February 28, 2024
Māori health claimants driving ideological agenda
New Zealand First Minister Shane Jones says the Waitangi Tribunal was foolish to schedule an urgent hearing into a policy the Government was elected on.
The introduction of legislation to scrap the Maori Health Authority Te Aka Whai Ora means the tribunal had to abandon Thursday’s hearing.
Mr Jones says Te Aka Whai Ora is something Labour believed would deliver massive benefits for Maori health – but New Zealand First backs Heath Minister Shane Reti’s view that the answers lie in more innovation and intervention at the front line.
“This notion that 365 bureaucrats managing contracts in a central government entity is going to turn around Maori health stats, it speaks volumes about the ideological agenda of the people that are trying to misuse the Waitangi Tribunal to lecture the Government. The Waitangi Tribunal is a recommendatory body. It has no authority to gainsay the electoral mandate of the parties that currently comprise the Government,” he says.