John Robertson: ACC and Maori healing

Let’s not kid ourselves. ACC is supposed to be a taxpayer-funded injury insurer. You pay your levies. You get hurt. They fix you with stuff that actually works — medicine, science, evidence. That’s the deal. That’s the social contract.

But somewhere along the line, metaphysical mumbo-jumbo has snuck in and taken over. ACC is now paying for Rongoā Māori, a so-called “healing program” built on Māori spiritual beliefs. And at the heart of it? Tikanga.

Now, ACC and the bureaucrats won’t call it religion — but let’s get this straight: tikanga is a religious framework. It’s a system of spiritual rules, rituals, ancestral guidance, and life-after-death beliefs. It dictates how practitioners perform rituals, how patients are treated, how ceremonies are carried out. That’s religion, plain and simple. Pretending it’s “culture” or “holistic care” is nonsense. Absolute nonsense.

And what exactly are they funding? Mirimiri, romiromi, karakia, wairua work, plant remedies, and spiritual guidance. Stones, herbs, chants, prayers, ancestral energy — you name it. None of it has a biological mechanism to heal torn ligaments, fix nerve damage, or repair broken bones. None of it. Yet it’s paid with public money, while people wait months for scans, surgeries, and physiotherapy because “resources are limited.” But ghost stories in lab coats? Paid immediately.

Let’s be blunt: culture does not knit bone. Belief does not repair tissue. Ritual does not replace medicine. And renaming superstition “holistic wellbeing” or “culturally informed care” does not make it science.

And don’t give me the politically correct crap. If this was Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism, people would be screaming it’s faith healing and demanding it be stopped. But because it’s Māori and wrapped in Tikanga, suddenly it’s untouchable? That’s not inclusivity — that’s double standards and bureaucratic sleight of hand.

New Zealand likes to pretend it’s secular. Guess what? We’re not. Not even close. We’re a soft theocracy. And the proof is in the legislation and policies that fund a religious framework under the guise of healthcare, while real, evidence-based treatment is rationed.

So if this makes you uncomfortable — good. That’s what happens when euphemisms stop lying. If it doesn’t make you uncomfortable, congratulations — you’re part of the problem. You’re complicit in a system that funds metaphysical mumbo-jumbo with our taxes while real healthcare suffers.

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■ Make New Zealand Secular. Demand evidence. Demand healthcare that actually heals.

John Robertson is a patriotic New Zealander who frequently posts on Facebook.