Te Pāti Māori are becoming increasingly concerned about the Government’s level of investment into a Māori vaccination programme that has produced unacceptable results.

“We are very concerned about the low uptake of vaccinations by Māori” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi.

“$39 million has been set aside for a Māori Vaccination response. This constitutes 2.6% of the $1.5billion dollars put towards the Government’s vaccination plan. Of that investment, only 10.4% of Māori have been vaccinated.

“I refuse to believe that 90% of our people don’t want to get vaccinated and so we need to have a mature conversation about why our vaccine numbers are so low, and look towards the system that is enabling this problem.

“The only platform we have right now to address these issues are in select committees. Today, we were denied the opportunity to have Minister Hipkins attend the Maori Affairs Select committee to address our concerns.” said Waititi.

“The Government talks about how well they have been egaging with Māori, commending Marae based approaches, the outstading work of Whānau Ora and yet here we are. The numbers don’t lie and the reality is that our Iwi and Māori providers are being underfunded and under resourced and they are expected to deliver the “Māori solution” with 2.6% of the cut.” Said Co-Leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer

“With a 2.6% investment and 10% uptake of Māori vaccination, Māori are producing a 500% return on the Government’s investment. So the question is, why would the Government not see the benefit in injecting more resource into a by Māori for Māori approach.

“The fact that we have the lowest uptake of vaccination rates is associated with the Government’s continued belief in a “By State for Māori” approach. Our people don’t trust the system and the messengers within that system.

“A by Māori for Māori approach ensures that we are in control of how we roll out our own vaccination programmes right down to the messages and the people delivering those messages. We know how to talk to our people. We know how to care for them. We know how to protect our whakapapa. Give us the resource and let us get on with the job” said Waititi.

“We are now being asked to address the rising contacts out in the commuity by doing surge testing and vaccinations, investing extra hours to meet the growing demand of this outbreak – where is the resource to fund that? Where is the money for Maori in crisis?” said Ngarewa-Packer.

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