A few weeks I ago I wrote an article for The BFD titled “What Co-Governance Really Means”. As part of the article I wrote the following:
If you accept the interpretation [that the Treaty of Waitangi is an unequal partnership] to be the correct one then giving a Maori Health Authority the right of veto makes perfect sense.
Of course, it doesn’t stop at the health system.
Take Maori wards for example. Admittedly I don’t know much about them but I can tell you the real reason they are there is to (eventually) allow Maori the ability to veto any decision made by the Council (the government will of course sugarcoat it by saying, “It’s to allow Maori to have a final say over decisions.”)
Same thing with water, justice etc (emphasis added)
Well, what do you know?
It has been suggested in consultation feedback published by the Government that the Maori Health Authority model could be applied to education and justice.
Maori Development Minister Willie Jackson on Friday released the feedback from the first phase of targeted engagement with Maori on developing a plan to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
[…] “He Puapua is not the Declaration Plan, nor is it Government policy,” Jackson said. “Reports like He Puapua and Matike Mai are part of a long history of reports on addressing Indigenous rights in Aotearoa and should be seen in that context.”
In July last year, Jackson announced plans to consult with Maori on how the Government could meet its obligation to UNDRIP, before engaging with the wider public.
“We’ve now completed the first stage of the two-step engagement process to develop a Declaration Plan. This has provided us with valuable feedback to help with drafting a Declaration Plan that we will then take out to wider consultation,” Jackson said.
[…] The Government’s new Maori Health Authority is cited in the consultation feedback document as a successful model for how Maori could improve their own outcomes, particularly in education and justice.
“The establishment of a Maori Health Authority was seen as a positive step and a promising model, although some participants questioned whether it would have the power and resources necessary to be effective,” the consultation document reads.
“There was often comment by participants that the establishment of the new Maori Health Authority could give a sign for a potential approach in the justice system.”
The Government already has plans to introduce legislation in early 2023 to revamp Maori education, with the aim of seeing 30 percent of Maori learners participating in Kaupapa Maori/Maori medium education – where students are taught all or some curriculum subjects in the Maori language for at least 51 percent of the time – by 2040.
“The inability of the current education system to create bilingual, bicultural citizens who have a knowledge of and value Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Declaration consistently in their work was a common theme in some workshops,” the consultation document reads.
“Many participants explained the lack of recognition or weight given to Maori perspectives often stemmed from a lack of awareness amongst the non-Maori population of the importance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Maori rights more generally.”
[…] “Some participants noted that the existing Westminster system needed to be overhauled and that constitutional transformation must occur. Some participants also noted that government needed to eliminate inequality and address racism.”
The system is racist!
Noticeably absent from the article is the word ‘veto’. Under the Maori Health Authority model, the Maori Health Authority will have the ability to veto decisions made by the proposed “Health New Zealand” agency. This means, for example, the Maori Health Authority can starve Health New Zealand of funding while lining its own pockets.
The government and its media lackeys will tell you that it’s all about addressing inequalities of outcomes or some nonsense like that. The truth is that it’s all about implementing a radical interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi.
The good news, though, is thanks to The BFD more and more people are becoming aware of what is really happening.
