DIFFERENTLY ABLED . . . & Definitely Able and Willing to Expose the Decades-Long Incompetence, Malfeasance & Cronyism of Two Deeply Corrupt Government Agencies and Their Parliamentary Enablers.

When social worker Graeme Axford, a long-time advocate for families fighting for justice against the corrupt culture of New Zealand’s Ministry for Children ('Oranga Tamariki') and Ministry of Social Development, was goaded by a Ministry staffer to go right ahead and write the expose he’d threatened (‘you’re a retard that can’t string two words together in the right order'), he had all the motivation he needed to do just that.

Actually, the slightly longer story is this:

He’d threatened to write a book after a tipping point event in which an Oranga Tamariki staffer who had lied to the Family Court about a family for whom he was advocating, had handed him an envelope she’d smart-assedly pre-addressed to the Office of the Ombudsman. She'd told Axford: “Go ahead and complain about me. See how far it gets you!”. Whereupon he threatened to write a book, exposing not only that staffer’s antics but also the broader unaccountability of the entire child “protection” system.

Axford (54) has lived with severe dyslexia all his life – but it was only diagnosed at age 30. He can’t spell (at all), read, understand the most basic number sequencing or tell the time, and gets the days of the week muddled in actual practice. He struggles daily with simple tasks like transacting whether in cash or digitally, and calling someone’s phone number.

And written communications, as one might imagine, are not exactly his strong suit. (Certainly, the many jeering managerial and other staff members of Oranga Tamaraki, the Ministry of Social Development, and their Parliamentary ilk, do have a point on that score.)

Debilitatingly Dyslexic . . . But A Steel Trap Mind & Razor-Sharp Verbal Skills

But, notwithstanding the frustratingly “different’ way Axford's neurological circuitry functions, the man has a steel trap mind – and can verbally and eloquently articulate as well as any academic or any senior executive. And certainly (ironically) better than many, if not most, of the Parliamentarians and Public Service staffers who have ostracised him so openly for so long.

First published in 2020, ‘Differently Abled’ is his story. This week, the first copies of Differently Abled 2.0 roll off his publisher’s presses. How did he achieve it? From the more than 10,000 families and individuals he has advocated (in most instances, successfully) for across three-going-on-four decades in their fight for justice against these two Ministries-gone-rogue, several came forward, proactively, with offers of different forms of assistance that made the unlikely project possible.

The book documents the long and winding road from Axford’s “challenging” school years (that, personally, I think are more aptly described as “tortuous”) through his work life (or valiant attempts thereat and the Ministry of Social Development’s multitudinous endeavours to openly thwart), and on through to the genuine social justice warrior he has ultimately become, as he’s selflessly and passionately committed the last 36 years of his life to defending families and individuals targeted by a child "protection" system, and a welfare system, gone totally rogue . . . and shielded, in all its roguery, by equally roguish public servants and politicians at all levels.

Differently Abled 2.0 is, now more than ever, far more than just Axford’s own story. Yes, it’s a very “up close and personal” story of endurance and a level of tenaciousness of which most could not conceive. But it’s also the story of a long and hard battle against government agency and Parliamentary malfeasance, as he’s striven on behalf of an ever-increasing number of families and individuals without the positioning, skills or resources they would have otherwise needed to fight the deeply corrupt and cruel establishment.

The book is the twisty, turny, gnarly tale of horrific actions on the part of agencies, social workers and staff who have weaponised the system against those it is supposedly intended to protect and defend. It’s the tale of intentionally in-built injustices and opportunism, the tale of managerial incompetence and staff malice. It’s the tale of public servants’ lies and total unaccountability. It’s the tale of unholy agency/Parliamentary alliances . . . and of one man’s dogged determination to expose them, break the nepotism and cronyism, and force justice upon the establishment.

Heroic endeavours while, at the same time, navigating life with his own personal severe but invisible disability.

‘THE AXE’

After decades of verbal abuse, ridicule and belittling by agency management and staffers alike, the 2020 release of Differently Abled 1.0 certainly signalled a turning point in the way the now-suddenly somewhat more revered Graeme Axford was viewed – and the seriousness with which he was taken – by “the establishment”.

