OT has to pay costs

The Herald reports:

Oranga Tamariki has been ordered to pay more than $100,000 in legal costs over a battle to remove a Māori child from her Pākehā foster parents. 

In her ruling, Justice Helen Cull is also critical of Oranga Tamariki’s ‘egregious’ campaign to discredit the foster parents.

The $108,000 indemnity costs stem from a battle over the long-term care of the girl, given the pseudonym “Moana” under automatic suppression orders for all those involved in the case, according to a High Court ruling. …

“I accept the Smiths’ submission that there was a campaign by OT [Oranga Tamariki] against them to discredit them and this was pursued on appeal.

“The egregious aspect of this approach is that [Oranga Tamariki] continued to discredit and undermine the Smiths on appeal … the Smiths had no other option than to defend themselves in order to continue to care for Moana, to whom they were committed.”

The least that should happen for the poor foster parents who were attacked by OT for basically being the wrong ancestry.