Reserved decision — guardianship — custody — Oranga Tamariki Act 1989, ss 2, 4, 4A, 5, 6, 7AA, 11, 13, 67, 101, 178 & 197 — Care of Children Act 2004 — Paterson v CE, Matenga [2019] NZHC 444 — Chief Executive of Oranga Tamariki v AR [2020] NZFC 4046 — L v P [2020] NZFC 11387 — Chief Executive v Wallace [2021] NZFC 6445 — McHugh v McHugh [2022] NZHC 1174 — Chief Executive of Oranga Tamariki v MQ [2021] NZFC 9089 — WAI 2915 Waitangi Tribunal Report 2021 — United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, arts 8.1 & 30 — United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The case concerned a seven-year old child who had lived with a caregiver for most of his life. With the support of the Chief Executive, the child's biological mother (the applicant) sought for the child to come and live with her. The caregiver left the decision to the Court, while the child himself preferred to remain with his caregiver. The child had had some contact with the applicant but very little with his biological father, who had been in prison for much of the child's life. In earlier judgments the Court had found that the applicant was not violent and was able to parent the child; the reason for the child's removal was concerns that the child's biological father had been violent towards the applicant, and the applicant did not seem to appreciate the damage that this could do to the child. The applicant had since ended her relationship with the father, and the father had remarried. The Court examined expert evidence, the relevant principles of the Care of Children Act, and recent caselaw that was relevant to the importance of maintaining the child's connection to his Māori and Cook Island heritage. Both the applicant and the caregiver had shortcomings in terms of meeting the child's cultural needs, although both had made efforts. The party best-placed to meet the child's cultural needs was his father; however nobody had proposed a move to the father's care. Psychological evidence favoured trialling a move to the applicant's care. The purposes and principles of the Oranga Tamariki Act also ultimately favoured such a move; in particular, the principle that the Court is to promote te ao Māori values, including a preference for raising children in kin- rather than non-kin settings. The Court made a ruling that the child be moved to the care of the applicant on a trial basis, with allowances for frequent contact between the child and the caregiver. The child was to remain with the caregiver for Christmas 2022, with the expectation that he spend Christmas 2023 with the applicant. Judgment Date: 1 November 2022 * * * Note: names have been changed to comply with legal requirements. * * *