Minister for Māori Crown Relations Kelvin Davis visited Taranaki on Thursday. Photo / NZME
As Covid-19 returns to Taranaki, the Government says money for iwi and hapū to respond will likely be given out within a couple of weeks.
On Thursday three cases of Covid in New Plymouth were announced – one adult and two children from the same family.
Sixty million dollars has been earmarked for iwi, hapū and Māori organisations to protect communities as the virus becomes endemic across the country.
Visiting Taranaki the day the cases came to light, the Minister for Māori Crown Relations Kelvin Davis said he and fellow ministers Peeni Henare and Willie Jackson want the money spent.
"We really just want to get the money out quickly - it's a high trust model."
It comes on top of another $60 million already largely distributed to boost Māori Covid vaccination.
"One of big questions that has come up in the last few weeks is how do we prepare our people. If somebody is at home in bed, how do we keep the rest of the whānau safe, how do we toilet them, shower them, how do we isolate if necessary?"
Davis said the ministers are willing to hear all sorts of proposals.
"We're accepting applications from iwi and Māori organisations and they just need to lay out what the money's for. If we can agree yeah that's a good idea we just want to give it the tick and get the money out the door."
He says the first announcement will come before Christmas.
"That's my expectation… we just want to get it done – I'd like to think in a week or so."
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer of Ngāti Ruanui said the Government ministers needed to keep the pressure on Taranaki DHB to support Māori efforts.
"What Kelvin needs to do is tell the DHB to take its knee off our resourcing throat and let Māori get on with what we're doing."
Davis said he wanted to push back against the idea that DHBs can't look after people.
"Our health system has been under immense pressure and they've done a fantastic job at keeping that [death] rate down.
"I think she undermines the health message because on one hand they're saying get vaccinated and on the other hand they're saying don't trust the Government.
"So it gives mixed messages and it creates distrust of the Government and I think that's harmful."
Ngarewa-Packer said Māori were talking across the country to share the best ways of coping with endemic Covid.
She said Te Whānau o Waipareira in Auckland and leaders in Waikato and Te Arawa had vital experience and practices which will be brought to Taranaki.
"We don't profess to know it all, we need to learn from each other, and there is a tuakana-teina relationship in that Tāmaki Makaurau has had a hundred-plus days experience."
"Various iwi across Taranaki certainly have been talking about the support that's required when we go into isolation, talking about the welfare support that's required."
Ngarewa-Packer said Māori needed to stay positive and focused on the best ways to care for all whānau, vaccinated or not.
Ngāruahine Covid-19 response communications lead Te Aorangi Dillon said there were active discussions about how to help whānau with Covid and how to utilise marae.
"We will do it ourselves if we have to, but we need to be properly resourced to do these sorts of thing effectively and quickly."
Dillon said for weeks the iwi had been encouraging whānau to create their own plan for when Covid was at their door.
"The feedback we have had is that actually whānau want to deal with this themselves."
"Some whānau will want to go into MIQ or self-isolate very separately from everyone else – but some of our mums are saying we actually want to look after our kids ourselves, let us do that in the safest way possible."
Dillon said marae would likely be hubs of community support, although it wasn't yet clear how each would respond.
"We've seen it happening up north where they're starting to put portacoms on marae in order to support whānau who may have covid – that is something we would definitely consider."
She said there needed to be whānau ready for daily checks on the sick.
"Most of the families we work with probably would prefer to only hear from us, rather than say DHB staff."
"The system has already let people down in Tāmaki, they've gone home and they've died because they haven't been checked up on."
"So you need to resource organisations like ours to be doing that sort of checking and support."