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RNZ News
28-05-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Mainstream health system failing Māori, Waitangi Tribunal told
Deputy Director-General of Māori Health John Whaanga. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The Waitangi Tribunal has been told the health system is failing Māori with one woman detailing how her son has been let down multiple times. Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority, was set up in 2022 but the government scrapped it last year and the Tribunal is scrutinising the decision as well as asking what the plan is now for improving Māori health. The second part of the Tribunal's inquiry into the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora has been running since the start of the week. Maia Honetana from Ngāti Tu ki Tai Tokerau told the Tribunal on Monday multiple government agencies failed to help her son Akira, who suffers from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and ADHD. Honetana said instead of helping him they blamed her and her family for his condition, resulting in a poor education and a one-way ticket to prison. A dedicated Māori Health Authority when her son was young have made all the difference, she said, and she was furious the young agency was scrapped. "I find it really appalling that this government could even think about striking us out and putting us at the bottom, just because they want to. "Just because they somehow have this power to just do that, to scrap it whenever they feel like it." The mainstream health system had not worked for her whānau, Honetana said. "I know that I'm not alone, I'm one of many. "My case should be unique, it shouldn't just be one of many Māori that have suffered the consequences of not having a Māori-based health system or Māori Authority to basically look after us and take care of our needs." Deputy Director General of Health Māori John Whaanga provided evidence on behalf of the Crown and when asked by the Tribunal what exactly will replace Te Aka Whai Ora, defended the government's ongoing approach to improving Māori health. "Your point is that there is nothing new since the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora. I'm responding by saying that I don't quite understand that question. "We continue to work on a stratergy for government on Māori health, which we would have been doing with Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority if they were still in place." Whaanga said. Whaanga and Crown lawyers could not give the exact details on what the government has planned for improving Māori Health, but evidence submitted to the Tribunal shows the role Iwi Māori Partnership Boards (IMPB) have in developing and actioning Māori health policy. Moe Milne from Ngāti Hine told the Tribunal the short-lived health authority made progress connecting small Maori providers with the government. "It wasn't 'happy families' with Te Aka Whau Ora but they went out of their way to not only come once for a consultation, they came several times to check, ring - we did several Zooms. "What we lost was the discussion about what should happen next, that's the biggest loss." Milne said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
25-05-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Crown Withdraws Only Witness & Evidence Ahead Of Urgent Waitangi Tribunal Hearing Into Māori Health Reforms
Māori health claimants Lady Tureiti Moxon and Janice Kuka are sounding the alarm over what they describe as the Crown's systematic dismantling of Māori-led health reform. They warn that the calculated repeal of Te Aka Whai Ora — the Māori Health Authority — has triggered widespread confusion, inefficiencies, and the quiet erosion of kaupapa Māori structures ultimately impacting whānau. Back in 2023 they tried to bring the matter urgently before the Tribunal before the Government's repeal deadline, procedural delays meant the Tribunal lost jurisdiction to intervene in time. Now the priority Waitangi Tribunal hearing is scheduled from Monday 26 May to Friday 30 May 2025. 'The disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora has removed the one structure that responded to those historical breaches. It has brought back the same patterns I described twenty years ago. This isn't a system failing by accident — it is a conscious decision to return to Crown control and institutional racism,' said Lady Tureiti Moxon, Managing Director of Te Kōhao Health. But in a last-minute development late this afternoon, the Crown formally withdrew its only witness and the brief of evidence of Mr John Whaanga — who had been scheduled for cross-examination — from the upcoming urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing starting on Monday. The Crown also indicated that the Minister of Health is currently reviewing system settings within the public health sector, particularly the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022. Crown Law advised that the details of this work programme remain confidential, with Cabinet yet to make any final decisions. Advertisement - scroll to continue reading The Crown said in a Memorandum: 'This means that the Crown's participation in this part of the priority inquiry is now constrained as Crown officials are not authorised to talk about how present settings might be changed.' The Waitangi Tribunal replied immediately confirming that the hearing will go ahead next week, allowed the Crown to remove the evidence from their only planned witness, John Whaanga, and advised new evidence can be filed by the Crown by 9am on Monday. The hearing will start by discussing this last-minute change and then decide how the rest of the week will run. The priority hearing is due to investigate: What are the Crown's alternative plans to address Māori health in lieu of a Māori Health Authority, and what steps were taken in developing such plans? Was the Crown's process in developing those plans consistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles? Are the Crown's alternative plans themselves consistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles? The onus is on the Crown to demonstrate the existence, integrity, and Treaty compliance of these alternative plans. 'The Crown must prove what their alternative plans are — and that those plans are genuine, Treaty-compliant, and effective,' said Lady Tureiti. In their evidence submitted to the Tribunal, the claimants — both pivotal figures in the original WAI 2575 Inquiry that led to the landmark 2019 Hauora Report recommending a Māori Health Authority — described a dramatic sector-wide shift since the disestablishment. They cite a return to rigid bureaucracy, heightened auditing and surveillance, and the marginalisation of Māori voice and leadership. 'Right now, we see a system forcing us to translate whakapapa-based, whānau-centred work into endless tick-box reports that change every few weeks. It's exhausting and undermines real outcomes,' said Janice Kuka, Managing Director of Ngā Mataapuna Oranga. Health New Zealand Chair Rob Campbell, former Health New Zealand Chair is one of the expert witnesses in support of the claim. The claimants evidence highlights how kaupapa Māori providers have lost the visibility and prioritisation they once held under Te Aka Whai Ora. 'When Te Aka Whai Ora existed, we were seen. We were contacted. We were valued as Māori providers,' Kuka said. 'Now, it's back to open-market tendering on GETS. The result? Contracts are being lost to large, non-Māori organisations with Māori-sounding names or enrolment numbers — not whakapapa connections to our people.' Lady Tureiti also submitted where providers like her organisation, Te Kōhao has exceeded its contractual targets — such as in maternity and early childhood through the Kahu Taurima programme — it's still being asked to re-report, re-code, and defend its success. The claimants assert that the Crown's current approach represents a return to the very inequities and systemic discrimination Te Aka Whai Ora Māori Health Authority was created to address. 'Te Aka Whai Ora Māori Health Authority gave us the tools to commission services by Māori, for Māori — free from the racism and excessive scrutiny we faced under the old regime,' said Lady Tureiti. When the Government announced its plan to repeal Te Aka Whai Ora in November 2023 — less than 18 months after the Authority was formally established under the Pae Ora Act — it marked a significant reversal of progress. The Waitangi Tribunal had previously found the Crown in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi for failing to design a health system that addressed Māori health inequities or upholds tino rangatiratanga. Establishing a Māori Health Authority was one of its core recommendations. 'We warned that the Crown was deliberately rushing through this repeal of Te Aka Whai Ora Maori Health Authority to avoid scrutiny. This isn't just administrative change — it's a calculated rollback of Māori rights and progress,' said Janice Kuka. 'We will continue to hold the Crown to account for its obligations under Te Tiriti. Māori deserve a health system that works — not one that works against us.
