Covid-19: Crown must stop paying lip-service and sharpen its response times, Ngāti Hine leader tells Waitangi Tribunal

Wednesday, 8 December 2021

Ngāti Hine deputy chair Pita Tipene says Covid is a war and timeliness is everything.

Timeliness is everything, a Northland iwi has told the Waitangi Tribunal, yet the Government’s Covid-19 response for Māori hadn’t reflected the urgency needed to save lives.

Ngāti Hine opened the third day of evidence at the Waitangi Tribunal’s urgent inquiry into whether the Crown had breached Te Tiriti o Waitangi in its Covid response, urging Government to change its processes, work with Māori and respect their rangatiratanga (independent authority).

Ngāti Hine deputy chair Pita Tipene said, while appreciative that funding had been provided, it had taken too long to reach the communities that needed it most.

On November 6, Ngāti Hine applied to Te Puni Kōkiri for funding to boost its vaccination efforts, Tipene said. They had only just received confirmation, on Tuesday, December 7, that the application was successful.

Ngāti Hine Health Trust’s Linda O’Grady vaccinates Aimee Whalen. Ngāti Hine has been working hard to boost vaccination rates in its rohe, but its efforts have been hampered by slow Government response to resource requests.

* Waitangi Tribunal: Lack of action on Māori health underfunding as health gaps grow

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Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says Northlanders should continue to encourage people to get vaccinated, and responds to the cancellation of 2022 Waitangi Day celebrations.

“That is a whole month and, if you’re talking about timeliness, I’m sure you would agree that in times of war we must be much sharper than that,” Tipene said.

“The Government must not use the backdrop of war on Covid to disregard rangatiratanga when we really need to work as treaty partners.”

He wrote in his synopsis that when ministers engaged with Ngāti Hine, it appeared that they had been briefed to say “we hear you, you have our support, do what you need to do,” but it was lip-service.

“We need to be able to engage in and influence the Crown’s policy. We know the challenges our people face, and we know how to respond to their needs.

“It is difficult to take a national policy, aimed at the general population and apply it to our communities. It just does not work.”

Ngāti Hine chief executive Geoff Milner said it was undeniable the system had failed Māori.

“The first vaccination rate for our Māori people has only recently reached 80 per cent whereas the rest of the country is heading quickly towards 90 per cent.

“The positive cases in Northland – 91 positive cases since the Delta outbreak – 76 per cent of the cases have impacted Māori.

“I don’t think there’s any discussion needed around whether the policy and the roll-out of the vaccination system has been effective for Māori because the statistics don’t lie.”

Ngāti Hine is one of about 40 claimants from across New Zealand speaking at the special tribunal hearing this week, detailing the circumstances that they say have disproportionately exposed Māori to Covid-19, and explore any changes that could improve equity in the Government’s pandemic response.

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Also expected to give evidence on Wednesday is Muaūpoko Tribal Authority chief executive Di Rump, Māori Health Authority board member and chief executive of Te Kōhao Health Lady Tureiti Moxon, and indigenous data researcher Associate Professor Andrew Sporle.

Judge Damian Stone is presiding, supported by Tribunal members Associate Professor Tom Roa, Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith and Tania Simpson.

The hearing continues.