Te Pāti Māori Co-Leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer congratulate Minister Little and Minister Henare on what was a major transformational announcement for health reform in Aotearoa this morning.

“This is a once in a life time opportunity to transform our health system. It is courageous and a move in the right direction” said Waititi.

“We applaud the admission that the current system no longer serves our needs and we also applaud the intention to address inequities and living up to the vision of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.”

“As always, when it comes to Māori, the devil is in the detail and so we will be keeping a close eye on how this structure impacts our people on the ground” said Waititi

“Our job over the next two and half years will be to keep the government accountable to their commitments, particularly as they relate to the legislative powers of the Māori Health Authority and their commitment to reinforcing the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi” said Ngarewa-Packer

“We campaigned heavily on the establishment of a Māori Health Authority that was completely independent.

“We want to acknowledge the blood, sweat and tears of our many whānau, Iwi and Māori organisations who advocated fiercely for this model – today is their day” said Ngarewa-Packer

“Finally, we would like to congratulate Whānau Ora, who have provided the bed rock foundation for what this new system looks like in terms of its commissioning model