Chris Lynch: Will He Puapua unite New Zealanders as the authors have claimed?

The report He Puapua, rather than "separatist", is about unifying the country, head author Dr Claire Charters says. Photo / NZH

OPINION:

The discussion document written by a government-appointed working group provides a plan to "realise the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Aotearoa/New Zealand" or ways to allow Māori to self-govern.

The Helen Clark government refused to sign it, but the John Key government did.

Critics of the report say it's unconscionable that a public mandate has not been sought and the Labour Government is progressing the document's agenda by stealth.

Government ministers have said they haven't read the document, but they can't plead ignorance.

He Puapua proposes a "Māori-controlled health agency with oversight and control of Māori health-related spending and policy", Māori wards and a Māori Parliament to name a few. The Prime Minister has ruled out a separate parliament, but what about the others?

There's evidence to support a Māori Health Authority, given poor health outcomes, and that's why the Government has implemented several recommendations already.

Public health policy experts I've spoken to on my radio show say New Zealand should see meaningful change for Māori in about 12 months after the implementation of the authority.

But if this policy is expected to work, there's no reason why the Government won't look at the other, more controversial proposals.

The document proposes the formation of a Māori court system based on "tikanga Māori".

It wants to establish a more "therapeutic and specialist court and normalise these approaches in the mainstream court process".

And said in 2040 prisons should "not exist".

Judith Collins has been accused of playing "politics" by criticising the report.

But when radical change is being proposed, a public discussion needs to take place regardless of political lines.

Shouting "racist!" isn't and shouldn't stop people from voicing concerns.

The Prime Minister can shrug off suggestions that she's pushing the document's agenda by stealth, but the evidence isn't on her side.

Ironically, the discussion document, produced in 2019, said by 2021 the Government should have initiated a public education campaign to give all New Zealanders the tools to have informed discussions about our constitutional arrangements. Now it's time to do this.

Those who've criticised He Puapua have been accused of "whipping up racial division" but given its contents, that accusation seems like a more fitting title for the report.