Housing a ‘health issue’
King Country News has highlighted Te Tiratū Iwi Māori Partnership Board’s call for political leaders to put healthy homes and Māori-led housing at the centre of the next Government’s agenda.
Our Tauāki Tū Position Statement on Housing sets out the strong connection between housing and whānau health and wellbeing, highlighting overcrowding, damp and mould, housing deprivation and affordability pressures across the Waikato and wider Tainui waka rohe.
The Board is calling for action to improve housing quality and affordability, address rural housing challenges, support Māori home ownership and enable more Māori-led kāinga development, including by removing infrastructure, planning, consenting and financing barriers.
Position Statement – Housing
A healthy, affordable and secure home in a caring, connected community is a foundation for whānau wellbeing. The Tauāki Tū position statement sets out the significant housing-related health challenges facing Māori across the Waikato, Hauraki, Maniapoto, Raukawa and Ngāti Hauā rohe, including housing insecurity, cold, damp and mouldy homes, overcrowding, affordability pressures, homelessness and rural isolation. The evidence shows that inadequate housing can contribute to respiratory illness, financial and mental stress, disrupted education, whānau strain and avoidable hospitalisation. Health and housing are therefore inseparable, requiring coordinated action across both sectors.
Te Tiratū calls for sustained action across six strategic pou, underpinned by mana motuhake for whānau, hapū, iwi and Māori communities: alleviating housing insecurity, ensuring safe housing and support for whānau in greatest need, improving the health and resilience of existing kāinga, addressing rural isolation and access to essential services, improving affordability and pathways to Māori home ownership, and enabling Māori-led kāinga and whenua development. This includes stronger early support to prevent homelessness, investment in healthy and energy-efficient homes, better rural services and connectivity, affordable rental and home-ownership pathways, and greater support for Māori-led housing and whenua development. Te Tiratū is committed to working with iwi, Māori providers and relevant agencies to advance these strategies so that all whānau have a home that enables them not simply to survive, but to thrive.
Housing must be treated as health infrastructure
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Monday 28 September 2026, 10:00AM
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Photo: Sammo Hall, Te Rūnanga O Kirikiriroa Kaitiaki Grounds Keeper Enderley Papapakainga
Te Tiratū Iwi Māori Partnership Board representing 121,000 Māori in Tainui waka rohe challenges political leaders to put healthy homes and Māori-led housing at the centre of the next government’s agenda.
It is calling on political leaders across the House to recognise housing as a fundamental health issue and commit to practical action to ensure whānau across the Waikato, Hauraki, Maniapoto, Raukawa and Ngāti Hauā rohe have safe, affordable and secure homes.
Releasing its Tauāki Tū Position Statement on Housing today, the paper shows where whānau live, the quality of their home and their ability to afford it directly affects their health and wellbeing.
“A decent home is not simply a roof over someone’s head. It is health infrastructure,” says Wayne Knox, an experienced technical expert engaged by Te Tiratū to produce the analysis.
“Cold, damp, overcrowded and unaffordable housing creates pressure on whānau and the health system. If we are serious about improving health outcomes, housing has to be part of the solution.”
The latest data reveals almost one in four Māori report living in crowded housing, compared with 8.8 percent of non-Māori. Forty-five percent report living in damp housing and 37.2 percent report mould in their home.
An estimated 4,311 Māori in the Waikato Region are severely housing deprived or homeless, while Māori accounted for 64 percent of Housing Register applications in the HUD Waikato operational region as at September 2025.
At the same time, housing supply is not keeping pace with demand. The Waikato Region had an estimated housing shortfall of 7,240 homes in 2023, with average annual housing demand projected at 2,860 homes through to 2043.
Te Tiratū says these figures should not be treated simply as housing statistics.
“When whānau have to choose between paying the rent, keeping the power on, buying food, getting to work or seeing a doctor, housing becomes a health issue,” says Knox.
The position statement calls for action across six strategic pou Knox has devised. They include: reducing housing insecurity, ensuring safe housing for whānau in greatest need, improving the health and quality of existing homes, addressing rural isolation, improving affordability and pathways to Māori home ownership, and enabling Māori-led kāinga development.
Te Tiratū wants greater recognition by policymakers of the needs of rural whānau. Around 38 percent of Māori in the former Waikato DHB area live rurally, where distance, transport and limited access to services can compound housing and health pressures.
