Hon Tariana Turia
Associate Minister of Health

Opening of Family Clinic, K’aute Pasifika Trust
11.35am, 960 Victoria Street, Hamilton
Monday 16 April 2012 Speech

Kam na mauri, talofa lava, bula vanaka, malo e le lei, kia orana, taloha ni, fakaaloha lahi atu, tēna koutou katoa.

I would like to acknowledge the dignitaries of the Pacific nations who are here with us today. Ngā mihi ki ā koe Nanaia Mahuta, me te whare o te kāhui ariki. To Terry Chapman, and my parliamentary colleagues, ngā mihi hoki ki ā koutou.

Thank you Reverend Tairea, for blessing this wonderful occasion. I would like to acknowledge Dr Navin, Dr Leo Revell, Tim D’onoghue, and Peta Karalus for your work in bringing this clinic to life, and ensuring that this undertaking was successful.

I would also like to acknowledge the Board and staff of Kaute Pasifika Trust, Radius Medical and Neville Kane Pharmacy, for the spirit of collaboration that you have modeled, and for your dedication to the dream of achieving “happy and well Pacific Island children, youth, parents and families.”

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a conference in Auckland called Growing Pacific Solutions. I was moved by a quote that I read in the conference booklet, by His Highness Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi.

“I am not an individual. I am an integral part of the cosmos. I share divinity with my ancestors, the land, the seas, and the skies. I am not an individual, because I share my tofi (an inheritance) with my family, my village, and my nation I belong to my family, and my family belongs to me. I belong to my nation, and my nation belongs to me. This is the essence of my belonging”

This saying spoke to me, because it so elegantly outlined everything that Whānau Ora is.

It is about acknowledging the ways that we are connected to the people, to the land, and to the things around. It is about the values that we hold as cultural communities and ‘āiga/whānau, and how we choose to live and practice those values in our everyday lives. And it is about acknowledging our place, and where we fit as individuals, in this world – and that is within our ‘āiga.

I thought about this saying again today as I was preparing myself to attend this event. This clinic is a wonderful achievement, and I hope it will become a place where your communities will not only come to seek healthcare, but a place where they can be embraced, where their cultural views and perspectives will be acknowledged, and a place where they can truly be supported in achieving wellbeing as they see it, anchored within ‘their views’ of what is best for ‘āiga, and for our communities.

K’aute Pasifika, you have truly achieved something wonderful in establishing this clinic. I want to acknowledge the work that you have done, and I hope that today I will have the opportunity to hear more from you and the other Pacific providers who are here today, about your aspirations for wellbeing for Pacific ‘āiga within your communities.
To the clinicians, the community health workers, and those of you who will be working here, I wish you well in your work with our ‘āiga and whanau. Our ‘āiga need to be empowered. They need to be supported towards self-determination so that they can take control over their own wellbeing. It is hard work, but I wish you all the best in providing this support to our whānau.

This initiative is an important development for your community here in Hamilton. It is also an important step in creating and sustaining long term wellbeing within the Pacific community.

We as Ministers, are very interested in health services such as these, which support and enhance services that are already working well for patients. Of course, we also support bringing services closer to home, and those which are inclusive of the many cultural perspectives our ‘āiga have, and their aspirations.

Whānau Ora is part of this approach. It is about supporting self-determination. It is about acknowledging that each whānau or ‘āiga have different aspirations, different values, and different notions of wellbeing. And it is about acknowledging culture, and the many different cultures we have in Aotearoa.

Judge Ida Malosi told me once that Whānau Ora is like the concept of a village, it takes a village to raise a child and support ‘āiga. Of course, Pacific peoples face different challenges to Maori, you are faced with rebuilding your villages here in Aotearoa, and I can only imagine how difficult that must be. Initiatives such as this, should celebrated as milestones along your journey to creating and protecting your village here in Aotearoa.

So, I want to thank you for letting me be a part of this special day. I wish you well in your work here, and I am so pleased that you are able to celebrate the achievement of this milestone for yourselves and your community.

I must finally thank te roopu no Kiribati (Kiribati Kirikiriroa Cultural Society Inc) for your performance. It was the first time I have seen the cultural performance of Kiribati, and I thank you for allowing me the privilege of that experience.

May God’s blessing be upon you all and may this wonderful initiative continue to meet the needs of Pasifika people in his region.

ENDS

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