Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated chair Bayden Barber said the Health Authority would be a vehicle for equity and healing. Photo: RNZ / Kate Green
North Island East Coast iwi Ngāti Kahungunu have announced they will set up their own Māori health authority.
Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated chair Bayden Barber said the health authority would be a vehicle for equity and healing.
"It's a reclamation of our right to design and deliver health solutions that reflect our tikanga, our whakapapa and our vision for thriving whānau," Barber said.
Te Toka Tū Moana o Ngāti Kahungunu (Kahungunu Health Authority) will serve as a Māori-led kaupapa, focused on their whānau, accessing a holistic, whānau-centred health service.
"Te Toka Tū Moana o Ngāti Kahungunu is, as the name says, an anchor stone that will endure," Barber said. "Both Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Ngāti Kahungunu Declaration of Rights clearly articulate our right to self-determination.
"We will build our Whare Rangatira one pou at a time."
The disestablishment of the short-lived Te Aka Whai Ora Māori health authority led rohe around the country to create their own health authorities.
With 97,751, New Zealand's third-largest iwi recently completed a two-month road show, engaging with people from its regional Taiwhenua and urban taurahere groups.
"Our people are concerned about the health and well-being of their whānau," Barber said. "Our kaumātua are dealing with social isolation and loneliness, our rangatahi are struggling with mental health issues and whānau generally are finding it very difficult to access affordable health care when they need it.
"We want a brighter health future for Ngāti Kahungunu and we see the establishment of this kaupapa as a key first step."
According to Stats NZ, life expectancy for Māori remains lower than other ethnic populations.
Barber said New Zealand's health sector was in crisis.
"We have relied on the mainstream system for decades, yet our Kahungunu statistics in every health category continue to languish behind non-Māori. This is about giving our people priority and hope that they can live longer, healthier lives."
Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi chief executive and former Health Hawke's Bay chair Chrissie Hape said many of their whānau were "suffering in silence".
"We have an estimated 9000 whānau Māori not enrolled in a general practice in Hawke's Bay alone, with most GP registers not taking on new patients.
"It is unacceptable that whānau are not able to access affordable basic primary care services in 2025. The high number of whānau showing up at emergency departments across our rohe is testament to that.
"We must do better."
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