Māori-led housing must also be central to the response. The Government’s current housing framework recognises Māori-led housing through the MAIHI approach and identifies Māori-led local solutions, housing supply and the removal of systemic barriers as priorities. Government funding since December 2023 has included $426 million approved for Māori-led delivery of around 1,000 homes.
The challenge now, according to Te Tiratū is to deliver policy that reflects local needs.
“Iwi, hapū, Māori landowners and Māori providers are best placed to develop kāinga that reflect the realities of whānau, cultural identity and connection to whenua,” Knox says.
“We tautoko iwi and Māori organisations that are already delivering effective housing solutions. What is needed now is the investment and resources to scale that work and house the many whānau who have spent generations in unhealthy homes, or who have been displaced by extreme weather events.”
“Government needs to work with Māori to remove the barriers that prevent that happening, including infrastructure, planning, consenting and financing barriers.”
With approximately 365,992 hectares of Māori freehold land and land held by post-settlement governance entities within the wider Waikato rohe, Te Tiratū says there is significant potential for Māori-led housing and whenua development, provided the infrastructure and enabling investment are available.
As political parties set out their priorities ahead of the 7 November general election, one of the largest Iwi Māori Partnership Boards is calling for housing and health to be considered together, rather than as separate policy portfolios.
“It’s not simply how many houses will be built. It’s whether the homes being delivered will enable whānau to be healthy, secure and connected, and whether Māori will have the ability to lead solutions on their own whenua.”
The paper calls for sustained, coordinated action across central and local government, the health and housing sectors, iwi, hapū, Māori providers and communities.
One rohe, different needs: Hauora reports reveal local health divide
Taima Campbell, CEO of Hauraki PHO, shares her perspective on the very different health needs emerging in Paeroa and Thames. The latest reports combine local health data with insights from whānau through the Whānau Voice programme, highlighting challenges ranging from access to dental care and the cost of healthcare in Paeroa to Thames’ changing age profile and the need to balance the needs of kaumātua, tamariki and rangatahi.
The findings show why health services and investment need to reflect the realities of individual communities, rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach. Campbell’s local perspective provides an important on-the-ground view of the issues facing whānau across Hauraki. The Paeroa and Thames reports form part of the wider Te Tiratū Hauora Report Series, building a local picture of health needs across the Tainui waka rohe and bringing whānau voices into health planning and decision-making.
‘We all sit the same exams’: What people get wrong about targeted admission schemes
Te Tiratū board member Mataroria Lyndon has challenged misconceptions about targeted admission schemes in an interview with The Spinoff, arguing that growing the Māori and Pacific health workforce is essential to addressing persistent health inequities.
A doctor, medical educator and former Māori and Pacific Admission Scheme (MAPAS) student, Lyndon says Māori and Pacific students admitted through targeted pathways sit the same exams and meet the same standards as their peers. He highlights the wider value of a more representative medical workforce, including stronger connections with whānau and communities, greater cultural competence and more Māori doctors working in rural and community settings. While supporting review and improvement of MAPAS, Lyndon says the continued under-representation of Māori and Pacific doctors means there is still a clear need to grow the workforce and ensure Māori and Pacific tauira can succeed once they enter medical school.
Organisations team up to hear your voice
Te Tiratū Iwi Māori Partnership Board and Tamariki Tū Tamariki Ora are working together to gather feedback from whānau through their existing relationships with frontline staff, navigators and support workers. Rather than asking whānau to complete separate surveys, the partnership will incorporate Whānau Voice surveys into everyday interactions, helping reduce survey fatigue while capturing experiences of health and social services.
The organisations say the approach will provide a more meaningful picture of what is working, where improvements are needed and what whānau want from services in the future. By building on trusted relationships already in place, the partnership aims to ensure whānau experiences are heard and used to advocate for better outcomes.
Kia Tū grows rangatahi wellbeing leaders in seven kura
Rangatahi Māori across Waikato are stepping up as hauora leaders through the Kia Tū Rangatahi Māori Hauora Leadership Programme.
Te Tiratū Iwi Māori Partnership Board commissioned the kauapapa. Tumu Whakarae Brandi Hudson spoke with Radio Waatea’s Matthew Tukaki about the programme, which is now running in seven secondary schools: Te Kauwhata College, Putāruru College, Ōtorohanga College, Tai Wānanga Ki Ruakura, Te Kōpuku High School, Tokoroa High School and Te Kūiti High School.
