Pākehā are still determining Māori healthcare: Rob Campbell

“Funnily enough that’s what we used to call assimilation”

Establishing Te Aka Whai Ora as a Crown agency has been likened to assimilation by former Te Whatu Ora chair Rob Campbell.

Interviewed by Moana Maniapoto on Whakaata Māori (Māori Television) current affairs show Te Ao with Moana, Mr Campbell says “for Māori, by Māori” healthcare must be empowered if New Zealand is to achieve equity.

Placing Te Aka Whai Ora within a Crown-run structure is not equity, he says: “Funnily enough, that’s what we used to call assimilation.

“It’s not agency of Māori, it wasn’t created by Māori, and even things like the iwi-Māori partnership boards are an imposition on Māori, giving them a way to participate in the Pākehā health system.

“And I hope that will be reasonably effective, but it is yet another Pākehā invention as to how Māori might participate.”

Mr Campbell says there is now a strong drive toward indigenisation: “It’s [Māori saying ‘no, actually we don’t want to be half of your board, we want to indigenise the way we do this thing’ and that’s where equity will come from. It’s much more challenging.

“How do we get ‘healthy futures’ unless we get healthy water, unless we get have good housing, unless we have good education, unless we have the income supports for people?

“A lot of this is about genuine cultural acceptance and genuinely wanting to reverse colonialism, because if you don’t reverse colonialism, how do you deal with the outcomes of colonialism?”

But Mr Campbell says good outcomes remain possible.

“The way [Te Aka Whai Ora has] been set up could evolve into something that could genuinely give Māori some ‘for Māori, by Māori”, well-funded support for health services. But the only way to make progress with that is to devolve power.

“Some people don’t much like that answer and want to pretend you can use the old system which created the problem to solve it, and it won’t do it.

“And on that aspect, it’s not a question of being party political, it’s just something that’s demonstrably wrong.”

Mr Campbell also expects Māori within the health sector to make the most of the opportunity to drive change: “But they need a lot of friends, they haven’t got enough power, they haven’t got enough money, and the understanding of the role kaupapa Māori health services could really be in our new health sector, so we need to keep promoting that, but it’s far from co-governance.”

READ MORE:

• SPEECH: Rob Campbell: It’s not too late
• NEWS: Campbell lays out the problems facing reform; not too late to make changes
• NEWS: ‘Imposing a system won’t work’: Campbell wants agency to work inclusively with primary care

The former Te Whatu Ora chair was sacked from his role by health minister Ayesha Verrall on 28 February after his criticism of the National Party’s Three Waters policy as a “dog-whistle on co-governance” was found to contravene the Public Service Commission code of conduct.

Ms Maniapoto asked if he believed so strongly in the need for change, why did he not “zip it” and hold onto his job at Te Whatu Ora?

“Well, I guess I’m not a zip-it sort of person,” Mr Campbell replied.

The former chair added the stated intent of National Party leader Christopher Luxon to disestablish Te Aka Whai Ora is “so badly wrong that isn’t even worth discussing that as an option”.

Mr Campbell finished the interview with advice for Pākehā unwilling to share power with Māori.

“Some people don’t like having power taken off them, and I can understand that.

“I think a lot of Pākekā find it quite challenging to see the assertion of Māori sovereignty or whatever name you care to give it; they don’t feel they have something similar to grasp hold of, and what I would say to other Pākehā is that you can find that rock actually in the place you least want to find it, but it’s in the treaty.

“The only answer really is having something we can share which basically is the foundation we have in the Treaty of Waitangi.

“Sometimes the right answer is the hard answer.”