, she can perhaps change his ways.

* My response to this, is why would he need to change if he gets everything he wants?

* Ah - but, she also thinks she's in the position of power (control), because if my son does anything unwise with respect to the care of his son, then she can withdraw privileges - as in extra access to his son. But this is always AFTER the fact.

I have worked hard to achieve a very good relationship with my grandson's mother, but we have had some major bust-up's over this in recent times. At a time when she was also having problems with my son, I made my CYFS Notification - CYFS took so long to respond to it that she had sorted it out herself (that time) - and told them she didn't want to take any further action. I was gutted. We had an opportunity to have something done, and she threw it away.

All I want is for some boundaries to be put in place for my son. He hates me because of that. He lives on his own because he can't sustain a relationship, and so no-one knows what goes on when my grandson is there.

For my grandson's 4th birthday my son bought him a motorbike. Not a 3-wheeler - an upright 2 wheeler, and when my grandson was perched on it, his feet were 6 inches off the ground. Now at age 5, my grandson tells me he can do wheelies on it. This is a case of my son wanting to be his son's friend rather than a parent - it makes him proud that his son can ride a proper motorbike when other 5 year-olds are still mastering a bicycle. And yes, my first call was to a Motorcycle Retailer, and there is NO minimum age for riding a motorbike. The only advice the retailer gave my son was that his son should continue to wear his bicycle helmet because the weight of a proper motorcycle helmet might choke him if he fell off. !!!!!

Headline in our local paper last week: "A 6 year-old boy received critical head injuries when he fell from the the motorbike he was riding in his family's backyard."

My whole point in this exercise it not to stop people's "fun". Accidents will always happen - but we need to minimise the risks. Putting children in the care of people whose judgement is impaired through substance abuse, is risky for the child.

I have tried everything I can. Three years ago I took a text message I received from my son to his local Community Constable. It said he was "going to go back on the Class A drugs". In our day, the Community Constable would go and have a talk to people like my son. He wasn't interested.

More recently I have informed my son's local Police that I'm not happy about the motorbike situation - they have added that to his already lengthy file;

I have told CYFS of my concerns - but no-one is interested. UNTIL my grandon is injured.

What more can I do??? Kidnap my grandson?

This doesn't just apply to my grandson - it applies to all children being cared for by people who have - or are still using drugs. So we have to get CYFS to change.

CYFS have to come into the real world and realise that you can't put a plaster cast on a drug user and it will all be better in 6 weeks. Drugs interfere with brain function. The effects, even after you've stopped using drugs, last a very long time, and it's so difficult to stop using drugs that many succumb to relapses.

So this year I will continue my campaign to get early intervention of drug users when families ask for it, and now I'm targeting CYFS to put the children first and for loss of 'rights' for drug users, with respect to caring for their children.

All I really want is a quiet life - but how can I just turn a blind eye to my grandson's wellbeing? He's such a beautiful, loving boy - wiser than his father - I'll do whatever I have to, to keep him - and other children in this situation, safe.

Here we have a situation where the females seem to be enabling the male in his dysfunction.Drugtaking is symptomatic of a deeper disease.Would that be control in this case which he seems to be able to do with everyone involved in this case? Why does the mother keep taking this child into what you consider to be an unsafe place with no-one monitoring the situation? If he chooses the behaviour, then he chooses the consequences, don't take him there to be unsafe. It makes the mother stupid doing the same thing and expecting different results.