Brandi said Kia Tū is about more than health education. Rangatahi are building leadership skills, speaking up about what affects their communities and helping design the solutions.
The kaupapa covers mental health and suicide prevention, vaccination, dental care, and vaping and smoking, while strengthening connection to culture, identity and whānau.
Early survey results from 117 rangatahi show school pressure, stress and not enough sleep are weighing on their wellbeing. Worries about privacy, fear of being judged and not knowing where to go for help are stopping some from reaching out.
The kōrero raised a bigger question for the health system: what could change if rangatahi were given the knowledge and confidence to shape healthier whānau now, rather than waiting until they need care?
Ōtorohanga Hauora Report shines light on scan access gap
Te Tiratū Iwi Māori Partnership Board Tumu Whakarae Brandi Hudson has told the Waikato Times that Ōtorohanga whānau need scanning services brought closer to home.
Speaking on the release of the Ōtorohanga Hauora Report, one of Te Tiratū’s 10 locality reports, Brandi said the town lost its local X-ray clinic in January. Since then, people have had to travel about an hour to Waikato Hospital, or to Te Awamutu or Te Kūiti if they can get an appointment.
For a 15 or 20 minute X-ray, that trip can take up almost half a day. Fuel costs hit hard, especially for older people, farming families and young parents. The report notes median income for Māori aged 30 to 64 in Ōtorohanga sits below the national figure, and a growing number of people are relying on food banks.
The report identifies gaps in access to scans, specialist care and follow-up treatment, along with mental health and alcohol and other drug services. It suggests mobile imaging with regular weekly visits.
Brandi warned that when travel becomes a barrier, people put off getting checked until they’re already unwell.
The Ōtorohanga Charitable Trust is working to bring X-ray services back permanently.
Waikato rangatahi step up to shape the future of Māori health
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Monday 21 September 2026, 10:00AM
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Te Kauwhata College Year 13 rangatahi are taking charge of a leadership hui that will bring a Member of Parliament, a Black Fern and a young Māori climate advocate to their school tomorrow.
Hauraki-Waikato MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, Black Fern and Chiefs Manawa captain Kennedy Tukuafu MNZM, and rangatahi climate advocate and COP30 delegate Taane Aruka Te Aho will join more 130 students including five visiting kura at the Te Kauwhata Leadership Excellence Hui on Tuesday 22 September.
“Kia Tū is about more than teaching rangatahi about hauora. It is about creating the conditions for them to find their voices, understand the issues affecting their whānau and communities, and recognise their own capacity to influence what happens next,” says Te Tiratū Tumu Whakarae Brandi Hudson.
The Te Kauwhata Leadership Excellence Hui on Tuesday 22 September is the latest stage of the Kia Tū Rangatahi Māori Hauora Leadership Programme, an initiative of Te Tiratū Iwi Māori Partnership Board now expanding across seven secondary schools in the Waikato.
“Our early Te Tiratū survey results show rangatahi are consistently telling us that school pressure, stress and sleep affect their wellbeing, while mates, whānau and physical activity help keep them strong,” says Te Tiratū Tumu Whakarae Brandi Hudson.
There have been 117 responses to the survey, including 38 from Te Kauwhata. Among those who answered, the most commonly identified barriers were concerns about privacy, fear of being judged, a preference to sort things out themselves and not knowing where to go.
The pattern is reflected in a separate August engagement with 70 rangatahi from schools and kura across the wider Waikato, which identified similar challenges.
“They are also telling us that privacy concerns and fear of how others might react can make reaching out for help harder,” Hudson says.
“We have seen that beginning to happen at Te Kauwhata. Rangatahi have moved from participating in the programme to helping shape what leadership opportunities should look like for their own school, including this Leadership Excellence Hui.”
The three speakers will share their leadership journeys before taking questions directly from rangatahi.
“This hui, developed by Year 13 students, takes its inspiration from the whakataukī ‘Mā te huruhuru, ka rere te manu’ adorn the bird with feathers so it can fly, which is part of the Kia Tū kaupapa running in schools,” Hudson says.
All the students have challenged themselves to step outside their comfort zones, building confidence through public speaking and learning to use their voices with greater impact. They’ve also explored issues and ideas that matter to them through video, spoken word, art, waiata and interviews.
The programme is an opportunity to learn about hauora issues including mental health and suicide prevention, vaccination, dental care, vaping and smoking, while strengthening connection to culture, identity and each other.
