Act Leader David Seymour with Health Minister Dr Shane Reti.
Act Leader David Seymour with Health Minister Dr Shane Reti.
Act Party leader David Seymour said Te Whatu Ora must concentrate on people’s physical wellbeing and leave their spiritual wellbeing to self-management or others.
On Monday, Act health spokesperson Todd Stephenson says some Te Whatu Ora staff were incorporating karakia into their daily routine, which had a flow-on effect for patients.
Stephenson said that was inappropriate and a distraction from the organisation’s work.
“To be clear, if someone wants to pray on their own time, that is their business. But they shouldn’t be paid or encouraged to do it by a government department,” Stephenson said.
He was critical of the practise, and his boss Seymour agrees, despite MPs being forced to listen to a prayer before every parliamentary session, which is read by the Speaker.
“It would never be acceptable to have a Catholic ritual or have to observe Japanese customs,” Seymour said.
“We do not believe in forcing any particular culture. We believe in a public sphere, where all people can participate on equal terms.”
Act MP Todd Stephenson.
Te Ao Māori News asked Stephenson for comment on the difference between a karakia and a prayer and asked: “If you are so opposed to karakia, will you oppose the prayer said in Parliament?”
Stephenson said he was open to changing the parliamentary prayer.
A leaked email to Te Whatu Ora staff reads: “We encourage everyone to incorporate karakia daily. To help support you with this we have created some pre-recorded videos to learn karakia. Our resource is designed to give you some options that will enable you to learn and develop your confidence and skills. Note over time we will be adding more recordings for you to choose from.”
Health New Zealand CE Margi Apa with new Health NZ Commissioner Professor Lester Levy.
Health NZ chief executive Margie Apa said many groups chose to begin their day and meetings with karakia but it was a resource offered as an option.
“We do much of our work in teams and join up across our services as teams of teams to deliver care. How our people connect with each other is where value is created for patients,” Apa said.
“We have a range of resources in the organisation that support teams to build ways of working that recognises this, and karakia is one of those resources.”
Apa said it was not a required practice but Health NZ encouraged reflection when their teams gathered to ensure collaboration and were aligned on how they can make a difference for patients.
