Source: New Zealand Nurses Organisation
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora’s removal of both clauses involving Māori from their offer in collective bargaining shows not only disrespect but a spurning of their legal obligations, NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says.
New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) has been involved in protracted talks with Te Whatu Ora for months. The new offer from Te Whatu Ora to NZNO members on 30 June failed to include Tikanga Allowance and Kaupapa Māori dispute resolution process clauses.
“These clauses were included in the previous offer in May but have been removed without explanation in the latest offer,” Kerri Nuku says.
“With massive Māori health needs and a huge shortage of Māori nurses this move devalues them and would further motivate them to move on to overseas countries like Australia. With cultural obligations to their community, the big picture is that this would further perpetuate gaps in health care, including Māori continue to die at a faster rate.”
Te Whatu Ora has an obligation to Māori, starting from Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022, she says.
These obligations require Te Whatu Ora to actively protect Māori interests, ensure equitable health outcomes, and support Māori self-determination in health matters.
“But moves such as these seem to be strategic in the systemic eradication of Māori rights by the coalition Government.”
Kerri Nuku says two weeks before the offer from Te Whatu Ora, the Health Minister promised changes to the Healthy Futures Act ‘would also strengthen the Hauora Māori Advisory Committee (HMAC)’.
“I strongly doubt this is what the HMAC would advise. It seems that they’re either speaking with forked tongues, or one hand does not know what the other is up to.
“We call on the Minister to encourage Te Whatu Ora to reinstate the clauses back into the offer.”
