Child abuse a Maori problem – Dunne

United Future leader Peter Dunne says the kind of child abuse suffered by Nia Glassie and the Kahui twins is a Maori problem which Maori must sort out.

Maori should not only recognise and deal with Maori who were child abusers but also those who stood aside and did nothing to stop them, he said.

"It's time to stop pretending that the kind of child abuse suffered by Nia Glassie and the Kahui twins is not a Maori problem.

"Within some families there is a culture of cover-up and collaboration that condones long-term child abuse," Mr Dunne said.

"While it is only a small minority within Maori where this level of violence and the culture of cover-up exists, it seems to be deeply embedded," he said.

All that had been achieved after the murders of Cris and Cru Kahui had been handwringing and navel gazing.

Now Nia, a Rotorua three-year-old, is recovering in Starship from critical injuries allegedly sustained after weeks of abuse at the hands of her whanau.

Mr Dunne said while the focus was on the perpetrators of these heinous crimes, in almost all cases there were a number of people who saw and knew about the abuse but did nothing.

"It cannot be acceptable for whanau and communities to turn a blind eye to despicable acts of violence and infanticide just as it is equally unacceptable for others," he said.

Mr Dunne said those aware of such abuse who did nothing should also be held to account, rather than the current situation where they had virtual impunity.

Prime Minister Helen Clark told reporters it was "reprehensible" if people were aware of the toddler's abuse but did not come forward.

But it also seemed incredible the wider family, neighbour and community were not aware of the toddler's abuse.

Rather than being a Maori problem, Miss Clark said child abuse was a "community problem".

"It occurs in all our communities. In these cases it appears to be from Maori whanau. I think as with all our communities we need greater engagement within each one about how to deal with these issues more effectively."

Miss Clark said the Ministry of Social Development was in September launching an awareness campaign about violence against children.

One of its key messages was "getting a sense of community ownership of the issue and encouraging people not to let these things go on under their nose".

Maori Party MP Te Ururoa Flavell said it was intolerable for any child to be subjected to the levels of abuse seen in New Zealand.

No excuses could be made, nor should people revert to blaming and shaming as the solution of what the medical specialists were calling a national scandal.

He said the greatest power lay with extended whanau, and all the inquiries in the world would come to nothing if basic connections were not made at whanau and community level.

"We need to become responsible family members, to challenge negative and violent actions, we need to become good neighbours by intervening when we see negative and violent actions or reporting such incidents. We all need to take responsibility. Perhaps we should all become our brothers, sisters and children's keepers," he said.

National welfare spokeswoman Judith Collins said the Government had promised action when the Kahui twins died.

She said the promise to identify clusters of at-risk families had never happened, and cross-party talks on child violence ended up largely being a repackaging of policies which the Government was already rolling out.

"The time for hand-wringing and hui is over."

United Future MP Judy Turner said the cross-party talks to combat child abuse could be saved from continuing to be a "do-nothing talk fest".

"My hope is that a new government rep on the multi-party group will be able to do what David Benson-Pope could not; that is, bring all parties to the table and nut out a basis for ongoing parliamentary action based on cross-party agreement," she said.

- NZPA