Delta now a Māori pandemic, hearing told
‘‘Delta has very quickly become a Māori pandemic,’’ National Hauora Coalition chief executive Simon Royal told a special hearing of the Waitangi Tribunal into the Government’s Covid-19 response which began yesterday.
And it would only get worse, he said, as the Government lifted restrictions.
‘‘The Government needs to address this immediately and understand this isn’t a problem that can be hidden . . . every way you turn, the statistics keep mounting.’’
Royal warned that, unless something transformative happened, the same results would continue to manifest.
The coalition is one of around 40 claimants from across New Zealand speaking at the special tribunal hearing this week, detailing the circumstances that they say have disproportionately exposed Māori to Covid-19, and explore any changes that could improve equity in the Government’s pandemic response.
The hearing began with evidence from representatives for Te Kaunihera Māori o Aotearoa – the New Zealand Mā ori Council.
In its opening synopsis, the New Zealand Māori Council detailed the difficulties Māori health providers have had in the past 20 months trying to work with the Government to improve health and vaccination outcomes for Mā ori as Covid-19 threatened the country. ‘‘Aotearoa New Zealand has, so far, escaped the worst impact of that emergency. But the Crown has moved away from its elimination policy. In doing so, it exposed Māori to all of the problems with the health system that this tribunal has already identified.
‘‘Mā ori trail the total population’s vaccination rates by over 20 per cent. There are multiple reasons for this, including systemic factors inherent in the way in which the Crown has chosen to proceed with its vaccination programme ...
‘‘It cannot be consistent with Te Tiriti for the Crown to adopt policies that are considered to provide New Zealand with a reasonable level of protection, but which leave Mā ori exposed to a greater level of harm.’’
Speaking on behalf of the council, co-chair George Ngatai said a new Mā ori Covid-19 council that represented iwi, hapū , whā nau, health providers and all other Māori-led organisations was needed to ensure Mā ori were heard at the highest level.
The hearing continues.