June 09, 2022
Māori services show up government failure
By Māori, or Māori support during the pandemic is being credited for a sharp drop in Māori deaths from family violence.
The latest report of the Family Violence Death Review Committee found just 23 percent of such deaths in 2021 were Māori, compared with 44 percent in the decade from 2009 to 2019.
Committee member Dr Fiona Cram says that led to questions about why it was happening.
“I strongly suspect it was all that mahi aroha, all that good work that was done by Māori organisations getting out there for whanau over the course of the pandemic, connecting with people, supplying care packages, kai, that really gave whānau access to supports that were by Māori, for Māori, when government agencies were really stepping back because of the pandemic,” she says.
Dr Cram says when Māori ask for help or support from government agencies, they are often told what they should be doing rather than helped to do it.