Waitangi Tribunal: Crown breached Te Tiriti o Waitangi in scrapping Māori Health Authority

Lady Tureiti Moxon and Janice Kuka were joint claimants against the Government’s decision to scrap the Māori Health Authority.
The Waitangi Tribunal’s deep dive into the process of how the Government dis-established Te Aka Whai Ora – Māori Health Authority – before alternative plans for Māori health were in place has revealed it was based “purely on political ideology”.
But Health Minister Shane Reti says improving Māori health remains a government priority.
Hautupua: Te Aka Whai Ora (Māori Health Authority) Priority Report findings released today are unequivocal: the Crown was found to have breached Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
The decision to unilaterally disestablish Te Aka Whai Ora without consultation violated the principles of genuine partnership (including the duties to consult with Māori about Māori Health, to act in good faith and reasonably) and good governance.
By cunningly rushing the repeal of sections of the Pae Ora Act through Parliament, therefore beyond the jurisdiction of the tribunal, the Crown effectively removed any recognition of tino rangatiratanga or active protection and redress for Māori.
Given the Crown’s conduct failed to live up to their Treaty obligations, three fundamental recommendations have been made by the Waitangi Tribunal to the Crown.
Lead Treaty claimants, Lady Tureiti Moxon and Janice Kuka challenged the Government’s decision in December to dismantle the Māori Health entity the previous Government had implemented to address Māori health inequities.
Lady Moxon and Kuka applaud the clarity and authority of the tribunal’s 102-page report.
“It expressed exactly what our claim was all about. The evidence demonstrates very clearly that the process was driven by a political and racist agenda,” Lady Moxon, chair of the National Urban Māori Authority and managing director of Te Kōhao Health, said.
She said the Crown’s actions suggest an assumption of superiority – disestablishing Te Aka Whai Ora without a well-thought-out, properly consulted, and Te Tiriti/Treaty-compliant alternative in place, and only now, after the fact, it is currently determining what that “better” approach might be using the vehicle of Iwi Māori Partnership Boards.
“Those two questions asked by the tribunal succinctly captured to me how the Crown breached all the articles of the Treaty, good governance and acting decently with your own people,” said Kuka, managing director of Ngā Mataapuna Oranga, a Kaupapa Māori PHO and Whānau Ora Hub.
“National wasn’t even in a coalition when Te Aka Whai Ora was established. On the very day it came into being, Dr Shane Reti, speaking from Opposition, said they would dismantle it.
“National drove this agenda from the outset, signalling their intent to undo this critical step towards equitable healthcare for our people even before they had the reins of government.”
The Hautupua Report acknowledges the huge amount of work and resource that was put into creating and setting up Te Aka Whai Ora including the Waitangi Tribunal’s recommendation of a Māori Health Authority in the 2019 Hauora Report, that was backed up by the Health and Disability System Review in 2020.
“The Crown was in breach from the very beginning and the worst of it is, is that it continues to push through legislation that has a huge impact on Māori, despite Māori wanting Te Aka Whai Ora to remain,” the report said.
“As we said in our Hauora report, ‘tino rangatiratanga means nothing less than Māori having decision-making power over their affairs, including hauora Māori’.
“Because the Crown made the decision to disestablish Te Aka Whai Ora without consulting Māori, and in the face of significant objection from Māori, it did not recognise and respect tino rangatiratanga. We find this was a breach of the principle of tino rangatiratanga.”
Lady Moxon said: “The Crown should be ashamed of itself because of the damage that has now been done to Crown-Māori relationships”.
The Waitangi Tribunal’s priority inquiry was opposed by the Crown. It pushed back using its power reminding the tribunal of the legal principle of comity, otherwise known as the ‘non-interference rule’, she said.
Three days before the urgent inquiry was to begin, the Crown shut down the Waitangi Tribunal’s jurisdiction by expediting the Bill through the House under urgency to disestablish Te Aka Whai Ora – Māori Health Authority, she said.
Reti acknowledged the tribunal report and its findings.
“Improving Māori health is a priority for me as Minister of Health. And there are many ways to achieve it,” Reti told the Herald.
“I am aware that the Waitangi Tribunal has released a report on the first phase of the Wai2575 inquiry into the Disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora. I acknowledge the opening letter directed to myself and other Ministers.
“I will now take time to give the report my full consideration. I acknowledge the time that has gone into this report and will receive advice from my officials on next steps.”
Reti said the Māori Health Authority had been established with good intentions but was not positioned to deliver outcomes needed.
“I have been very clear about my plan, which is to build on those aspirations and deliver a solution that works for Māori,” he said.
“Disestablishing the Māori Health Authority does not mean turning our back on our aspirations for Māori health. It means using resources to strengthen and build key opportunities that will deliver better health outcomes for Māori.
“My vision is to move decision-making around resources closer to homes, so that local people deliver to local communities. This is happening through giving further controls to Iwi Māori Partnership Boards (IMPBs).
“Also at a national level, the Hauora Māori Advisory Committee is an important independent Māori advisor to me, with a focus on overall system performance and providing insights to improve how the system improves Māori health outcomes.
“I look forward to the Crown being given the opportunity to provide evidence to support IMPBs.”