Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā is heartened by Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt's call for Government to act with caution as it moves to open New Zealand’s borders. They support his view that loosening restrictions once the general population hits 90 per cent vaccination will potentially devastate Māori communities, whose vaccine uptake has been slower than the general population’s.

"We have been saying to government for a long time, that the vaccination programme it has designed is failing Māori,” said co-leader Teresa Wall. “We have been saying that equity for Maori in the programme is pivotal, while others have given a target percentage we have not, we have never given a percentage because at whatever percentage Maori will be more vulnerable, and we believe everyone who can be, should be, vaccinated.

“We are excited the FDA has approved vaccination for five to 12-year-olds and we look forward to plans for an equitable rollout.”

The group share Hunt’s concerns regarding Treaty obligations.

"The third article of the Treaty guarantees Crown protection of Māori and grants them equal rights and privileges. But we’ve had insufficient resources and funding thus far to protect Māori, especially in isolated communities. Māori health outcomes remain inequitable, which is potentially disastrous during this pandemic.

“We don’t want to see our whānau swept away, like they were in the 1918-1919 epidemic.” (Eight times more Māori than Pākehā died of the ‘Spanish Flu’ on a per-capita basis.)

Aperatama Rupene wrote a letter to the editor of the Auckland Star in 1918, saying health authorities of the time had shown insufficient foresight, leaving many Māori with little to counter the virus.

“It would be tragic if government neglect once again led to a similar inequitable outcome, more than a century after that disaster. We would have learned nothing from history,” said Wall.

To date, in the Delta-variant outbreak of Covid-19, 33 per cent of all cases have been Māori, and 39 per cent Pasifika, accounting for 26 per cent and 52 per cent of hospitalisations respectively.

“These are sobering figures and give some insight into the impact Māori and Pasifika are likely to experience if restrictions are suddenly lifted,” she said.

Māori needed time and resources to get their vaccination rates up.

“We know we can’t live with restrictions forever, but before we declare ‘Freedom Day’ there must be better protections in place for everyone – particularly for Māori and Pasifika.”

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