Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Call for ministry to apologise over withholding Māori data from Whānau Ora

The Government could be facing hundreds of thousand dollars in legal fees after being forced to review its refusal to release Māori vaccination data with the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency.

Meanwhile, the National Party has called for the Ministry of Health to issue a public apology in light of the High Court decision, released Monday, which found did it not adequately regard Te Tiriti - the Treaty of Waitangi - and its principles.

The Court ordered it to review its decision within three working days.

Legal action was initiated by Whānau Ora chief executive John Tamihere last month in a bid to target Māori who had not yet been engaged with previous vaccination efforts.

Tamihere said they had spent about $210,000 in legal fees, on top of "much more" in staff costs and resources, of which they'd be seeking.

"It's money that we'd much rather have spent lifting Māori vaccination rates than fighting this."

A ministry spokeswoman refused to answer questions about costs.

She said they acknowledged the ruling and would be reconsidering their decision in line with the Court's decision.

Tamihere said they expected to receive the data by Friday, and plans were being developed to send 70 employees in 14 vehicles to Northland for a week-long vaccination push in areas including Hokianga, Kaikohe, Kaitaia and Whangārei.

National Party Whānau Ora spokeswoman Harete Hipango said the ministry needed to not only hand over data and abide by Te Tiriti, but also issue a public apology.

"The Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency has vaccinated more than 510,000 individuals, of whom 90 per cent are non-Māori. It should have been given the resources to vaccinate Māori from the very beginning."

National said in its "Opening Up" plan released in September it would allow data held by District Health Boards (DHBs) and Primary Health Organisations about patients to be automatically accessed by Whānau Ora providers, she said.

"If it were up to us, we would have found a way for Whānau Ora to access the data and still be consistent with the Privacy Act."

Te Pāti Māori also welcomed the decision with co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer saying the initial refusal to provide the data highlighted "double standards" at the ministry.

The Court decision came after the ministry's Covid-19 vaccination and immunisation programme national director Jo Gibbs decided against supplying Whānau Ora with "identifiable data for individuals who are not vaccinated", instead offering anonymous street-level mapping which would show areas of unvaccinated communities

The refusal was reportedly based on strong views from DHBs that sharing the data would be a "counterproductive threat to public confidence in the health system".

However, in her ruling, Justice Gwyn said this claim was not evidenced as the ministry hadn't appeared to have made "an assessment of the anticipated adverse consequences of the specific disclosure sought".

Following her ruling Tamihere said it was worth taking the chance if it meant increasing vaccination levels.

"They alleged that we would badger, bully and demonise - what do you think is happening to our people right now in terms of being seen as laggards?

"We don't know until we have a go. They can tell us to bugger off, why don't you give people the chance to say no?"

Even with only six weeks remaining before Christmas, Tamihere said the data would make a "huge impact" in lifting vaccination levels before the alert level framework was abandoned.

The decision to release the data was made because it was found the ministry did not adequately consider Te Tiriti (Treaty of Waitangi) and its principles, as informed by tikanga.

"Given that failure, in my view characterising the assessment of the applicants' request as a 'qualitative' assessment might be seen rather as an excuse for a lack of rigour in the process. While the ministry did have to weigh a range of factors, as I have found, it did not do so on the basis of an evidence-based assessment."

The ministry had erred in its interpretation and application of the Health Information Privacy Code 2020, the ruling deemed.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday said despite the legal challenge both the Government and Whānau Ora were "on the same page" about wanting to lift Māori vaccination rates as quickly as possible.

"We have been working closely with Whānau Ora on this issue around data sharing, and I am confident we can find a way through the issues."

On Tuesday the Government announced $23.3 million for eight Māori organisations and iwi aimed at boosting Māori vaccination rates.

- additional reporting Adam Pearse