Government rules out return of Māori Health Authority after Tribunal report

The Government has no plan to bring back a stand-alone Māori health authority, Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey says, after the Waitangi Tribunal's second Hautupua report. RNZ

Mr Doocey said the Government would keep working through Whiria Te Ora, the Māori Health Strategy. He said the priority was better access to care, stronger services and better health results.

The second part of the Hautupua: Te Aka Whai Ora Priority Report looked at how the Crown planned for Māori health without a stand-alone authority. It found the Government had no clear alternative plan when it scrapped Te Aka Whai Ora.

The Tribunal found the Crown did not properly inform Māori about its alternative plans. It found the Crown did not recognise and respect tino rangatiratanga in that planning. It found the Crown did not consult Māori on those plans.

The Tribunal found those breaches had caused harm to Māori and would keep causing short-term 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 looked at again.

Mr Doocey holds the mental health portfolio and associate responsibility for rural health. He said there would be no change to the structure, with the strategy remaining the main tool.

Te Aka Whai Ora was scrapped as part of the Government's 100-day programme. The Pae Ora (Disestablishment of the Māori Health Authority) Amendment Bill was passed under urgency in February 2024, which means it moved through Parliament on a fast track with limited debate. The Government said at the time the authority would close by the end of June. The Tribunal has found before that scrapping it breached the Treaty of Waitangi, Te Ao Māori News and the decision to close it is being challenged in the High Court.

As set up, the Māori Health Authority was an independent statutory body that worked alongside Health New Zealand. It did not run a separate health system. RNZ The Government at the time said it would have the power to fund health services, track the state of Māori health and develop policy. Beehive Ministers later said the relationship between Te Whatu Ora, Health New Zealand and the Ministry was different from the Māori Health Authority's relationship with the Ministry.

The broader context here is familiar to people who follow health and Treaty issues. The Government argues results can improve without separate machinery, through funding choices, workforce measures and accountability under Whiria Te Ora. The Tribunal argues that how policy is made is itself a Treaty issue, and failing to inform, consult and give effect to tino rangatiratanga creates harm that lasts beyond the law change.

Looking at what this means for the next phase, officials, providers and iwi organisations face two tests at once. Ministers will point to access figures, service coverage and health results as the measure of the strategy. Tribunal findings will still shape the risk of court action, questions from MPs in select committees and the terms on which Māori health funding and joint design of services are negotiated, even while the structure stays as it is.