The big issues facing te ao Ma¯ ori ahead of Election 2023
With just over six months to the election, issues of cogovernance have dominated discussion about Ma¯ ori politics – but there are other kaupapa by which Labour will be judged if it hopes to retain control over most of the Ma¯ ori electorates.
The Government has faced criticism from those on the political right, over reforms to water and environmental management, as well the creation of the Ma¯ ori Health Authority. But on the other side, in various hui between Ma¯ ori organisations and the Government, ministers are also facing increasing pressure not to back down on kaupapa relating to social cohesion and cogovernance.
Politically, this puts Labour’s Ma¯ ori MPs and campaign team between a rock and a hard place.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has shelved reforms to hate speech legislation and taken highly-respected HaurakiWaikato MP Nanaia Mahuta off the Three Waters reform.
Going into election season, Te Pa¯ ti Ma¯ ori is gearing up to argue that Labour has been too eager to back down from policy that many Ma¯ ori voters do support.
According to key players in te ao Ma¯ ori and politics, these are the major kaupapa going into election 2023.
Te Taiao | The Environment
Environmental concerns start on Three Waters.
Those involved in the Waikato River Authority, a co-governance group comprising Waikato council and iwi, say the set-up has worked well for the past 13 years, and other iwi and policymakers have paid attention to whether cogovernance systems could work elsewhere. The Three Waters proposal would take the Waikato
River Authority model, with boards made of council and iwi representatives, and apply it to water services nationally.
Professor Sandy Morrison, a scientist and the dean of Waikato University’s Faculty of Ma¯ ori and Indigenous Studies, said the cogovernance model had been ‘‘transformational’’ for thinking inter-generationally about the environment.
In the broader environment space, Morrison said there was increased concern about the current and future impacts of climate change. In Taira¯ whiti, Hawke’s Bay, Ta¯ maki Makaurau and Te Tai Tokerau many Ma¯ ori families and businesses were hit by the summer cyclone and rainstorm.
She said the Government needed to step in to help with climate change adaption and also to work at greater pace to mitigate the severity of climate changerelated severe weather events.
‘‘It’s the vulnerable who do not have the resources to be able to pick themselves up again after these events,’’ she said.
‘‘Yet, we see our communities open their wharenui to ensure they can find food and water to feed the multitudes in times of emergency.’’
Hauora | Health
Te Aka Whai Ora, the Ma¯ ori Health Authority, was set up in late 2021, with the goal of reducing racial inequity seen in the health system. Today’s tamariki Ma¯ ori are expected to die 7.5 years earlier than non-Ma¯ ori because of the disparities in healthcare they receive.
We’ve not yet seen how much Te Aka Whai Ora can achieve to improve these outcomes, but academics are hopeful. University of Auckland associate dean for Pacific health Sir Collin
Tukuitonga said it was a ‘‘golden opportunity’’ to finally have agencies dedicated to reducing health inequity.
‘‘There has been little improvement in health inequities in Aotearoa New Zealand despite several policy statements seeking a reduction in health inequities,’’ he said in the New Zealand Medical Journal editorial published this week.
Dr Rawiri Taonui, a researcher who advised on Covid-19 policies for Ma¯ ori, said initial delays in getting vaccinations to Ma¯ ori had been due to central government wanting to control the process – without the resourcing or connections to reach everyone. ‘‘By the end of it, they finally understood the best way to get it done was to let Ma¯ ori get on with it,’’ he said.
‘‘The consultation became more authentically co-designed.’’
He said the Government’s decision to fund Ma¯ ori communities to deliver vaccines and testing services had been ‘‘the most important decision’’, just before Omicron arrived and lockdowns and gathering limits became ineffective.
‘‘If those resources hadn’t been provided, Omicron would have just wrecked its way through our communities,’’ he said.
His hope was that officials and decision-makers would continue that co-design approach in other areas.
Hononga Ma¯ ta¯ waka | Race Relations
As well as hate speech reform being shelved, there’s concern about the progress of anti-racism and social cohesion projects at other government agencies.
Professor Margaret Mutu, an Iwi Chairs Forum leader from Nga¯ ti Kahu, said Ma¯ ori were facing increased hostility from certain vocal protest groups.
This week, an anti cogovernance tour kicked off a series of public meetings. Protests met some of the rallies, after video emerged showing public discussion moving away from policy and criticising general aspects of Ma¯ ori culture.
Mutu said various government departments had started work, after the March 15 attack, to improve New Zealand’s social cohesion. However, some of that work had stopped or slowed.
‘‘It’s crawling along, at such a slow pace,’’ she said.
‘‘There’s a lot of unnecessary fear from some when it comes to Ma¯ ori, a fear of the unknown. They think, somehow, Ma¯ ori are getting something more.
‘‘Well, I ask them to look at the statistics. How is it that Ma¯ ori health and socioeconomic statistics are so bad?
‘‘That all derives from racism,’’ Mutu said.