'Chronic underperformance by Oranga Tamariki' - family lawyer

A Family Court judge has raised triple red flags with the very top of Oranga Tamariki about child abuse in the Hutt Valley. It comes as lawyers' claim the agency is struggling to cope, with one reporting there may be 100 cases of suspected child abuse in the region that had gone uninvestigated. Chris Nicholls, a Lower Hutt family court lawyer who's on the Hutt court's management committee, says it's symptomatic of chronic problems. He spoke with RNZ reporter Phil Pennington