At the hui, Hana-Rawhiti will speak about identity, courage and having the confidence to use your voice. Raised in Rāhui Pōkeka and educated at Te Wharekura o Rākaumangamanga, she won the Hauraki-Waikato seat in 2023 at the age of 21, becoming the youngest Member of Parliament in Aotearoa in 170 years.
Kennedy Tukuafu will bring her experience as a Black Fern and Chiefs Manawa captain. The Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Māhanga wahine debuted for the Black Ferns in 2019, was named Player of the Year in 2021 and co-captained the team to Rugby World Cup victory in 2022. She is now captain of Chiefs Manawa and was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2024.
Taane Aruka Te Aho will bring the perspective of a young Māori leader working at the intersection of rangatahi, whakapapa and te taiao. A recipient of the 2024 Prime Minister’s Indigenous Exchange Scholarship, Taane was selected in 2025 for Te Kāhu Pōkere, the first iwi-mandated Māori youth delegation to attend COP30 in Brazil, where he presented on iwi-led climate solutions.
The focus will then return to the students, with an interactive ‘Design Your Hauora Day’ session where rangatahi will work in teams to develop and pitch their own ideas for a hauora-focused day.
The schools currently involved include Te Kauwhata College, Putāruru College, Ōtorohanga College, Tai Wānanga Ki Ruakura, Te Kōpuku High School, Tokoroa High School and Te Kūiti High School.
For Te Tiratū, the programme is about ensuring rangatahi are not simply recipients of information about hauora, but active participants in conversations about the issues affecting their lives, whānau and communities.
No dentist in Paeroa, two generations to plan for in Thames
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Monday 21 September 2026, 10:00AM
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The absence of a dentist in Paeroa and the challenge of meeting the needs of both older and younger generations in Thames are among the distinct health issues identified in two new Hauora Reports released by Te Tiratū Iwi Māori Partnership Board representing 121,000 Māori across Tainui waka rohe.
In Hauraki District, home to 5,340 Māori in 2025, the reports highlight how local circumstances can shape the health challenges facing individual communities. The Paeroa and Thames Hauora Reports are part of the ten-locality series that combines local health data with the experiences of whānau gathered through its Whānau Voice engagement programme.
The reports demonstrate why health planning needs to look closely at individual communities rather than relying on broad regional data.
“When you aggregate things too high, you lose the nuances around particular community characteristics. Like in Paeroa there’s no dentist and there hasn’t been one for a while,” says Taima Campbell, CEO of Hauraki PHO who has fronted the video explainers on both reports for the Iwi Māori Partnership Board.
Access to dental care has emerged as a particularly strong concern during engagement with whānau.
The town has not had a dentist for some time, creating a barrier for people who may already face financial and transport pressures when seeking healthcare.
Campbell says the issue stood out because it was immediately understood by whānau, with many able to relate it to their own experiences. “Everyone got it. We didn’t have to talk anybody into it. It was such a shared experience.”
She says the lack of affordable dental care also highlights a clear equity issue. “Whānau cannot afford to go to the dentist.” The report identifies dental access as an issue requiring a locally relevant response, rather than assuming services available elsewhere will meet Paeroa’s needs.
In Thames, the demographic picture presents a different challenge with competing priorities for future health investment that need to be carefully balanced.
“We have an ageing population and on the other side of it, pockets of very young people which creates a fundamental planning question for Thames,” she says.
“Are we investing in our tamariki and rangatahi or do we need to take care of our ageing population?”
For Campbell, the issue is not simply whether a community is getting older or younger. It is about understanding its particular mix of generations and making investment decisions that respond to those needs.
“One size does not fit all,” says Campbell. “What is the problem we’re trying to address, and what is the opportunity for us to create a solution that’s tailored and designed with the community? Because you’re more likely to get a better outcome.”
That requires more than listening, she says. “The other component that has to go with that is trust.”
The Paeroa and Thames reports are the latest editions in the Hauora Report Series by Te Tiratū Iwi Māori Partnership Board covering Taumarunui, Putāruru, Tokoroa, Te Kūiti, Ōtorohanga, Te Awamutu, Kirikiriroa, Raahui Pookeka and Ngāruawāhia.
They’ve been designed and researched by Māori technical experts to bring local health evidence and whānau experience into conversations about future health planning, investment and service delivery across the Tainui waka rohe.