Te Tiriti o Waitangi Flashcards
What are the mandates/lever to address Māori health inequities and support hauora Māori aspirations
- Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the articles and the principles by Waitangi Tribunal WAI 2575).
- UNDRIP and other complementary international human rights agreements.
- NZ legislation (Human Rights Act 1993, Bill of Rights Act, and Pae Ora Act 2022)
- Key government strategies under Pae Ora Act (GPS and Hauora Māori Strategy)
Crown officials may wish to exercise their judgement as to which lever/s is most relevant to their specific work on a topic.
However, all health agencies should understand and utilise the full spectrum of levers/mandates.
What are the 5 principles in the context of health (by Waitangi Tribunal WAI 2575) to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Tino rangatiratanga: providing for Māori self-determination and mana motuhake in the design, delivery and monitoring of health services
Equity: being committed to achieving equitable health outcomes for Māori
Active protection: acting to the fullest extent practicable to achieve equitable health outcomes for Māori. This includes ensuring that the Crown, its agents and its Treaty partner under Te Tiriti are well informed on the extent and nature of both Māori health outcomes and efforts to achieve Māori health equity
Options: providing for and properly resourcing kaupapa Māori health services. Furthermore, the Crown is obliged to ensure that all health services are provided in a culturally appropriate way that recognises and supports the expression of hauora Māori models of care
Partnership: working in partnership with Māori in the governance, design, delivery and monitoring of health services – Māori must be co-designers, with the Crown, of the health system for Māori.
These were also considered when drafting the Pae Ora Act 2022 and the operationalisation document Pae Tū: the Hauora Māori strategy.
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)
Māori Indigenous rights are articulated
New Zealand is a signatory
“The minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world” and thus provide a framework for the preconditions necessary for Indigenous wellbeing.
Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022
One of the three purposes of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 (Pae Ora) is to “achieve equity in health outcomes among New Zealand’s population groups, including by striving to eliminate health disparities, in particular for Māori”. Under Pae Ora, the boards of Te Aka Whai Ora and Te Whatu Ora are required to design, deliver, and arrange services to achieve this purpose.
Parliament’s approach to meeting its obligations under Te Tiriti is outlined in section 6 of the Pae Ora Act. This section states “the Crown’s intention to give effect to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi)”
“Health Sector principles” in section 7 (Pae Ora Act 2022), which specify commitments to Māori health
Equitable access, level of service and outcomes
Engagement in service design, delivery and monitoring
Opportunities for Māori to exercise decision-making authority on matters of importance to Māori
Resourcing Māori services, and ensuring culturally-safe services
Developing and maintaining a culturally representative workforce
Providing services that reflect mātauranga Māori
Undertaking promotional and preventative measures to protect and improve Māori health and wellbeing
undertaking promotional and preventative measures to address the wider determinants of health, including climate change, that adversely affect people’s health.
Treaty Principles Bill
Associate Minister of Justice: David Seymour
To redefine the principles of the Treaty - liberal democracy, equal citizenship and parliamentary sovereignty.
No final or complete list of current principles: partnership, protection and participation.
Referedum may take place where the public will vote for or against. It will be a big risk for the current Governments reputation.
Concerns:
1. One of the treaty partners gets to reinterpret the principles.
2. Co-opt Māori concepts while not explicitly referencing Māori.
3. Prioritising the English version.
4. Landowners want to be rid of historical claims
5. Erodes our status as tangata whenua and co-governance.
6. Breaches international agreements.
7. Divide the country.
8. Roots in Hobsons Pledge.
9. Lack of consultation with the public
10. Constitutional nature (i.e., embedded in all legislation, policies, etc).
Tips for engaging with someone about Tiriti
- Play the long game
- Play the smart game
- Speak with aroha.
- Redirect if you do not have capacity
The Human Rights Act 1993 and The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act (1993)
The Human Rights Act 1993 (HRA) makes it generally unlawful to refuse to provide services to a person or treat them less favourably than others on grounds of race or ethnic origin, except when done in good faith for the purpose of assisting or advancing a particular group of people who need assistance to achieve equality. However, these clauses do not apply to public actors - when it comes to acts and omissions of public bodies, the HRA is effectively subservient to the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.
The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act (1993) (NZBORA) applies to the three branches of government and any person or body performing a public function under law. It provides protection against discrimination by virtue of s19, which reads:
Everyone has the right to freedom from discrimination on the grounds of discrimination in the Human Rights Act 1993.
Measures taken in good faith for the purpose of assisting or advancing persons or groups of persons disadvantaged because of discrimination that is unlawful by virtue of Part 2 of the Human Rights Act 1993 do not constitute discrimination.
Government Policy Statement
The Pae Ora Act requires the Minister to issue a Government Policy Statement on Health (GPS) at least every 3 years, which sets the Government’s priorities for the publicly funded health sector. The legislation states that this GPS must outline the Government’s priorities for engaging with, and improving health outcomes for, Māori (section 36). A health entity must give effect to the GPS to the extent it is relevant to its functions.
Pae Tū: Hauora Māori Strategy
The Pae Ora Act also requires (section 42) the Minister to develop a Hauora Māori Strategy, jointly prepared with the Māori Health Authority. The Act states that the Hauora Māori Strategy is to provide a framework to guide health entities in improving Māori health outcomes, and set out priorities for services and health sector improvements relating to hauora Māori, including workforce development.