“I guess you could also say the book has been a large and prominent middle finger in response to the years of ridicule and insults,” says Axford. “Simpleton”, “spasticated retard”, an “imbecile of the highest order”, a “genie-arse” and a “cerebral assassin” to recite just a few.

“It’s interesting, though, how I went from being a ‘spasticated retard’, to suddenly then a ‘vexatious, frivolous, vitriolic, nihilist who suffers from apoplexy’, and ‘a feral inbred with a lynch-mob mentality’ - per the written comments I've seen subsequent to my book's original publication.

"I’ll take those upgrades as a compliment. At least I’m worth taking seriously now!”

The publication of Differently Abled changed the tune of one official who had once advised him, 'Learn to read, write and spell before you even attempt to tell me how to do my job”, to “I saw your quote in the book about me and you’ve got a fantastic memory . . . so we’re going to have to watch you on that.'

“Nowadays, they're begrudgingly careful in how they speak to and deal with me,” Axford muses. “More ‘professional’ . . . because they’re worried that I might name them in any sequel, which I’ve absolutely threatened to do. And I meant it, too."

He says the only reason he’s refrained from naming specific individuals to date, is that “they’d use it against me to find a way to prevent me from representing my advocacy clients in dealings with those same staffers.”

Skilful & Shrewd Advocate

Truth be told, the powers that shouldn’t be, have been taking him seriously a long time since.

Axford can hold his own on behalf of those for whom he so skilfully and shrewdly advocates, against the seasoned lying of Oranga Tamariki staffers and social workers in environments from family group conferences, to the Chief Executive Advisory Panel (CEAP i.e. the final phase of the “complaints” system), to the Family Court.

Just some of the advancements he’s forced to be implemented, and just some of the injustices he’s forced to be righted, have included the actual establishment of the CEAP, the introduction of a central complaints database (in an effort to materially reduce the many complaints that were regularly allowed to “slip between the cracks”), and the exposures that resulted from the many presentations he assisted with to the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry (2018-2024), and (as a result of the first of his six Parliamentary petitions, as you will read below) the triggering of the 2013 official review of the Child, Youth & Family complaints system.

And . . . in amongst all of that, is the between two and three families he has, and continues to, help each week with detailed, and usually in-person, representations.

Not A Brass Razoo

What should be mentioned before I go any further with this piece, is that – wait for it – Axford does everything he does in a totally voluntary capacity. He charges not a brass razoo to anyone. Ever. He wants nothing more than justice and an end to the corruption and cruelty metered out, unaccountably, by Oranga Tamariki and the Ministry of Social Development. And the blind eyes wilfully turned to it, by their Parliamentary accomplices.

But acting in the capacity of a McKenzie Friend in the courtroom to help those for whom he so passionately and selflessly advocates has been only a part of the journey and part of this very colourful, often entertaining and always-emotional, story.

Lies, Lies and More Damn Lies . . . That Come with Horrendous Consequences

Axford – himself the victim of horrendous actions by the Ministry of Social Development in the earlier part of his life, including but certainly not limited to, the active prevention of his being able to work in his chosen field with the full and proper recognition of his qualifications, along with some industrial-grade defamation – took up cudgels against the Ministry of Social Development and Oranga Tamariki, when (following the shocking and unnecessary removal of a child from his wider family circle), he increasingly witnessed the malice-driven actions of many staff and management members of these two institutions.

Having had his eyes opened to the “workings” of these outfits, he welcomed the invitation he received, in 1989, to be part of a West Coast advocacy group that acted on behalf of community members who needed help navigating or defending themselves against any facet of bureaucracy.

The fuel that fanned the fire in his belly to run his ongoing marathon and fight his mammoth “David vs Goliath” battle against an abusive, corrupt bureaucracy, started way back then . . . with the litany of hidden horror stories his advocacy work uncovered – one horror case after the other, unceasingly.

