John Robinson: Hipkins is wrong when he claims discrimination by medical workers

When supporting priority to Maori for a range of health care services, including directions to surgeons to take ethnicity into account when deciding major operations, the Prime Minister gave the reason as the need to overcome supposed racial discrimination.

“There is clear evidence that Maori, Pacifica and rural and low-income people have been discriminated against in the health system.”[1] 

His call was for active discrimination, pushing such as Maori to the front of the queue, before others who fail the ethnicity test.

The claim that some people “have been discriminated against in the health system” implies that there is active and widespread discrimination amongst health workers.  This is a lie, an unjustified slur against the many health care workers who do their very best to provide good care to us all.