Te Tiratū on 1News: Pae Ora amendments spark national conversation
Our co-chair Hagen Tautari getting ready to be interviewed by 1News at Kirikiriroa Marae
Our co-chair Hagen Tautari featured on 1News this week, representing the voice of Te Tiratū and our wider iwi Māori communities, as the government proposes changes to the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act.
There are 15 Iwi Māori Partnership Boards (IMPBs) across the motu, each tasked with identifying the health needs of Māori in their region and advising Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora) on how to address those needs.
“We’ve been legislated to provide a voice of whānau,” said Hagen Tautari. “That’s why we’re so important.”
Under the previous health minister, IMPBs were also set to receive decision-making powers. However, the current Minister of Health has signalled a different direction.
“Health New Zealand gets a huge amount of money each year from the government, and we expect them to deliver for patients,” the Minister said.
In response, Hagen made it clear that iwi Māori want more than a seat at the table.
“I think everybody would want to be more than just an advisory group,” he told 1News.
While Te Tiratū supports the Minister’s back-to-basics approach of putting patients first, and the stated goal of timely, quality healthcare for all New Zealanders, Tautari says the proposals risk centralising decision-making in Wellington — undermining decades of hard-won progress to improve outcomes for the highest-need group in Aotearoa’s health system.
Questions remain about how equity will be upheld. Te Tiratū stands firm in our role — ensuring Māori voices are heard and upheld at every level of health system decision-making.
