Maori children are being denied their basic human rights, Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres said.
The Maori Affairs Select Committee is holding an inquiry into the wellbeing of Maori children.
Mr de Bres this morning told the committee Maori children had basic rights to be free from discrimination, for their language and culture to be respected and nourished, to have an adequate standard of living and to health, education, safety and housing.
“This is not the case for many Maori children at present.”
Of the quarter of a million Maori children in New Zealand, a third were living in poverty and hardship, he said.