WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s Maori Health Authority will be closed by June 20, the health minister said on Tuesday, as the centre-right government reverses the indigenous policies of previous governments.
The Maori Health Authority, or Te Aka Whai Ora, was established in 2022 to improve the health outcomes of Maori, who lag behind the wider population. Maori make up 17% of the country’s population.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s centre-right coalition, which took office in October, has vowed to reverse policies of previous governments, particularly those promoting the official use of the Maori language and seeking to improve the living standards and rights of indigenous people.
The move is seen by many indigenous groups as undermining their rights and status and has sparked protests. Luxon says his policy aims to give all New Zealanders equal rights.
Health Minister Shane Reti said the Maori Health Authority would be absorbed into the national health system.
Transferring their roles to the public health system means the health system retains the expertise it needs to improve health outcomes for all New Zealanders, including Māori,” Reti said in a statement.
The move was recommended by a standing commission, known as the Waitangi Tribunal, which has been hearing Maori claims since the 1970s and suggesting redress if necessary.
Jacqui Harema, chief executive of the largest Maori public health body, Hapa to Hauora, said Maori knew better how to care for their own people and how to improve their outcomes, and the abolition of the Maori Health Authority was alarming.
“Maori know what’s best for them. They need to be able to be funded to be able to resource solutions that are based on our own worldview for our own people,” Harema said.
For example, Harema said that where Maori heath providers were funded to provide COVID-19 vaccines, they were more successful in reaching their population because they worked with families, had vaccine providers who were known in the communities, and the information provided spoke to their population .
Maori groups and tribes are pushing back against the government’s indigenous policy reforms with nationwide protests and some have taken legal action. An application has been made to the Waitangi Tribunal over plans to close the Maori Health Authority, but the closure will be official before the Tribunal hears the application.
