Harawira - Iwi must have a much greater role

Tai Tokerau hapū members in full PPE, ready to hand Covid-19 information to motorists on SH1 south of Kawakawa in January, shortly before they were sent packing by the police. Photo / Tania Whyte

Tai Tokerau Border Control founder Hone Harawira has identified a "clear need" for change in Covid-9 checkpoints after an "historic" meeting with Ngāti Whātua last week.

"It is not appropriate for checkpoints between the source of Covid-19 and a region with a high Covid-receptive population to be run in a one-size-fits-all manner," he said.

"Tai Tokerau Māori live in some of the most under-invested and deprived communities in New Zealand. Housing standards are poor, state housing waiting lists are long, poverty and unemployment are widespread resulting in many of the social, whānau and individual harms such as drug and alcohol abuse, violence and suicide, reaching epidemic levels.

"With poverty and lack of access to resources, and a health system that already provides inequitable service, our whānau disproportionately suffer from weakened immune systems, liver disease, cancer, kidney disease, heart disease and diabetes, the medical conditions that are natural breeding grounds for Covid-19 and its descendants."

Despite all those challenges, Tai Tokerau remained resilient, staunch, and protective of its whānau, hapū, iwi and communities, who "at times like this" rallied to support the most vulnerable.

"Tai Tokerau Border Control was set up specifically to safeguard the health and wellbeing of our kaumātua and kuia, and those of our whānau suffering from Covid-susceptible health conditions, and we are committed to working with our Ngāti Whātua counterparts to increase our collective capacity to influence policy and practice to ensure our people are safe through this crisis," Harawira said.

"Not as advisers - the days of Māori standing on the sideline and clapping good intentions are long gone. The change we seek isn't radical. It's not unprecedented, and it's entirely consistent with government policy.

"The change we seek is in line with the principles of partnership expressed in Labour's Māori Manifesto 2020, the support for the Crown/Māori checkpoint partnerships as expressed by the Race Relations Office and the Human Rights Commission, and the NZ Police's own commitment to recognising the Treaty of Waitangi as New Zealand's founding document and enabling iwi to have ownership of decision-making that affects Māori.

"We seek greater participation by iwi and their Border Control teams at all levels of decision-making in the protection of vulnerable Māori communities, from policy development through to operational planning, personnel training, public engagement and wrap-around services for people who turn up at any of our checkpoints.

"Our people expect that we will do our best for them, so we are preparing a case to take to the highest levels of government."