Jo Raphael: Royal Commission of Inquiry needed into violent child deaths

Nevaeh Ager's body was found at Little Waihi near Maketu. Photo / File

Nevaeh Ager was only 2 years old when she died.

I expect she would have been excitedly waiting for the arrival of her baby brother. But she never got to meet him.

Nevaeh was killed while her mother was in hospital giving birth.

Her little body was found in the tidal flats of the Little Waihi estuary in Maketū - killed by her father Aaron Izett, who was high on P.

He was convicted earlier this month of her murder.

Her tragic death is the latest in a long line of incredibly sad and unacceptable child deaths in New Zealand.

And it doesn't seem to be a problem we are overcoming.

An Independent Police Complaints Authority investigation found police mishandled a 111 call from Nevaeh's great-grandmother, Niki Sturgess.

She wanted help getting her great-grandchild out of the house in Maketu because she was concerned about Izett's behaviour

She was told police did not have the power to intervene because she and her husband did not have custody of Nevaeh.

Police did not send anyone to do a welfare check at the house.

Nevaeh was found dead the next day in the estuary, weighted down with rocks.

Police say they let Nevaeh and her family down.

But her father also let her down. He was the person she should have been able to rely on for protection, comfort, and nurturing.

Nevaeh's death has some sickening parallels with 6-year-old Coral Burrows, who in 2003 was beaten to death and hidden under a bush by her stepfather, Stephen Williams.

He was also high on P at the time. Williams is now serving a life sentence in prison.

Chris and Cru Kahui, Nia Glassie, JJ Ruhe-Lawrence, Jyniah Te Awa, Moko Rangitoheriri.

These are some of the names of children who should today be growing, living, thriving.

Instead, their lives were cut short by violence or neglect.

Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death in children (1–14 years) in New Zealand; there are about 8.4 unintentional injury-related deaths per 100,000 children (aged 0 to 14) annually, according to the New Zealand Medical Journal.

In 2016 NZME reported New Zealand has the fifth-worst child abuse record out of 31 OECD countries and on average a child is killed here every five weeks.

It's now 2020 and what has changed?

Despite all the hand-wringing and calls to action, children are still dying at the hands of those who are meant to care for them.

We, as a country, don't seem to be able to solve the problem.

It's time for a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

We need tighter more robust systems in place to identify vulnerable children and families.

Do current authorities have enough powers to prevent these deaths?

We too, as a community, must speak up when we see something that is not quite right but we need someone to speak up to - and we must be assured our concerns will be taken seriously.

The issue is a complicated one – drugs, family violence, poverty are all factors.

But it's one we must tackle. Lives of vulnerable, innocent children depend on it.