By way of a singular case example, one family for which he was advocating against Oranga Tamariki, involved the family’s concern about the honesty of the social worker. The family and Axford had asked that everything in a key interview be recorded and a transcript be provided to them. When Axford and the family received the transcript, he and they could see it was highly inaccurate, so they asked for the actual recording. Oranga Tamariki refused.

With Axford’s guidance, the family applied, under the Privacy Act, for the release of the audio recording.

“The Privacy Commissioner referred the family to the Ombudsman’s Office, saying it was more appropriate to apply for the recording under the Official Information Act," Axford explains.

“The Ombudsman said the Privacy Commissioner was wrong and sent us back there. The Privacy Commissioner disagreed with the Ombudsman’s office, and returned us to them, the Privacy Commissioner restating his original stance that the matter fell under that alternative mandate.

“Then both of them said the whole matter needed to be escalated to the State Services Commission, on the grounds that it was more of an integrity issue than a privacy Issue (the irony being, how could that be proven, without the recording to demonstrate the discrepancy between the recording and the subsequently provided transcript?).

“In the ultimate irony, the State Services Commission said it was an employment matter relating to employee conduct, and sent us back to the very agency we were complaining about i.e. Oranga Tamariki.

“So the end result was nothing, because by the time we went through this entire debacle – three years – Oranga Tamariki had conveniently destroyed the recording. Or so they claimed.”

There were no small ramifications to this whole scenario: The incorrect contents of the transcript – which the family claimed was seriously falsified – was intended for use in a Family Court hearing that would decide whether the children of the family would be removed from the parents and taken into custody.

Which is exactly what had happened: six months after the production of the falsified transcript, and therefore only six months into the three-year circuitous run-around by the above-named agencies, the two children (ages 3 and 5) were erroneously and malfeasantly removed from two loving and competent parents, and remained in foster “care” for six long years, during which time they were severely abused and intentionally traumatised throughout.

Six Parliamentary Petitions from 2011 TO 2019

In amongst all of this, and as a subset of his 36 years of dedicated service to the cause, Graeme Axford has presented no less than six petitions to the New Zealand Parliament (between 2011 and 2019), in an attempt to address the systemic failings in accountability and transparency – with which this horribly weaponisable child “protection” system is riddled.

His first petition met with (in theory) great victory:  He campaigned for the overhaul of the nonfunctional Child, Youth & Family (CYF, later renamed Oranga Tamariki) "complaints" system.

Prior to 2017, CYF had been a sub-department of the Ministry of Social Development. It was then spun off and made a stand-alone agency, as part of a (superficial) re-branding strategy. That meant, in that earlier era, the MSD had had the ultimate responsibility for CYF and its complaints system.

You see the problem.

So Parliament ordered the Howard Broad Review. A former police commissioner, Broad was appropriately scathing of the existing “complaints review” system. His work produced a detailed set of recommendations to address it; none of which were ever implemented.

“It was an overt demonstration of the complete 'law unto themselves' nature of these agencies, at the highest managerial levels, with Parliamentary hand-in-glove nepotism and cronyism,” says Axford.

“There was no intention by the agencies to implement any improvements, and no Parliamentary will to force them to. They simply acted as though Broad’s report did not exist.”

Why?

“Because if there was a functional complaints system, they’d be opening up the floodgates to complaints that they could no longer – under a truly functional system – ignore or leave unaddressed.”

False Hope After False Hope

The 2017 spinning off of CYF from the Ministry of Social Development (and the "creation" of "Oranga Tamariki") had been sparked by a hope that the new agency, with the new name that this strategy justified, would help peel off the country’s ready memory of Child Youth & Family’s deeply scandalised reputation.

“It didn’t work, this very transparent change-of-name strategy,” Axford says. “It was the same people doing the same things they’d always done. Changing the signage outside the building achieved nothing.”

So further petitions ensued, continuing to highlight the issues Parliament doggedly claimed they couldn’t see or that couldn’t be addressed.

This section of Differently Abled lays out the utterly shameful manner in which Axford’s severe dyslexia and associated challenges with the production of written communications, was opportunistically capitalised upon by the parties.

