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August 31, 2023
No distractions for political football
Peter Verschaffelt
Posted On August 31, 2023
Download AudioTe Aka Whai Ora chief executive Riana Manuel says she’s told her staff they need to keep up their mahi and not be distracted by the organisation being turned into a political football.
National and ACT have both promised to do away with the Maori health authority, and this morning New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told Radio Waatea it is unaccountable.
Ms Manuel says after 30 years in the health system, she is now seeing real change.
“Without our voice being very much present, without representation, without the opportunity to commission and the opportunity to hold the system to account, not with a great big stick but with the option of pointing when things aren’t going right, how we turn this waka around and move towards the right direction. That’s what we want to do. That’s what we are doing,” she says.
Ms Manuel says the strength of Te Aka Whai Ora lies in the partnerships it is forming with the Health Ministry and Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand to find new ways of working and thinking about health.
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