Pae Ora bill: Māori health being steamrolled by political agenda – Hingatu Thompson

Te Taura Ora a Waiariki Iwi-Māori Partnership Board chairman Hingatu Thompson is unhappy with a health bill progressing through Parliament. Photo / Supplied

The Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill is heading towards the third reading and royal assent. I have watched alongside many whānau, hapū, and iwi as our hopes to shape a health system that truly nurtures Māori wellbeing and empowers our communities have been steamrolled by a Government determined to push through its agenda.

The bill makes changes to the 2022 legislation that established Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora, The Māori Health Authority – Te Aka Whai Ora, and Iwi Māori Partnership Boards to improve the health of all New Zealanders.

We went into the select committee process hoping this bill would strengthen Te Tiriti-led governance, empower communities and build on the work already done to improve Māori health outcomes. Instead, what we see is minimal change. Thousands of submissions were ignored. Evidence was sidelined. The voices of Māori and supportive non-Māori organisations were silenced in favour of political ideology.

The amendments weaken indigenous rights, downgrade te reo Māori in legislation, and replace genuinely elected Iwi Māori Partnership Boards with a Crown-appointed Hauora Māori Advisory Committee. Advisory committees, even with the best intentions, cannot replace local, iwi-led governance. They are hand-picked by Government, controlling outcomes rather than enabling real tino rangatiratanga.

Iwi Māori Partnership Boards were in the driver’s seat, now they are in the back seat, as MP Hūhana Lyndon warned on the second reading in the debating chamber of our House of Representatives.

She said it was a missed opportunity to mahi tahi and drive better health outcomes for all New Zealanders.

This is not partnership. It is colonisation by another name.

This view was reinforced by another MP, Hana Maipi-Clarke, who reminded Parliament: “Iwi Māori Partnership Boards represent the community voice and Māori-led structures that ensure equity and accountability in our health system and this bill removes their influence.”

She was clear. “This is not tidying up legislation; it is dismantling accountability.”

At a high level, this bill feels like an attack. Anything that strengthens Māori futures seems under assault. The Pae Ora framework was built on Tā Mason Durie’s vision of a healthy future, yet the Government appears determined to pull apart everything that upholds it. Strategies for groups most affected by inequity, including whaikaha whānau, have been removed, leaving those already struggling even more vulnerable.

This is not just about policy; it is about people. Māori continue to die seven years earlier than non-Māori, and yet the Government’s approach ignores decades of evidence on why these inequities exist. Interfering with evidence-based policy in favour of ideology undermines public trust and risks the health of our whānau. Advisory committees cannot replicate the insights and authority of local, iwi-led boards accountable to their communities.

Undoing 40 years of Māori health advancement in a single parliamentary term is reckless. The changes in this bill undo hard-won progress and weaken the foundations of the health system. Whānau, hapū and iwi are left to navigate a system that increasingly feels remote, unresponsive and disconnected from the realities on the ground.

You have to agree with Lyndon that this is a retreat from embedding Te Tiriti in the health system, stamping all over the vision that Pae Ora Healthy Futures was meant to uphold.

This bill also signals a wider problem. It demonstrates a lack of respect for te reo Māori and Māori knowledge, and for mātauranga Māori in decision-making. When the language of a people is removed from legislation, it is more than symbolic; it reflects a dismissal of knowledge, culture and identity. This is a deep concern for whānau in our rohe and across Aotearoa.

The public is ahead of the Government. Communities across the country are calling for substantive expressions of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, not the cosmetic adjustments proposed in this bill. Evidence shows that when Māori have genuine leadership in health governance, outcomes improve, not only for Māori but for all New Zealanders. Yet this bill doubles down on centralised control, ignoring local solutions and sidelining whānau voices.

Hingatu Thompson with fellow Te Taura Ora board member Lauren James.

As the bill moves through the House, I urge all MPs to consider its real-world impact. Pae Ora should be about empowering communities, strengthening whānau wellbeing and upholding Te Tiriti. Anything less is a step backwards for Māori, for equity and for the future of health in Aotearoa.

Te Taura Ora will continue to work with iwi, hapū and whānau to protect Te Tiriti and achieve better outcomes for Hauora Māori. But the reality is clear: a government that ignores evidence and sidelines Māori voices risks not only the health of our people, but the trust and confidence of the country in the system itself.

Our whānau deserve more than incremental changes and political posturing. They deserve a health system that listens, that trusts Māori leadership and that builds a healthier future for all of Aotearoa.

Anything less is unacceptable.

Hingatu Thompson is the chairman of Te Taura Ora a Waiariki, the legislated Iwi-Māori Partnership Board for the Rotorua area, representing about 33,500 Māori in the Waiariki rohe. These partnerships give voice to Māori communities across central Aotearoa in health and wellbeing planning and service delivery.