Pae Tū, the current Hauora Māori Strategy, builds on both He Korowai Oranga: Māori Health Strategy and Whakamaua: Māori Health Action Plan 2020–2025. It reaffirms the vision of ‘pae ora – healthy futures for Māori’, and the four outcomes set out in Whakamaua, which provide a focus for collective action:
Outcome 1: Whānau, hapū, iwi and Māori communities can exercise their authority to improve their health and wellbeing
Outcome 2: The health system is fair and sustainable, and delivers more equitable outcomes for Māori
Outcome 3: The health system addresses racism and discrimination in all its forms
Outcome 4: The inclusion and protection of mātauranga throughout the health system.
Pae Tū outlines the following four goals. Each is expressed in terms of mana:
Mana whakahaere - Effective and appropriate kaitiakitanga and stewardship over the health and disability system. Mana whakahaere is the exercise of control in accordance with tikanga, kaupapa and kawa Māori. This goes beyond the management of assets and resources and towards enabling Māori aspirations for health and independence.
Mana motuhake - Enabling the right for Māori to be Māori (Māori self-determination); to exercise their authority over their lives and to live on Māori terms and according to Māori philosophies, values and practices, including tikanga Māori.
Mana tangata - Achieving equity in health and disability outcomes for Māori, enhancing the mana of people across their life course and contributing to the overall health and wellbeing of Māori.
Mana Māori - Enabling Ritenga Māori (Māori customary rituals), which are framed by te ao Māori (the Māori world), enacted through tikanga Māori (Māori philosophy and customary practices) and encapsulated within mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge).
He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni (Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand) 1835
In 1831, 13 Ngāpuhi chiefs wrote to King William.
For Maori - Safeguarding their people in the face of rapid change; assert their authority to the wider world; European relations.
On 28 October 1835 James Busby took this a step further at a hui he had called at Waitangi. By the end of the day 34 rangatira had signed He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni (known in English as the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand).
Two versions consisting of four articles.
- It asserted that sovereign power and authority in the land resided with Te Whakaminenga, the Confederation of United Tribes, and that no foreigners could make laws.
- Te Whakaminenga was to meet at Waitangi each autumn to frame laws, and in return for their protection of British subjects in their territory, they sought King William’s protection against threats to their mana.
- They also thanked the King for acknowledging their flag (white flag with red union jack and four stars).
For Busby/British - step towards making NZ a British possession; needed to unite tribes in order to have a Treaty with them; to form a Government.
What is the context of Tiriti/Treaty
Context: European lawlessness and land speculators trying to buy large areas from Māori who had no tradition of this form of permanent transfer of land ownership.
Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson and his secretary James Stuart Freeman created the first draft of the Treaty of Waitangi in English which James Busby added to. Missionary Henry Williams and son Edward Williams translated.
James Busby had sent invitations to northern rangatira (chiefs) to meet Hobson, “a rangatira of the Queen of England”, at his property at Waitangi on 5 February 1840 to discuss a formal arrangement. Hobson had no draft treaty to present to the rangatira yet (would be the next day). Neither he nor Freeman had legal training or much understanding of Māori.
Preamble
The preamble to the English text states that the British intentions were to:
1. protect Māori interests from the encroaching British settlement
2. provide for British settlement
3. establish a government to maintain peace and order.
The Māori text includes similar statements but has a different emphasis because it suggests that the Queen’s main promises to Māori were to:
1. secure tribal rangatiratanga
2. secure Māori land ownership.
Article 1
Te reo Māori: Māori give Queen Victoria “te kāwanatanga katoa”— complete governance over the land.
a. Kāwanatanga = derived from the word ‘governor’ or ‘governance’.
b. Governance = overseeing the control and direction of something.
English: Māori give Queen Victoria all the rights and powers of sovereignty over the land. Implies that Māori ceded sovereignty.
a. Sovereignty = supreme power or authority over something.
Notes:
a. Sovereignty has no direct equivalent in the Māori language.
b. Sovereignty is a much stronger term, ‘te tino rangatiratanga’ or ‘mana’ were better approximations of sovereignty than ‘kāwanatanga’.
c. Mana = authority, control, power.
d. Government power (kāwanatanga) is subservient to indigenous sovereignty (tino rangatiratanga).
Most controversial along with Article 2.
Article 2
Te reo Māori: Māori are guaranteed ‘te tino rangatiratanga’— full rights of chieftainship over their lands, villages and taonga. It also gave the Crown the right to deal with Māori in purchasing land.
a. Tino rangatiratanga = sovereignty, self-determination, highest chieftainship.
English: Māori are guaranteed ‘full, exclusive, and undisturbed possession of their Lands and Estates Forests Fisheries and other properties’. The Crown was also given an exclusive right to deal with Māori in purchasing land.
Notes:
a. It is widely accepted that the use of the words ‘kāwanatanga’ and ‘tino rangatiratanga’ contributed to misunderstanding by the chiefs as to how much authority they would retain compared the governor. It is likely the rangatira who signed expected to either retain power — with Hobson having control over Pākehā — or enter into some kind of partnership and power-sharing arrangement.
Most controversial along with Article 1.
