default-output-block.skip-main
National | Māori Health

More than ever 'our voices will be heard' - Riana Manuel says as new health system begins

The birthplace of New Zealand, Waitangi, has this morning overseen another major change in Aotearoa history, hosting the opening of the country's new public health system.

Te Aka Whai Ora - Māori Health Authority chief executive Riana Manuel said "it's an appropriate place, and an appropriate way to start the haerenga.

"The whole movement that we're experiencing right now has been a result of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the many people who have gone before us and, recognising that as we move forward, we have to look back into the past to see those people who strived to see this as a possibility."

The ceremony at Waitangi, where the new names for the two governance groups were bestowed, Manuel says, shows how the new system will incorporate mātauranga and tikanga Māori in the forefront of their services.

"These are just examples of how we're cutting through bureaucracy. We're making sure we're doing the right thing at the right time, at the right place."

The new system introduced by the government comes into action today, with Health NZ  Te Whatu Ora, and Te Aka Whai Ora replacing the 20 district health boards that until yesterday were responsible for healthcare across the country.

Creating a legacy

Manuel (Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Pukenga and Ngāti Kahungunu) says her goal for Te Aka Whai Ora is to create a legacy that future generations can be proud and healthy with.

"Kia whakarauora ngā tangata katoa. I, like many of us, and the many who have come before me, have aspirations that our tamariki and our mokopuna will inherit a system that is much better than the one we have."

She says the current climate facing the health sector makes it difficult to give priority to any particular part of the sector that has come under increased pressure during the three years of the Covid-19 pandemic. But she also says it's important to acknowledge and recognise the kaimahi who have done the heavy lifting in that time.

"They have stood up and been on the frontline to support our people. So we want to continue that, but there are many different ways we can improve things and make sure that not only do our kaimahi get the benefits of the reform but that our people see the benefits of the reform in terms of access and in terms of a switch from the absence of disease to the presence of wellbeing."

'A voice in the system'

She says iwi, hapū and hapori have already been engaged by the new system to ensure Māori needs and expertise are addressed, firstly with the creation of Iwi Māori partnership boards, that will provide a voice for Māori communities.

"More than ever they're going to have a voice in this system. We look forward to the kind of hua that comes from that kind of thinking.

"We intend to make sure this reform impacts on every part of Aotearoa. It shouldn't matter where you live, it shouldn't matter how isolated your village is. We want to make sure that through those localised plans, through those IMPBs and through the reform in totality we will make that services will reach much further than they ever have."