Speech: Launch of Regional Maori Health Plan - Tariana Turia

Launch of Regional Maori Health Plan
Grand Hall, Parliament Buildings, Wellington

E nga mana, e nga reo, tena koutou. Ngati Toa Rangatira, Ngati Raukawa, Te Atiawa, tena koutou.

This morning at 5am, there was the most brilliant full moon. It was one of those sights that make you think everything is fine with the world.

The perfectly formed moon shimmering on still waters – the first light of day breaking through, the quiet calling of the birds reminding us that we share our universe with others.

It was an exquisite way to start this day off – a day in which we are stepping courageously into a new direction with this first Maori health action plan to be released at a regional level.

It is so entirely fitting that this report refers to the significance of the message inherited in the words of our traditional moteatea – ka po, ka ao, ka awatea.

This is an invitation passed through the generations, for us to enter the journey from the darkness to the world of light, and onwards to the new dawn.

My hope for the document we are launching today, is that it helps to provide the light for all our whanau to travel by; as they each and collectively determine their own destination forward.

I want to acknowledge the five boards within Compass Health, who have given the green light to today, and that is
Wairarapa PHO Board
Compass Health Ltd Board
Compass Primary Health Care Network Board
Compass Health Wellington Trust Board
and Central PHO Board.

As I look out amongst all of us gathered here today, it is exciting to see the diverse range of people who have come to celebrate this collaboration – mana whenua; iwi representatives; Maori Partnership board members; general practice teams, chief executives, general managers, Ministry staff, and friends.

That diversity is important – for central to the success of our journey in Whanau Ora – is the quality of relationships we can achieve around us.

The birth of this first regional Maori Health Plan today represents an important statement of faith in regional collaboration. This is about requiring people to come together, reducing the duplication of backroom services, and focusing on making sure our services are fit for purpose.

We must uphold that same statement of faith in focusing on the importance of trusting whanau to foster and nurture relationships which will contribute to achieving the best outcomes for whanau.

I want us to commit to the goal of restoring trusting relationships within whanau, between whanau, providers and navigators – and with state agencies – all at the same time: we are talking about a major transformation predicated on trust.

You will all know the waiata written by Tuini Ngawai – E te hokowhitu a Tu, kia kaha ra – written in the times of the Second World War when our young men of the Maori Battalion were away fighting in North Africa and Italy.

There is a repeating refrain - Whirinaki, whirinaki, tatou katoa, kia kotahi ra.

It is that all important call to depend upon each other; to place trust in ourselves; to come together as one.

In many ways we must call on that same motivation now, to encourage our people to connect; to believe in their own potential.


Whanau Ora is about opening the doors wide, to ensure that whanau have every opportunity to describe success in their own terms, such as self-determination and opportunities to foster self-management.

I was really excited to attend the Whanau Ora conference a couple of weeks ago, Sharing the Learning. At that hui we heard numerous examples of the approach being already anchored on solid foundations which illustrated so clearly no one else can do it for us – it is up to us.

For a whanau in Cannons Creek the goal was to think big; to finish education for a mum and her daughter.

From Te Ope Koiora, we heard about how Whanau Ora was incorporated within the context of the Tainui 50 year plan.

From the agencies present we saw how Whanau Ora has influenced the core business of the state – with some 158 integrated contracts and business cases underway to walk with provider collectives in supporting whanau.

With various presentations from the Pacific nations, Whanau Ora was described as modelling hope, and providing opportunities for champions for change.

I wanted to share some of these examples because I think we need to really know our successes and to appreciate the potential of our whanau to achieve their aspirations.

Sometimes I fear we have become over professionalized, and disconnected from the very simple truths of our lives. We look to doctors for our diagnosis rather than focusing on what we need to do to keep ourselves well.

What this regional Maori Health Action Plan will do is to ensure that whanau have a greater say in what and how services should be provided – rather than being treated as passive recipients to be done to, rather than with.

This is about taking a whanau centred approach; to ensure whanau are empowered to take collective responsibility.

Whanau Ora is not just about health services of course – addressing the broader needs of whanau will require sectors like housing, social development, education to come on board as well.

And of course there will be many whanau who want to focus on their own solutions for improving their lives. It is not about a one size fits all.

As I have said earlier, this is the first regional Maori Health Action Plan to be released and so we have great expectations for how it will pan out, in helping to set the stage in implementing Whanau Ora within a primary healthcare setting.

If there is one word I hope you will remember from my comments, it is the concept of whakawhirinakitanga.

How can we encourage trust across and between your providers, your PHO and with the DHB? How will the DHB Maori Health Plans work in with Ka Po, Ka Ao? How does Compass Health demonstrate its trust for the navigators who are working directly with whanau?
What I most want to see is collaboration and cooperation across all levels with a single focus on improving outcomes with and for whanau.

I’d like to see the Maori General Managers being decision-makers in the funding and planning cycles. I’d like to see GPs, iwi and Maori providers working together, in advancing the Whanau Ora approach.

I want to thank you all for the enthusiasm, the commitment and the investment you have made in creating a primary care system that is better integrated and responds well to the needs of whanau.

Transformation always comes at some sacrifice – and I have no doubt when I look around me that working together has required considerable patience and a firm belief in what you are doing.

Let us look upon this launch tonight, as an opportunity to start anew, as a collective force for change, embarking upon the new dawn that our whanau will lead us towards.

Tena tatou katoa.