PoO has been alerted to the “impassioned speech” of Rongo Wetere, founder of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, which he delivered after award-winning historian Vincent O’Malley spoke in Te Awamutu last week about the 1864 Invasion of Waikato.
Wetere described the invasion by British forces in 1864 as a land grab that had never been fully compensated for.
“If you rob people blind and think you are going to get away with it, you are gravely mistaken,” Wetere, who recently returned from Canada, said.
“It will lead eventually to revolution, and we don’t want revolution in New Zealand, do we?”
He argued that treaty settlements had not adequately addressed the losses Māori suffered through land confiscation and colonisation, and said many New Zealanders mistakenly believed historical grievances had been settled.
He linked the legacy of colonisation to current Māori poverty, unemployment and educational disparities while arguing that education offered the most effective path towards equity.
And he said “meaningful solutions and greater equity” were necessary to bring communities together.
Then came the remarks that should gel with PoO readers:
He concluded by reiterating his opposition to discrimination and his commitment to bringing communities together through understanding and shared opportunity.
“I don’t accept discrimination of any sort,” Wetere said.
Great.
We look forward to hearing him support the Act Party MP who declared his surprise that…
Health NZ is considering piloting a subsidy on consultations for an HIV prevention medicine for Māori and Pasifika people.
And:
A document leaked to Newstalk ZB revealed telehealth consultations for PrEP would be subsidised by $79 for Māori and Pasifika clients and by $33 for “all other eligible people”.
PrEP is medical shortand for pre-exposure prophylaxis, a medicine to be taken by those at risk to prevent them getting HIV from sex or injection drug use.
Māori and Pasifika clients and Community Service Card holders would therefore receive free consultations, but other eligible clients would be charged a co-payment, which would vary depending on the clinic’s standard fees.
Act MP Todd Stephenson said he was pretty surprised Health NZ would float such an idea after Cabinet told agencies that services must be designed for needs, not race.
The 2024 Needs-based Cabinet Circular, agreed to under the coalition agreement between National and Act, directed government agencies to target, commission and design public services based on the needs of all New Zealanders, regardless of ethnicity or personal identity.
In other words, the aim was to get rid of race discrimination in government policies.
Associate Minister of Health Matt Doocey, who is responsible for HIV prevention policy, curiously declined to comment.
Maybe he is not on top of his portfolio, because he might have said what the health agency said:
Health NZ clarified the document was a draft and the wider pilot was still in development.
But the agency wouldn’t confirm whether the ethnicity-based subsidy model would be included in the final design.
National clinical director of primary and community care at Health NZ, Dr Sarah Clarke, said it was not in a position to confirm the pilot’s final design, including any eligibility criteria or co-payment arrangements, at this stage.
“No final decisions have been made and there will likely be changes before being finalised,” Clarke said.
She said Health NZ aimed to begin the pilot over the coming months.
The leaked document said it would be time-limited to June 30, 2027, with the potential to be made permanent upon evaluation.
The 2025 Ministry of Health HIV monitoring plan identified, “improved Māori health and wellbeing in relation to HIV by delivering on our Tiriti o Waitangi obligations” among five priorities.
The report showed infection rates for HIV have risen each year for both Māori and non-Māori between 2021 and 2024.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE.
“It will lead eventually to revolution, and we don’t want revolution in New Zealand, do we?”
He argued that treaty settlements had not adequately addressed the losses Māori suffered through land confiscation and colonisation, and said many New Zealanders mistakenly believed historical grievances had been settled.
He linked the legacy of colonisation to current Māori poverty, unemployment and educational disparities while arguing that education offered the most effective path towards equity.
And he said “meaningful solutions and greater equity” were necessary to bring communities together.
Then came the remarks that should gel with PoO readers:
He concluded by reiterating his opposition to discrimination and his commitment to bringing communities together through understanding and shared opportunity.
“I don’t accept discrimination of any sort,” Wetere said.
Great.
We look forward to hearing him support the Act Party MP who declared his surprise that…
Health NZ is considering piloting a subsidy on consultations for an HIV prevention medicine for Māori and Pasifika people.
And:
A document leaked to Newstalk ZB revealed telehealth consultations for PrEP would be subsidised by $79 for Māori and Pasifika clients and by $33 for “all other eligible people”.
PrEP is medical shortand for pre-exposure prophylaxis, a medicine to be taken by those at risk to prevent them getting HIV from sex or injection drug use.
Māori and Pasifika clients and Community Service Card holders would therefore receive free consultations, but other eligible clients would be charged a co-payment, which would vary depending on the clinic’s standard fees.
Act MP Todd Stephenson said he was pretty surprised Health NZ would float such an idea after Cabinet told agencies that services must be designed for needs, not race.
The 2024 Needs-based Cabinet Circular, agreed to under the coalition agreement between National and Act, directed government agencies to target, commission and design public services based on the needs of all New Zealanders, regardless of ethnicity or personal identity.
In other words, the aim was to get rid of race discrimination in government policies.
Associate Minister of Health Matt Doocey, who is responsible for HIV prevention policy, curiously declined to comment.
Maybe he is not on top of his portfolio, because he might have said what the health agency said:
Health NZ clarified the document was a draft and the wider pilot was still in development.
But the agency wouldn’t confirm whether the ethnicity-based subsidy model would be included in the final design.
National clinical director of primary and community care at Health NZ, Dr Sarah Clarke, said it was not in a position to confirm the pilot’s final design, including any eligibility criteria or co-payment arrangements, at this stage.
“No final decisions have been made and there will likely be changes before being finalised,” Clarke said.
She said Health NZ aimed to begin the pilot over the coming months.
The leaked document said it would be time-limited to June 30, 2027, with the potential to be made permanent upon evaluation.
The 2025 Ministry of Health HIV monitoring plan identified, “improved Māori health and wellbeing in relation to HIV by delivering on our Tiriti o Waitangi obligations” among five priorities.
The report showed infection rates for HIV have risen each year for both Māori and non-Māori between 2021 and 2024.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE.
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