Māori and Pacific expertise excluded from science policy, report finds

Tuesday, 27 April 2021

The researchers say changes are needed to the way in which knowledge and evidence is used in policy and decision-making in New Zealand.

Māori and Pacific expertise is being excluded from advice and decision-making roles around science policy, according to a new report.

Te Pūtahitanga: A Tiriti-led science-policy approach for Aotearoa New Zealand, states the exclusion has been particularly evident during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lead researcher Tracey McIntosh said because the impacts of Covid-19 are experienced differentially, the pandemic has revealed “deeply embedded inequities” in New Zealand.

This report is looking for a “significant reset” in how we imagine a “combined future”, she said.

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McIntosh, who is also a professor of Indigenous Studies at University of Auckland, said the report called for a move beyond “only” consultation with Māori, to a point where Māori take the lead.

“We have seen the frustrations that come when Māori advice has not been taken up, for example the vaccine rollouts,” she said.

“Māori need to take the lead where the impact for Māori would be most significant. This is Māori taking the role to lead New Zealand.

“A role we could and should play,” she said.

The Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga report, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, says for a science sector to have its greatest reach and impact for all citizens, it must demonstrate relevance, accessibility and inclusion.

Currently, Te Tiriti and Mātauranga Māori – the knowledge ecosystem underpinned by kaupapa and tikanga Māori - are both undervalued, under-resourced and the science-policy interface leaves little “obvious” room for Māori participation or leadership, it found.

“This is perhaps unsurprising given that Aotearoa’s political and science systems have largely failed to recognise Māori as innovators, scientists or policymakers,” the report states.

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It said a number of structural challenges continued to confront Māori, including stark under-representation within the university workforce, institutional racism, and a tokenistic approach to the funding and integration of Mātauranga Māori.

McIntosh said Māori expertise is often “diluted” because policymakers are unsure of how it can generate knowledge.

The Te Tiriti framework could determine that future, she said.

Tahu Kukutai, from the University of Waikato's National Institute of Demographic and Economic Analysis.

The report recommends appointing Māori chief science advisors in key government agencies, creating Tiriti-based guidelines for science and innovation funding, and establishing an independent Mātauranga Māori entity.

“Māori in leadership roles who can draw on dual knowledge traditions and who can act as the conduit between government departments and communities is essential for this success,” McIntosh said.

One of the authors of the paper, Tahu Kukutai, a demography professor at the University of Waikato, said the report argued for an approach that was equity focused.

'There are two things that make this report significant. One is that it interrogates, from an unapologetically Māori vantage point, how science and evidence shapes policymaking.

“Unsurprisingly, it finds that the current approach marginalises Māori experts, knowledge and priorities, with deleterious consequences for Māori and Aotearoa more broadly.”

The researchers are calling for a bolder science policy approach enabled by and responsive to the unique strengths of Mātauranga Māori.

“The real test will be whether those with the power to make the changes are actually up for it,” Kukutai said.