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Download AudioNorth Island Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency chief executive John Tamihere says Whānau Ora is preparing its own civil defence and emergency management plan rather than waiting for pakeha authorities to catch up.
A review by former police commissioner Mike Bush of Auckland Council/s response to th Anniverary Weekend floods in January has found the emergency management plan was not fit for purpose, and Maori organisations and marae were not factored into the response.
Mr Tamihere says the review’s conclusions were no surprise, and Māori need use their own infrastructure and first responder capability.
“We would like to work in partnership with non-Māori but they appear to always leave us out of the room when all the major decisions are made and all the major resources are passed around so we are often the after-thought rather than a fore-thought so what we relentlessly have to do is go back to our mana Māori motuhake because in our tikanga there is always a solution,” he says.
Mr Tamihere says the floods exposed how city planners have deliberately put low income and Māori populations at risk from adverse weather events.
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