Tribunal Says Crown Had No Worked-Up Plan After Scrapping Te Aka Whai Ora
The Waitangi Tribunal has found the Government had no clear replacement plan for Māori health when it closed Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority.
The finding is in Hautupua: Te Aka Whai Ora (Māori Health Authority) Priority Report, Part 2, released in pre-publication format on 25 September 2026. The second stage examined how the Crown developed plans for Māori health without a Māori health authority, according to RNZ.
The Tribunal said that failure led to a "significant lag" between disestablishment and any alternative. For nearly 18 months, the Crown kept telling claimants, the Tribunal and the public it intended to develop other plans in place of Te Aka Whai Ora. The Tribunal said those intentions did not materialise and were not matched by Crown action. In effect, the dedicated body was closed before a replacement was built.
Then-Health Minister Dr Shane Reti had told the Tribunal the Government wanted "a different dream" for Māori health, with more decision-making and more care delivered closer to home and hapū. The Tribunal found that dream was not turned into a worked-up plan at the point of disestablishment, or in the months that followed. The gap lasted months. Officials kept saying work was under way.
On process, the Tribunal found the Crown did not adequately inform Māori about its alternative plans. It found the Crown did not recognise and respect tino rangatiratanga, the right of Māori to decide for themselves, in its Māori health planning. It found the Crown did not consult with Māori and was not properly informed about key elements of its plans.
That included the Hauora Māori Strategy, the Government's strategy for Māori health, and the Pae Ora Amendment Act, the law that changed the health system settings. The Tribunal found the Crown did not properly engage with Māori on either. Iwi-Māori partnership boards, the regional Māori groups set up to have a say on health needs, were approached only after decisions on the alternative plan had already been made.
The Tribunal assessed that process and the content of the alternative plans against te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles, according to the Waitangi Tribunal. It found breaches of the principles of tino rangatiratanga, kāwanatanga and good government, partnership including the duty of consultation, active protection, equity, and options. It found the Crown failed in its duty of active protection and in Māori's right to self-determine what is best for Māori health. It found the Crown took no meaningful action towards Māori health equity, or fair outcomes for Māori.
The report points to what it describes as a double standard on timing. The Crown reviewed Te Aka Whai Ora only 10 months after its establishment, while saying it must wait longer than a year to review other system-wide health changes. The Tribunal said that signalled a double standard.
The Tribunal found its identified breaches had caused harm to Māori and would continue to cause short and long-term harm. It repeated its earlier finding that the Crown had shown "reckless disregard for the Crown-Māori relationship". It recommended that a stand-alone Māori health authority be revisited. The recommendation is not binding. During the hearings, Māori health leaders had asked the Tribunal to recommend a "new whare", a new house to replace Te Aka Whai Ora, according to RNZ.
The procedural history is compressed. The Tribunal granted an urgent inquiry into the proposed disestablishment on 16 February 2024, after the Coalition Government's 100-Day Plan set on or before 8 March 2024 for action concerning Te Aka Whai Ora. A priority inquiry into claims about the disestablishment was granted in May 2024. Te Aka Whai Ora, which had a monitoring role under the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 for the health and disability system, including health services provided through prisons, was disestablished on 30 June 2024. The stage 1 report on the disestablishment was released in November 2024. The Tribunal had said then that the Crown's alternative plans should be "properly ascertained and evaluated".
Stage 2 was heard by Judge Stone as presiding officer, Professor Susy Frankel, Professor Tom Roa, Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith, and Tania Simpson. Professor Frankel resigned as a Tribunal member on 15 September 2025 and completed the proceedings under clause 1 of schedule 2 to the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. The Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill was introduced to the House on 2 July 2025, two days before the stage 2 hearing process concluded. Its introduction prevented the Tribunal from reporting because its jurisdiction was removed. The Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Act was enacted on 10 July 2026, after which the Tribunal issued its stage 2 report.
The broader context here is the use of legislation to limit the Tribunal's reporting function while a hearing was on foot. For people in the Beehive and the Press Gallery, that sequence will be closely studied. The Bill arrived before findings could be issued. Jurisdiction was removed. Findings were then delayed for a year until enactment. The Tribunal has now put its assessment on the record in pre-publication form.
In my view, the political question is narrower than the Treaty analysis and will sit with ministers. The Tribunal finds an 18-month lag, late engagement with partnership boards, and no worked-up alternative at disestablishment. The Crown's position has been that devolution closer to home and hapū would serve Māori better than a central authority. Those two accounts cannot both stand without further evidence. The report invites a response on timing, documentation and engagement, and on whether the Hauora Māori Strategy and amended Pae Ora settings meet the equity and options principles as the Tribunal has framed them. The next documents to watch are the Crown response, any Cabinet papers on the alternative arrangements, and the legislative history of the 2026 Amendment Act.
