Te Iwi Māori are over-represented in every negative health statistic. The Māori Health Authority was an opportunity to change that.
Te Iwi Māori are over-represented in every negative health statistic. The Māori Health Authority was an opportunity to change that.
OPINION
The Government’s decision to scrap Te Aka Whai Ora Māori Health Authority and the repeal of the Smokefree Environments Legislation marks the beginning of a troubling chapter in the history of Hauora Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Many comprehensive reviews of our healthcare system here in Aotearoa revealed some deeply entrenched issues, including institutional racism, and systemic failures that perpetuated inequalities for Māori. Te Aka Whai Ora emerged as an opportunity to right some of those historic wrongs.
New Zealand has become a world leader in reducing tobacco harm since the original Māori Affairs select committee inquiry into tobacco harm on Māori. It was a National government which initiated Smokefree 2025 and it is a National government which is unbundling Smokefree in 2024.
Janice Kuka, a lead claimant in the ongoing Waitangi Tribunal urgent inquiry into the dismantling of Te Aka Whai Ora, aptly describes the Māori Health Authority as “the closest model of tino rangatiratanga in hauora Māori in history”.
However, the Government seems intent on sending us back in time, abandoning smokefree aspirations and relegating an independent hauora Māori voice into the mainstream machinery of Te Whatu Ora, Health NZ.
Hūhana Lyndon is a Green Party List MP based in Whangārei
Purposely rushing these bills through urgency, just days before the urgent inquiry was to be held by the Waitangi Tribunal, and without any meaningful engagement with the public, is a betrayal of democracy and a blatant breach of te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Te Aka Whai Ora is a dedicated group of around 300 kaimahi, all of whom are committed Māori health professionals. The Government claims that it is scrapping a Wellington bureaucracy, but this is nothing more than cynical spin - in fact, Te Aka Whai Ora has staff across the motu, working in regions and hospitals to improve Māori health outcomes in their hāpori (community).
The repeal of our Smokefree Legislation is outrageous, Minister Costello failed at every point to provide a clear rationale for the repeal and maintained the party line of “its in the coalition agreement, so we are doing it”. There is no evidence base to support the repeal but there is clear evidence of the negative health impact that will occur as a consequence of this decision.
There are many iwi, hapū and whānau across the motu who feel cheated by this Government, and rightfully so. Every tangata whenua you know could tell you a story of a whānau member, a friend, a brother, a cousin, who died far too young from preventable illness and disease.
New Zealand has become a world leader in reducing tobacco harm since the original Māori Affairs select committee inquiry into tobacco harm on Māori. Photo / Getty Images
The scrapping of Te Aka Whai Ora and repeal of Smokefree Legislation will have a direct impact on Māori and low socio-economic communities, including our Pasifika whanaunga, across the country.
Statistics tell us that the life expectancy of a Māori is, on average, seven years shorter than non-Māori. Te Iwi Māori are over-represented in every negative health statistic. The Māori Health Authority was an opportunity to change that. It was an opportunity to close the gaps and be a part of a joined-up waka hourua (double-hulled canoe) being a part of the design and commissioning of services, and empowering local hapū iwi and communities to plan health services in their regions.
The Prime Minister shared at Waitangi this year, “I want Te Aō Māori to thrive. When Māori do well, we all know it, New Zealand does well.”
I ask this Government, how does scrapping Te Aka Whai Ora and Smokefree Legislation support Māori to thrive? Simply put - it doesn’t.
Hūhana Lyndon is a Green Party List MP based in Whangārei, Te Tai Tokerau. Lyndon’s portfolios include health, Māori development, Whānau Ora and forestry. She is a proud descendant of Ngāti Hine, Ngātiwai, Ngāti Whātua, Te Waiariki and Ngāpuhi.
