Response to Government's Urgent Disestablishment of Māori Health Authority February 29, 2024

Producer Jasmine reports on response to the government's urgent disestablishment of the Māori Health Authority:

This week there has been widespread criticism shared over the government’s decision to axe the Māori Health Authority, Te Aka Whai Ora. Many public health experts, human rights organisations and fellow politicians have expressed concerns over what this move signals for Māori communities, social and political inequities, human rights, and Aotearoa’s democratic processes more broadly.

The Pae Ora Amendment Bill (that is seeing the disestablishment of the Māori Health Authority) passed its third reading yesterday after being introduced to Parliament under urgency on Tuesday. This move has meant that the Waitangi Tribunal claim set to challenge the disestablishment bill was not able to be heard before the decision to axe Te Aka Whai Ora was passed. The Waitangi Tribunal claim was also called under urgency and was originally scheduled to take place today. However, an inquiry can now only go ahead after the disestablishment bill has been passed into law, preventing any consideration of recommendations that would’ve been made by claimants Lady Tureiti Moxon and Janice Kuka.

Alongside the immediate and ongoing concerns around what the removal of the Māori Health Authority signals for Māori healthcare and health outcomes, predominant outcries today centre around political implications of this unconstitutional course of government action.

Janice Panoho, Te Kaihautū for Aotearoa’s Public Service Association, emphasised that "for such an important Constitutional issue it is vital that Parliamentary processes are used to allow proper public scrutiny and debate rather than to lock out people with dissenting voices." She and the organisation state they are “deeply disappointed in this government’s lack of respect and regard to their Te Tiriti partner.”

Earlier this week, organisation ActionStation hosted a petition to Minister of Health Shane Reti, calling to protect The Māori Health Authority. The petition has now reached almost 14,000 signatures over a three day period, meaning it has now surpassed the threshold needed to warrant a formal response from government.

The coalition is yet to announce any new formal or proposed plans that will fill the gap left behind by Te Aka Whai Ora’s removal.