The "speed and efficiency" the Government has applied to New Zealand's Covid-19 response needs to be directed to addressing child poverty, the Children's Commissioner says.
Judge Frances Eivers told Q+A with Jack Tame the pandemic had "got in the way".
Asked by Tame if the Government was acting with the speed and at the scale the child poverty crisis warrants, Eivers replied: "I'd have to say no.
"I know there have been real efforts, and I know that Covid's got in the way, but it is something that we need to tackle with the same sort of speed and efficiency.
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"We need to lift those children out of poverty so that they have the same opportunities. And if we do that, then we're going to make a huge difference, not only to them and their lives and even one individual child, but the whole country. And we kind of work on that.
"You know, 70% of the mokopuna are doing fine. 20% of mokopuna are not doing so well. But there's 10% who are really struggling, and we need to get rid of that 10%."
The Salvation Army's 2022 State of the Nation report found child poverty rates remain largely unchanged, with almost one in five children living in benefit dependent households, an increase since the start of the pandemic.
The Government, referencing Stats NZ figures, says it has lifted 66,500 children out of poverty.
"The Government do need to look at the policies that they've got in place. They do need to look at the good programmes that are in place, and it needs to cover all spectrums," Eivers said.
Housing, education and income played a role in this, she said: "It's about getting people back into work, getting their dignity back, letting them have confidence, supporting them in that role.
"I would really urge the Government to get back into looking at child poverty and all of the issues that affect our mokopuna and children across Aotearoa to lift them out of that poverty and deprivation."
The Government is proposing to scrap the children's commissioner role and replace it with a board as part of Oranga Tamariki reforms.
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Eivers said she is urging the Government to "think very, very seriously" about its proposal.
"[The] Children's Commissioner is a strong, independent advocate for children. Everyone knows there's a Children's Commissioner out there who's going to stand up for them and say what needs to be said."
She said the role provides the Government with an opportunity to look at what it is doing and think. "'OK, is that OK for our mokopuna? Is that OK for our children or not?'
"There seems to be a move across Government to set up boards and commissions, and perhaps it's considered that this is the best model, but it's not.
"And I say that because a board is... a group of people who have to - any of us who have sat on boards know that it takes time, it takes energy to form collaborations, to form relationships, to work out how that board can operate effectively. Our children don't have that time. There are issues right here, right now that an advocate needs to stand up for."
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