Jacinda Ardern and Kelvin Davis on their way to the meeting. Photo / Derek Cheng
Jacinda Ardern and Kelvin Davis on their way to the meeting. Photo / Derek Cheng
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is holding private talks at Premier House in Wellington tonight with the claimants to the Waitangi Tribunal over Whānau Ora, including Dame Tariana Turia.
Neither Ardern nor any ministers signalled the meeting was being held this week.
Turia, who recently accused Ardern of being out ofher depth on Whānau Ora, arrived with Merepeka Raukawa Tait, the chairwoman of the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency board.
Ardern walked to Premier House from Parliament with her Labour Party deputy leader and Māori Crown Relations Minister Kelvin Davis.
The women claim that the Government is misappropriating the name Whānau Ora to be used for projects other than those commissioned by the commissioning agencies – the agencies are three limited liability companies with charitable status.
Others thought to at the meeting include the other claimants, Dame Naida Glavish, Dame Iritana Tawhiwhirangi, and Lady Tureiti Moxon, and Sir Mason Durie who helped to establish Whānau Ora.
Senior Government Māori MPs including Whānau Ora Minister Peeni Henare and Employment Minister Willie Jackson are also thought to be there.
Turia and the other claimants filed an urgent claim to the Waitangi Tribunal in January seeking a declaration that the Government is in breach of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Tariana Turia and Merepeka Raukawa Tait arriving at Premier House. Photo / Derek Cheng
"They do not understand… that Whānau Ora is not just a concept that can be picked up any old department and implemented," the statement of claim says.
"This is undermining us by stealth while misappropriating the Whānau Ora brand."
Turia, a former Māori Party co-leader, established Whānau Ora as a concept while in Government with the National Party.
Whānau Ora "navigators" work closely with families often to get them through a crisis such as violence, poverty or addictions, and then beyond the crisis with the aim of the families taking greater control over their lives.
Writing in the Herald last week, Henare said the Government supported Whānau Ora but said "it has strayed some way from original intentions".
Whanau Ora Minister Peeni Henare. Photo / Jason Oxenham
"It has been left to myself, and this Government, to try to make the changes necessary to grow the approach and ensure whānau are properly supported throughout the motu."
The Government allocated an additional $116 million over four years to grow Whānau Ora is the last Budget and a large proportion had been allocated to the Whānau Ora commissioning agencies.
But funds were also being allocated "to place greater decision-making in local communities, and increasing cross-government collaboration and buy-in to the approach via both direct investment and the development of new initiatives such as implementations of a whānau-centred approach in the Corrections system".
