During Waitangi this year the Green Party’s Te Mātāwaka caucus announced their priority for an independent Māori Health Authority. We have heard the call from Tangata Whenua wanting any authority to be independent, and properly resourced.

“For too long Māori have not received the proper care in the health system, whether they are patients or staff. We want to push for a genuinely empowered and independent Māori Health Authority to ensure iwi, hapū and whānau have access to the best and most appropriate care.” Green Party spokesperson for Health Dr Elizabeth Kerekere said today.

“We have seen how fast changes can be made through Parliament, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is only right that we do the same for iwi and hapū when there are equality issues within the health system.

“We are calling for a fully resourced independent Māori Health Authority to honour the restoration of Tino Rangatiratanga into the hauora of our people. It is about time Māori had the authority to decide on funding and commissioning as identified by Māori experts who have long championed equity in health.

“Te Ao Māori have the expertise to care for, nurture and grow the wellbeing and health system for tangata whenua. We hold the mana and mātauranga from our tīpuna of how we awhi whānau whether they are unwell a tinana or a hinengaro – body or mind.

“The time has finally come for the government to understand and acknowledge Tino Rangatiratanga and Manaakitanga as the foundation of Tikanga Māori when honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Health is a Treaty issue and the Greens will continue to push Te Tiriti to be embed in a new independent Māori Health Authority.

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19 Āperira 2021

E karanga ana Te Pātī Kākāriki mo te waihangatanga o tētahi Manatū Hauora Māori

I tēnei tau i Waitangi, I whakahua ake te Tira o Te Mātāwaka o te Pātī Kākāriki i tā rātau aronga matua, ki te waihanga I tētahi Manatū Hauora Māori, mā Māori te kawe, mā Māori ngā whakahaere. Ko tā te tira; Kua rongohia ngā karanga a ngā Tangata Whenua, e hiahia ana ki tētahi Manatū me tōna anō motuhaketanga, hei āpiti atu me tika te hora o ngā rauemi.

Ko tā te kaikōrero mo te Hauora a Tākuta Elizabeth Kerekere. “Kua roa a Māori e tāria ana, kia manaakitia tika e te Manatū Hauora o naianei rangi, ahakoa he tūroro, he kaimahi rānei. Ko tā mātau he ūpoko pakarū kia hura he manatū hauora me tōna anō motuhaketanga mā Maori te kawe, e manaaki tika ai, ngā iwi, ngā hapū, ngā whānau anō hoki.

Kua kite mātau i te tere o ngā panonitanga e taea ai ki rō Pāremata, ko ngā panoni I te wā o te Mate Urutā ētahi. Nō reira e tika ana me mahia mo ngā Iwi me ngā hāpū anō hoki, mena he take taurite tō te pūnaha Hauora.

E karanga ana mātau mo tētahi Manatū Hauora Māori kī ana ki te nui o ngā rauemi. E mana ai te whakarauoratanga o te Tino Rangatiratanga ki te hauora o ngā tangata māori. Kua tae te wā e whai rangatiratanga a Māori ki te whakatau ki hea ngā pūtea o te puna pūtea tautoko haere ai. He kōrero ēnei nā ētahi kua roa e mātanga ana ki te mana taurite o te Hauora.

He pūkenga nui tō Te Ao Māori ki te manaaki, ki te poipoi, ki te whakatipu I te oranga me tētahi pūnaha Hauora mo ngā tangata whenua. E mau nei I a mātau te mana, me ngā mātauranga I ahu mai I ngā tipuna, ki te awhi I te whānau ahakoa e māuiui ā tinana nei, rānei e māuiui ā hinengaro ana.

Kua eke te wā me mārama, me whakamana ano hoki te Kāwanatanga ki te tūāpapa o ngā Tikanga Māori. Te Tino Rangatira me te manaakitanga I raro I te mana o Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ka tika he take Tiriti te Hauora, koinei tā te Pātī Kākāriki, he whai kia whakaū I Te Tiriti ki tētahi Manatū Hauora Māori.

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