The coalition government of New Zealand has pushed through an urgent process of abolishing a policy granting health autonomy to the Māori people. The bill exposes a wider scheme to reverse Indigenous and environmentally progressive policies put forward by the previous Labor government.
Last week, the center-right government initiated a law change under urgency to de-establish the Māori Health Authority in New Zealand, only 18 months after its conception, sparking cries of outrage and nationwide protests. With the bill passing its third reading on February 28th by 68 votes to 54, the public healthcare system will absorb the authority by June 30th.
The accelerated process of the Pae Ora (Disestablishment of the Māori Health Authority) Amendment Bill has resulted in the exclusion of Māori voices, given that the tribunal’s opportunity to assess the reform is deferred until after its enactment. This has led critics from the opposition Labour Party to denounce the government’s approach as “evasive and cowardly.”
The measure explicitly contradicts the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s 180-year-old founding document, which states that “crown-funded health providers have a responsibility to enable Māori to exercise tino rangatiratanga/authority over their own health and wellbeing.” The government, however, insists that the move will streamline bureaucracy and bring healthcare for all of New Zealand “closer to the home and closer to the community.”
Although the government included the abolition of the Māori healthcare system in its 100-day plan and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of the center-right National Party claims to have been very clear about his aims, there is a lack of clarity about the alternatives for the indigenous population which faces clear social and medical disadvantages.
A disadvantaged population
The Māori, making up 17% of the population of New Zealand, have a life expectancy of 7 years lower. They suffer from higher levels of deprivation, imprisonment, and worse health outcomes. The Māori Health Authority aimed to reverse this trend by handing the Māori people some medical autonomy, especially considering the successful way in which they delivered COVID-19 vaccines to their population through working with families and communities.
However, back when the Health Authority was established, the National Party had already expressed its lack of support, favoring instead to find a solution for health inequities from within the same system, rather than creating a second healthcare framework.
Therefore, the plan to scrap Māori health care was unsurprisingly met with nationwide protests and caused an emotional debate in the House.
The Health Authority represented a first step towards achieving tino rangitiratanga [self-determination] for the Māori people, who have consistently been let down by the public healthcare system. On Tuesday afternoon, Te Pāti Māori ethnic party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer expressed disappointment in the government on behalf of the Māori people, stating “The health system has completely failed my kaumatua [Måori elder], my own generation, and my mokopuna [grandchildren]. We have not failed. We have had to endure a system that was forced on us.”
Criticism of the new government
The coalition government, made up of the National Party and two other right-wing fringe parties, New Zealand First and Act New Zealand, took office in November following Jacinda Ardern’s resignation from the Labour Party in 2023. Although respected globally for her progressive leadership, the former prime minister had faced mounting criticism for her government’s strict COVID-19 restrictions and a rising cost of living crisis, causing voters to turn to the National Party.
Yet the new government has caused protests to erupt across the country as it reverses progress made with its conservative policies. The BCC reported that last Tuesday, 300 cars blocked roads in Aukland where two people were arrested. Demonstrators also took to the streets in Wellington.
In addition to abolishing the Māori Health Authority, the government has committed to re-interpreting the Treaty of Waitangi, threatening the rights, allocation of funds, and political power attributed to the Māori people.
To fund income taxes, the national smoking ban is also about to be scrapped, which will disproportionately affect the Māori.
Māori leaders have labeled the government as “anti-Māori” despite promises of acting for the benefit of both sides of the New Zealand population. The abolition is viewed as an attempt to “recolonize” the Māori, undoing decades of progress. Mrs. Ngarewa-Packer further expressed this view by stating “We have learned from this Government that Māori are expendable.” Prime Minister Luxon has nevertheless justified the reversal of affirmative action as preventing division along racial lines.
