National Health spokesman Dr Shane Reti is a GP - is that a Good Person or a General Protagonist?

National Party health spokesman Dr Shane Reti is a GP. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Opinion

Part of the way I understand partnership under Te Tiriti is standing by your partner. Backing up your mates might be another phrase. In union terms, the slogan is “an injury to one is an injury to all”.

That is how I feel when I see Te Aka Whai Ora unjustly attacked and threatened with extinction in political debate. Riana Manuel, as chief executive, is very capable of defending her organisation and people. But it does no harm to back her up.

I do not do this by attacking Dr Shane Reti. He is entitled to his view. He is, after all, Māori, qualified and experienced. But I do take issue with his reported assertions Te Aka Whai Ora has not achieved anything and should be closed down.

Te Aka Whai Ora has been in existence for one year.

From a standing start, it has had to create new governance and management structures, facilities, policies and people. It has largely completed that process. Having to do so within the confines of the public service process will not have hastened the work. But there is no evidence progress has been unreasonably slow, ineffective or costly. I know personally that many really great people have been recruited.

Rob Campbell.

Alongside this, Te Aka Whai Ora has had the daunting task of establishing Iwi Māori Partnership Boards around the country.

This in itself is a logistical, communication and engagement task of size and complexity. These are new structures, which require creative and responsive relationships. Good progress has been made.

Now you can argue against the need for such structures, but it is quite unreasonable to argue that Te Aka Whai Ora has been ineffective in doing what it was required to do first.

People are also inclined to overlook that a key function of Te Aka Whai Ora is to monitor both Te Whatu Ora and Manatu Hauora in terms of their performance on equity for Māori.

This will draw on their own work as well as that of the Iwi Māori Partnership Boards as they get under way. One would hardly expect to see practical results of this within the first year of operation, but the work is under way and the monitored organisations are well aware of it.

Te Aka Whai Ora was allocated some funding itself to commission kaupapa Māori health services.

That was certainly commenced, but whether all funds have been allocated within the first year, I do not know.

Presumably, Reti would not be advocating over-spend or loose allocation. I would hope that as the team is developed further such commissioning work will be done, but it is far too soon to blame Te Aka Whai Ora for no demonstrable outcomes from that function which are both new and indirect.

The expectation is that Te Aka Whai Ora will extend these activities much further in co-commissioning work with the vastly larger resources of Te Whatu Ora. Hard to do until you have staff to do it, and even harder while Te Whatu Ora itself has been largely stretched by renewals of funding of old arrangements rather than innovation. Again, it’s not reasonable to make a judgement on this yet.

I see that Riana Manuel has rightly drawn attention to the work which Te Aka Whai Ora has been doing in community immunisation, vaccination and relief work as practical examples.

Māori Health Authority - Te Aka Whai Ora chief executive Riana Manuel. Photo / Brett Phibbs

She is very polite.

If Government had not too hastily cut back funding for many kaimahi recruited at these levels during the worst of Covid, there would have been far more capability and delivery than there has been.

What Te Aka Whai Ora needs is support. It is hugely important to equitable health outcomes for Māori that it succeeds.

Removing it or absorbing it into either Manatu Hauora or Te Whatu Ora would severely lessen its impact.

Māori do not need reminding that its existence and mandate is a very long way from mana motuhake or tino rangatiratanga or ōritetanga in health.

If there is any argument on what to do about Te Aka Whai Ora, it should how to push its mission and influence further, not to retreat for no reason.

Rob Campbell is a professional director and investor. He is chancellor at AUT, chairman of Ara Ake, chairman of NZ Rural Land and an adviser for Dave Letele’s BBM charity. He is also the former chairman of Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ).