August 09, 2023
PM defends Māori health authority despite stumbles
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says he’s proud of the work being done by the Te Aka Whai Ora – the Māori Health Authority.
National has promised to scrap the authority.
A one year monitoring report released last week was critical of aspects of the set up process, including taking on Māori staff and teams from the former district health boards rather than recruiting people with skills and experiences in areas like commissioning and contract management.
Mr Hipkins says parties who want to do away with Te Aka Whai Ora need to explain why they think discrimination is an acceptable part of the health system.
“It’s not okay that Māori get denied access to healthcare or have less access to healthcare than their non-Māori New Zealand counterparts. There’s simply facts and figures that demonstrate that – that Māori wait longer for planned care for example for their operations, and we know that Māori overall have lower life expectancy than other New Zealanders and a big part of that is access o healthcare,” he says.