Viewpoint – A fair go for children

Recently I attended the premier screening of “Celia”, about the life and work of Celia Lashlie, which was filmed in part during the last year of her life. Celia was one of those wonderfully passionate women who married and had kids young, then did her degree after her marriage ended.

But it was her working life that allowed her to see what was right and wrong in society. She was a probation officer and then a prison officer – the first woman officer in a New Zealand men’s prison. She was later the manager of Christchurch Women’s Prison. After that, she worked in what was then called the Specialist Education Service. The release of this film seems particularly timely in light of current conversations around the effectiveness of our prison system to rehabilitate so that we can all live in a safer society.

People like Celia get called ‘social advocates’. I’d describe her as someone who cared about the things that matter in society, people. In particular boys and how they become good men. As a mother of two sons, I read her book “He’ll Be OK” several times. Celia got fame and sometimes notoriety for saying the things that those of us who have been around a few generations see as common sense – that men need to step up and play a constructive part in boys’ lives if they’re going to learn the right lessons and, of course, that mums and women have a huge role to play, but sometimes they need to step back.
It’s the sort of film that you need to see from time to time. One that’s real and reminds you of what good people can do. For me, there was a bit of personal reflection, and it also touched on some of the practical things that I’m having to think about in my job as Minister for Children.

Here I’m referring to the Child Wellbeing Strategy that I’m working on with the Prime Minister. This is about recognising that not every child in New Zealand gets the support they need to become a good adult. You all know how important family is. You know the effect a family’s circumstances can have on children for good and for bad. And how every child wants to be loved, especially by their family. Most of us are lucky in that our families and some basic government services, like the public education and health systems, provide all the things that children need. But we don’t want to have a society where a child’s wellbeing and future – his or her health and safety and education – is down to luck. New Zealand is a country where every child should have a decent chance and I, with my colleagues, are working hard to make that every child’s reality.

Tracey Martin, NZ First MP
martinmp@parliament.govt.nz