From Parliamentary personnel to the Ombudsman himself, perverse pleasure was repeatedly taken in continually dismissing Axford on the basis that they couldn't understand the written form in which they'd forced him to make his presentations.

The detailed written form in which they'd insisted he must present his case (bearing in mind they were all acutely aware of his severe dyslexia) was reinforced by also refusing him to supplement this material either in-person, via Zoom, or via phone-based verbal presentations (which, they knew, would have put him on at least an even footing with them).

The opposition, however, was of course allowed to present in-person . . . and trudged teams of agency personnel up to Wellington to do so.

After a final tally of six petitions over eight years, repeated opportunism surrounding his personal debilitations, and the evaporation of the Broad Review, Axford could see he would get nowhere by continuing with the petitioning strategy.

A Chance Meeting with Former PM, Sir Geoffrey Palmer KC

He flew to the capital to meet with an internationally renowned human rights lawyer who agreed to take up the fight.

In an astounding "crossed paths" moment, while walking up Willis Street in Central Wellington on his way to said meeting, Axford spotted former Prime Minister and human rights lawyer Sir Geoffrey Palmer heading towards him from the opposite direction.

With a two-page summary of his six petitions fortuitously in hand, Axford accosted him.

Sir Geoffrey’s telling response?

“New Zealand is really good at doing reviews, reports and inquiries, but no good whatsoever at implementing any of them.”

Since Axford's six petitions, and after long battles using the Official Information and Privacy Acts, additional information has finally been unearthed that allows him to prove, inarguably, that the Ministry of Social Development and Child Youth & Family intentionally misled Parliament in response to those petitions.

“It’s provable that they were 'economical with the truth', and in a good number of instances outright lied. And I want it corrected, as a matter of record,” says Axford. “Let’s see where we go from there. You never know with Parliament, but it’s incumbent upon me now to go back to them with what I’ve managed to finally officially uncover, to give them the opportunity to do the right thing.”

The ‘Wellington Bureaucratic Mafia’

The “sad” aspect of all of this – says Axford – is that “there actually are quite a lot of very good, very ‘human’ employees” working in New Zealand’s 53,537 full-time public service roles.

And whilst, to be sure, there are bad eggs throughout every agency at every level, taking advantage of the unaccountable and often malicious broader culture (as Axford’s book spells out in detail), a great many lower-level personnel have little to no idea of the part they are unwittingly enacting in the playing out of the counterproductive “5D" modus operandi engineered within the inner governance sanctums of the agencies and the Parliamentary environment. 

"The employees of a country's public service are paid by the taxpayer to serve its citizens, and at all times to act in their best interests," he says.

"However, the reality is that, in vast majority, the institutions paid to 'care' for New Zealanders, and the watchdog agencies whose sole role is to keep those institutions competent, honest and accountable, are working day in and day out, to achieve exactly the opposite.

"They are working, in fact, with the underlying – and in many cases, shamelessly overt – objective of ensuring the New Zealand public is NOT afforded due 'care', 'justice', or the rights and redress that represent these watchdog agencies’ very reason for existing.

“An analogy might well be – beyond just taking in each others’ washing – they’re actively, on a daily basis, obscuring each others’ dirty laundry from public view.

Next Career Move Attempt Could Be with An Agency They Were Meant to Help Prosecute. Not Gonna Happen, Is It?

“But what else would you expect in a centralised, ‘incestuous’ environment in which employees are ever-cognisant that their very next attempted career move might see their CV tabled before the management or HR of the very agency they just helped prosecute or bring to justice.

“Bottom line: In the NZ Public Service, it ain’t gonna happen.

“They know if one goes down, it can bring the lot of them down. If they were to uncover the wrongdoings of a particular agency or its staff member, they’ll then find there’s a lot more wrongdoing behind that i.e. staff covering for staff, covering for staff, covering for staff.

"And behind that, an entire culture of denial and unaccountability – reaching to the highest levels.

“Like an octopus, the tentacles of Wellington can be seen woven through this rampant, long-established modus operandi.”

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