Taumata Kōrero that serves 200,000 whānau Māori across Tāmaki Makaurau is calling on the government to frontload communities and tool up households at the flaxroots now ahead of the intensity of the Omicron surge.

The collective is asking the Prime Minister, Cabinet and mandated government officials within Ministry of Health and the three District Health Boards in Tāmaki Makaurau to honour Te Tiriti by equipping Māori providers and the community with the essential tools and workforce.

As the numbers of positive cases are predominantly in Auckland where the largest cohort of Māori live, the group of leaders are concerned about the lag in the system enabling the capacity and capability of the community to cope.

Health provider contracts in some cases have not been paid for four months with no current certainty on contracting arrangements, relying on Māori providers to cashflow wages which has hindered workforce preparations, yet The Cloud vaccination centre that recently opened has been fully staffed which has led to some questioning equity and the order of provisioning.

“The response system has now gone into stage two relying on an ‘electronic pathway’ and transitioned to self-service and automation. Yet how does this model support vulnerable whānau given there are accessibility challenges?” says Taumata Kōrero Chair, Huri Dennis.

“We do not want to turn up to a whare with Weetbix when the whānau actually need an ambulance because it’s a life-or-death situation.”

“This is about activating the protection principle of Te Tiriti to enable us to front load whānau Māori households in the largest population area of Aotearoa with kai, rongoā Māori and mainstream medicine right now before anyone gets sick.”

The approach by Taumata Kōrero called, “Haere Titiro Whakamua” (looking and moving forward) aims to massively boost capacity and capability to expedite food, medical supplies, and Rapid Antigen Testing kits to whānau given the risk of higher hospitalisation rates for Māori with comorbidities.

The network of Māori health providers, Marae, Iwi, Hapu, Kura Kaupapa, Kōhanga Reo, Whānau Ora and housing / homeless providers are adamant that they need to move fast, with pace, given the modelling predictions indicate potentially 11,000 of Tangata Whenua will become unwell.

“We see no value in waiting for the inevitable and want whānau to have the right information, tools, knowledge, medicines and confidence to self-isolate, self-test, and self-refer.”

The Chair reassures whānau not to panic and if they need help to contact a local Taumata Kōrero member who will respond with full “Noho Tapu” (self-isolation wrap-around service).

Over the last year with assistance from the MSD and private sector, Taumata Kōrero member Manukau Urban Māori Authority built a Māori Food Network hub and inwards dry goods logistics centre at Ngā Whare Waatea Marae in Mangere, South Auckland.

Fonterra Co-operative Group has collaborated on mentoring the team responsible for the set-up of the infrastructure funded by the Ministry of Social Development.

“Taumata Kōrero can provide support rapidly and we don’t need an official referral to activate. 95% of our referrals come from whānau calls directly,” says Wyn Osborne, Manukau Urban Māori Authority.

This week the hub is packing up and distributing 5,000 care packs for whānau containing non-perishables, hygiene supplies and rongoā Māori.

“We’re seeing a lot of whānau with high anxiety and paranoia because of the umknown. We’re working with rongoā Māori practitioners and sourced tinctures from Rehua based in Northland to assist and support with anxiety and strengthen respiratory systems,” says Puhihuia Wade, Essential Services Manager.

Other Taumata Kōrero members, Ruapōtaka Marae in Glen Innes and Te Kōhanga Reo are distributing rongoa Māori in their outreach across Tāmaki to whānau.

The Marae is distributing kawakawa balm to whānau that they’re sourcing from a group locally. “Our response must focus on our community”, says Manager Georgie Thompson.

Managing at home in a self-sufficient and self-reliant way using rongoā as a tool is echoed by Kerry Jones, District Manager of Te Kōhanga Reo.

“Rongoā is actually about getting whānau involved and strengthening them mentally, emotionally, physically to manage at home,” she says.

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