Lady Tureiti Moxon is chairwoman of the National Urban Māori Authority and managing director of Te Kohao Health. Photo / NZME
Lady Tureiti Moxon is chairwoman of the National Urban Māori Authority and managing director of Te Kohao Health. Photo / NZME
Opinion by Lady Tureiti Moxon
Lady Tureiti Moxon is chairwoman of the National Urban Māori Authority and managing director of Te Kohao Health.
THREE KEY FACTS
The Regulatory Standards Bill aims to improve the quality of regulation in New Zealand so regulatory decisions are based on principles of “good law-making and economic efficiency”.
The Ministry for Regulation is seeking feedback on the proposed contents of the Bill.
The proposed Regulatory Standards Bill, currently under consideration by the Ministry for Regulation, poses a dangerous direct threat to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the rights of Māori.
This is about the privileged wanting to maintain their hold on power and control – the continuation of that system of domination, suppression, exploitation and assimilation we know as colonialism.
As someone who has spent decades advocating for Māori health, education, and justice, I cannot remain silent while such a regressive and covert racist piece of legislation is considered.
This bill seeks to establish principles for creating laws and regulations in New Zealand – an act that impacts the legislative framework, law-making, and governance, yet it fails to honour Te Tiriti.
Instead, it flagrantly promotes a flawed concept of “equality,” ignoring the systemic inequities Māori face daily. They are completely different concepts.
Equality = being treated the same, having the same opportunities, rights, or resources, regardless of any differences. It implies that everyone has access to the same resources and opportunities, regardless of their race, gender, financial position or background.
Inequity = unfairness or injustice in the distribution of resources, opportunities, or treatment. It acknowledges that there are disparities, often because of historical, social, or systemic factors, which result in unequal access to opportunities or outcomes. It recognises that not everyone starts from the same place or has the same access, leading to disparities.
This has been well traversed in evidence in the Waitangi Tribunal and High Court proceedings – remember the 2021 judgment of Gwyn J concerning the Ministry of Health?
This High Court decision ordered the ministry to change its decision that was refusing the release of Māori data to expedite the identification of whānau for the Covid-19 vaccination programme.
The ministry was found not to have adequate regard to Te Tiriti and its principles, as informed by tikanga.
Therefore, by prioritising equality over equity, the bill risks another repeat of this happening over and over again which will completely undermine our tino rangatiratanga and disregard the enduring responsibility to honour commitments made under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
The articles of Te Tiriti; Kawanatanga (Article One) – governance, tino rangatiratanga (Article Two) – absolute authority and Ōritetanga (Article Three) – Equality are critical here.
They have paramountcy because the principles of Te Tiriti arise from them.
Tureiti Moxon
At Te Kōhao Health, a marae-based medical clinic at Kirikiriroa Marae in Hamilton, our moemoeā – our dream – has always been to care for our people.
What began as a small clinic has grown into a multifaceted organisation delivering 35 health, education, social, and Whānau Ora services, employing 350 staff, 85% of whom are Māori. It’s the same with the National Urban Māori Authority that I chair, which includes Te Kōhao Health as a member alongside other organisations, including our affiliate, the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency with partners across Te Ika-a-Maui.
Yet, despite our best collective efforts, we are constantly battling systemic discrimination embedded in laws and policies. These fail to reflect the lived realities of Māori, further perpetuating the inequities that Te Tiriti was meant to address.
The proposed bill mirrors the identical flawed thinking that was in the Treaty Principles Bill by placing undue emphasis on “equality”.
This is a fallacy because it overlooks the long tail of colonialism that has been built on the misappropriation of power and resources – and most of all that conqueror mindset.
Which has morphed into cumulative policy and practices that cause structural entrenched inequities leading to poor Māori outcomes in health, education, justice, and beyond.
Aside from jurisprudence, research and Waitangi Tribunal reports ad infinitum evidence the established and maintained advantage for non-Māori versus the disadvantage suffered by Māori which is gravely prejudicial.
Happening always within the wider determinants of health (social, political, environmental and economic), and within health itself. And what are those determinants in reality?
Māori face significant health inequities: they live on average, seven years less than non-Māori, have a cardiovascular disease death rate that is double, endure a child mortality rate one-and-a-half times higher for their tamariki, and experience disproportionately higher rates of cancer diagnoses and deaths.
Māori children are disproportionately failed by the education system. By secondary school, Māori students are more than half a curriculum level behind their non-Māori peers. Māori students represent only 12.5% of all domestic university students which is one in every eight undertaking bachelors-level study, compared to one in every five non-Māori. Research has confirmed that teacher bias and low expectations are significant issues impacting Māori students’ educational experiences.
Māori are over-represented in the criminal justice system and in state care. Māori account for 42% of all criminal apprehensions, despite comprising approximately 12.5% of the general population aged 15 and over. Māori make up 50% of the prison population. For every 1000 tamariki Māori, nine were in care, compared to two for non-Māori children.
Equality assumes a level playing field, but for Māori, the field has been tilted against us for generations causing inequity.
Laws and policies have consistently disadvantaged our people, from the confiscation of land under native land laws to today’s systemic inequities. The Regulatory Standards Bill not only ignores this reality but threatens to perpetuate and entrench inequity further.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi guaranteed Māori would keep the tino rangatiratanga that we had always had – for most of the history of Aotearoa Māori had full authority over our lives, resources and whenua – land which the Crown wanted.
This reaffirmed the promise in the 1835 Declaration of Independence and has been acknowledged by the Waitangi Tribunal. Yet, this bill dismisses those commitments, ignoring the Crown’s legal obligation to honour Te Tiriti. You cannot sidestep this.
The Ministry for Regulation’s proposal to give itself greater power to review existing laws and regulations against its narrow principles compounds the problem.
By sidelining Te Tiriti, it risks dismantling hard-fought gains for Māori rights and tino rangatiratanga.
Aotearoa must reject the Regulatory Standards Bill. Instead, we need legislation that honours Te Tiriti, recognises the inequities Māori face, and works toward true partnership. A true partnership requires equity, not a perfunctory notion of equality.
The reality in our country proven by evidence is that it is not a level playing field for the indigenous population, Māori experience unjust disparities because of the system set-up which emphasises the need to address those imbalances – or inequities – for fairness.
Te Kōhao Health, the National Urban Māori Authority of which it is a member, and countless other Māori advocates are calling for the Government to listen – to Māori, to evidence, to history, and to the articles and principles enshrined in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
This bill is a regression, a backward step when what we need is a fair and just future built on justice, equity, and respect.
It is time for Aotearoa to honour its covenant and uphold the rights of Māori which Te Tiriti guaranteed we would keep, as our lands funded this nation. Anything less is unacceptable.
