Crown Withdraws Only Witness & Evidence Ahead Of Urgent Waitangi Tribunal Hearing Into Māori Health Reforms

Māori health claimants Lady Tureiti Moxon and Janice Kuka are sounding the alarm over what they describe as the Crown’s systematic dismantling of Māori-led health reform.

They warn that the calculated repeal of Te Aka Whai Ora — the Māori Health Authority — has triggered widespread confusion, inefficiencies, and the quiet erosion of kaupapa Māori structures ultimately impacting whānau.

Back in 2023 they tried to bring the matter urgently before the Tribunal before the Government’s repeal deadline, procedural delays meant the Tribunal lost jurisdiction to intervene in time.

Now the priority Waitangi Tribunal hearing is scheduled from Monday 26 May to Friday 30 May 2025.

“The disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora has removed the one structure that responded to those historical breaches. It has brought back the same patterns I described twenty years ago. This isn’t a system failing by accident — it is a conscious decision to return to Crown control and institutional racism,” said Lady Tureiti Moxon, Managing Director of Te Kōhao Health.

But in a last-minute development late this afternoon, the Crown formally withdrew its only witness and the brief of evidence of Mr John Whaanga — who had been scheduled for cross-examination — from the upcoming urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing starting on Monday.

The Crown also indicated that the Minister of Health is currently reviewing system settings within the public health sector, particularly the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022. Crown Law advised that the details of this work programme remain confidential, with Cabinet yet to make any final decisions.

The Crown said in a Memorandum: “This means that the Crown’s participation in this part of the priority inquiry is now constrained as Crown officials are not authorised to talk about how present settings might be changed.”

The Waitangi Tribunal replied immediately confirming that the hearing will go ahead next week, allowed the Crown to remove the evidence from their only planned witness, John Whaanga, and advised new evidence can be filed by the Crown by 9am on Monday. The hearing will start by discussing this last-minute change and then decide how the rest of the week will run.

The priority hearing is due to investigate:

1. What are the Crown’s alternative plans to address Māori health in lieu of a Māori Health Authority, and what steps were taken in developing such plans?
2. Was the Crown’s process in developing those plans consistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles?
3. Are the Crown’s alternative plans themselves consistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles?

The onus is on the Crown to demonstrate the existence, integrity, and Treaty compliance of these alternative plans.

“The Crown must prove what their alternative plans are — and that those plans are genuine, Treaty-compliant, and effective,” said Lady Tureiti.

In their evidence submitted to the Tribunal, the claimants — both pivotal figures in the original WAI 2575 Inquiry that led to the landmark 2019 Hauora Report recommending a Māori Health Authority — described a dramatic sector-wide shift since the disestablishment.

They cite a return to rigid bureaucracy, heightened auditing and surveillance, and the marginalisation of Māori voice and leadership.

“Right now, we see a system forcing us to translate whakapapa-based, whānau-centred work into endless tick-box reports that change every few weeks. It’s exhausting and undermines real outcomes,” said Janice Kuka, Managing Director of Ngā Mataapuna Oranga.

Health New Zealand Chair Rob Campbell, former Health New Zealand Chair is one of the expert witnesses in support of the claim.

The claimants evidence highlights how kaupapa Māori providers have lost the visibility and prioritisation they once held under Te Aka Whai Ora.

“When Te Aka Whai Ora existed, we were seen. We were contacted. We were valued as Māori providers,” Kuka said. “Now, it’s back to open-market tendering on GETS. The result? Contracts are being lost to large, non-Māori organisations with Māori-sounding names or enrolment numbers — not whakapapa connections to our people.”

Lady Tureiti also submitted where providers like her organisation, Te Kōhao has exceeded its contractual targets — such as in maternity and early childhood through the Kahu Taurima programme — it’s still being asked to re-report, re-code, and defend its success.

The claimants assert that the Crown's current approach represents a return to the very inequities and systemic discrimination Te Aka Whai Ora Māori Health Authority was created to address.

“Te Aka Whai Ora Māori Health Authority gave us the tools to commission services by Māori, for Māori — free from the racism and excessive scrutiny we faced under the old regime,” said Lady Tureiti.

When the Government announced its plan to repeal Te Aka Whai Ora in November 2023 — less than 18 months after the Authority was formally established under the Pae Ora Act — it marked a significant reversal of progress.

The Waitangi Tribunal had previously found the Crown in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi for failing to design a health system that addressed Māori health inequities or upholds tino rangatiratanga. Establishing a Māori Health Authority was one of its core recommendations.

“We warned that the Crown was deliberately rushing through this repeal of Te Aka Whai Ora Maori Health Authority to avoid scrutiny. This isn’t just administrative change — it’s a calculated rollback of Māori rights and progress,” said Janice Kuka.

“We will continue to hold the Crown to account for its obligations under Te Tiriti. Māori deserve a health system that works — not one that works against us.

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