By finding that the Luxon Government failed to do all sorts of things when it scrapped the Māori Health Authority, the Waitangi Tribunal has buttressed the case for its disestablishment which ACT and New Zealand First are promoting.
In a report released on Friday, the tribunal examined the Crown’s process for developing plans to address Māori health in place of a Māori health authority.
At the top of the findings, as reported by RNZ, the tribunal found the Crown failed to adequately inform Māori about its alternative plans.
But which Maori were inadequately informed?
Anyone paying attention during the 2023 general election campaign would have noted that the National Party, ACT New Zealand and New Zealand First were committed to disestablishing the authority (known as Te Aka Whai Ora).
ACT and New Zealand First campaigned on abolishing the authority.
National promised to scrap the authority and replace it with a dedicated Māori health directorate inside the Ministry of Health.
Those policies were widely – and hotly – discussed during the election campaign.
Those three parties won enough votes to form a coalition government and – guess what? – they prepared legislation to give effect to their promises.
The legislation was enacted by Parliament, paving the way to officially disestablish the authority by June 30, 2024.
The Cabinet which translated the commitment into policy included seven Maori.
The Minister of Health at the time of disestablishment was Shane Reti, a Maori.
But the Government’s Maori members – apparently – are not the right Maori to be involved in the shaping of the Govenment’s plans.
Next, the tribunal finds the government “failed to recognise and respect tino rangatiratanga”.
This has the strong whiff of a challenge to Parliament’s sovereignty.
PoO understands that “respecting tino rangatiratanga” means upholding and honouring the absolute authority, self-determination, and sovereignty of Māori over their own affairs, lands, culture, and treasures (taonga).
It is grounded in the Māori text of Article 2 of The Treaty of Waitangi.
The tribunal (it seems) wants its interpretations of contentious Treaty clauses to be given the status of Holy Writ.
Among other tribunal finding were that the Government (the one freshly elected by a majority of the New Zealand voters)
But which Maori were inadequately informed?
Anyone paying attention during the 2023 general election campaign would have noted that the National Party, ACT New Zealand and New Zealand First were committed to disestablishing the authority (known as Te Aka Whai Ora).
ACT and New Zealand First campaigned on abolishing the authority.
National promised to scrap the authority and replace it with a dedicated Māori health directorate inside the Ministry of Health.
Those policies were widely – and hotly – discussed during the election campaign.
Those three parties won enough votes to form a coalition government and – guess what? – they prepared legislation to give effect to their promises.
The legislation was enacted by Parliament, paving the way to officially disestablish the authority by June 30, 2024.
The Cabinet which translated the commitment into policy included seven Maori.
The Minister of Health at the time of disestablishment was Shane Reti, a Maori.
But the Government’s Maori members – apparently – are not the right Maori to be involved in the shaping of the Govenment’s plans.
Next, the tribunal finds the government “failed to recognise and respect tino rangatiratanga”.
This has the strong whiff of a challenge to Parliament’s sovereignty.
PoO understands that “respecting tino rangatiratanga” means upholding and honouring the absolute authority, self-determination, and sovereignty of Māori over their own affairs, lands, culture, and treasures (taonga).
It is grounded in the Māori text of Article 2 of The Treaty of Waitangi.
The tribunal (it seems) wants its interpretations of contentious Treaty clauses to be given the status of Holy Writ.
Among other tribunal finding were that the Government (the one freshly elected by a majority of the New Zealand voters)
- failed to consult with Māori and be sufficiently informed about key elements of its plans;
- failed to properly engage with Māori about the Hauora Māori Strategy and Pae Ora Amendment Act.
Inevitably, the tribunal recommends that a stand-alone Māori health authority be revisited.
Good luck with that.
The Government says it has no intention to revisit a stand-alone Māori health authority.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins and Māori campaign chair Willie Jackson have confirmed that re-establishing the standalone authority is not a priority or the party’s preferred path. Labour is intending to fund Māori health providers directly through an extensive devolved resource and funding model.
Might anything be disestablished after this year’s election?
It depends on which parties win how many votes and what coalition agreements are struck.
But RNZ tells us New Zealand First has declared its aim to immediately abolish the Waitangi Tribunal.
Announcing the policy on Saturday afternoon, the party claimed the tribunal had become a “make-work organisation” that was “hearing any and all claims that in a former time would’ve been dismissed on application as being inappropriate”.
“Many claims before the tribunal are directly contesting the right of a mandated parliament to pass laws,” the party said in its policy announcement.
The party would table legislation within the first 100 days after the election to replace the tribunal with a Treaty of Waitangi Completion Commission.
The new Commission would have the job of finalising all claims prior to 2008. When that’s done, its work will be finished.
“We will put an end to activists using the Tribunal and taxpayers’ money as a platform to interfere with the direction and legislation of Parliament.
“We will also ensure that all relevant policy issues pertaining to the implementation of existing Treaty of Waitangi settlements are addressed by a strengthened Ministry of Māori Development.”
ACT, too, has announced a policy to disestablish the tribunal.
We await National Party’s announcement.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE.
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