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RNZ News
3 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Ngāti Toa launch new agency to distribute Whānau Ora funds
Minister for Whānau Ora Tama Potaka took part in a launch for a new commissioning service, Māhutonga, provided by iwi Ngāti Toa, on Monday. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Four new agencies have been put in charge of determining how Whānau Ora resources are distributed to Māori and Pacific communities across the country. It is the biggest shake up in the history of Whānau Ora since it was created by the late Dame Tariana Turia in 2010. One of the new commissioning agencies was launched by Wellington iwi Ngāti Toa at Hongoeka Marae near Porirua this morning. The new commissioning agency which covers the eastern and southern part of the North Island is named Māhutonga, the Southern Cross. Ngāti Toa descendant Te Pūoho Kātene will take up the role of chairman of the new Māhutonga Commissioning Agency. The iwi chose the name Māhutonga because the Southern Cross is visible all across the region covered by the agency and so will always be there to guide their work, Kātene said. "Often our services are treated as the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, Māhutonga tells us to keep our eyes up and to be aspirational and to have those aspirational horizons set by the whānau who [we] are trying to serve," he said. Te Pūoho Kātene, chair of the new Māhutonga Commissioning Agency. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The four new Whānau Ora commissioning agencies - Rangitāmiro, Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira (Māhutonga), Te Tauraki (a subsidiary of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu), and The Cause Collective (operating as The Tātou Collective) - will begin commissioning services from providers starting on Tuesday. The three original Whānau Ora commissioning agencies - the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency, Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu and Pasifika Futures - were informed by Te Puni Kōkiri (TPK) in early March their long-held contracts would not be renewed. Minister for Whānau Ora Tama Potaka said the procurement process was timely as the original commissioning agencies had held the contracts for more than a decade. "But we also need to see a bit of a step change in how we consider evidence around the delivery of Whānau Ora services and ensuring there is a really critical alignment between the investment of taxpayer funds, doing it in a very transparent improved audited way and the achievement of outcomes." Some jobs at the old commissioning agencies may be impacted, but there won't be wider job losses among providers, he said. "We absolutely back Whānau Ora, we think that a lot of the solutions reside in the communities." Ngāti Toa's Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira deputy chief executive Jennie Smeaton said the iwi had been a Whānau Ora provider since its inception, so it was a natural progression to step into commissioning. Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira deputy chief executive Jennie Smeaton Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone "We dream about the future of our tamariki, mokopuna and whānau living well, being well and being enabled to live as they choose to live and we've had these visions and kōrero for long time and this was our chance," Smeaton said. "We knew we wouldn't have this opportunity [again] any time soon, so it was now or never and we thought we would put our best foot forward." Smeaton said Ngāti Toa had been welcomed by the existing Whānau Ora provider network. The providers and communities have the solutions within their regions, so it's up to Ngāti Toa to support them, she said. "Working with the existing provider network was really important for us to make sure there was continuity of care for whānau as we were phasing in Whānau Ora that we'd be delivering under Māhutonga, and we'll continue to do that for the next twelve months." Smeaton said one thing they had heard from the providers was that the regions are best placed to determine what is best for their communities, and many of them just want to get on and do the mahi. "They have the solutions within their rohe and we're there to tautoko (support) it. "There's a real want and desire to be operating under the Whānau Ora banner." Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira chief executive Helmut Modlik said the first thing they did once they got the contract was to tour the region and meet with the providers. Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira chief executive Helmut Modlik and Māhutonga chairman Te Pūoho Kātene. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone All provider contracts will carry over for the next twelve months and as the year rolls out they will take any opportunities to strengthen the service, he said. "In the first twelve months for the sake of continuity and because we really didn't know enough to do any different there will effectively be a rolling over of all those who are currently providers in the Whānau Ora community." Modlik said the iwi is aware of what it takes to deliver, thanks to their familiarity with the issues on the ground as a long term provider. "We actually see this opportunity as one of doing ourselves out of a job, because we have a very firm belief that the long term benefits that everyone is after can only be achieved by building up the capability and capacity on the ground." The four new commissioning agencies - two in the North Island, one in the South and one for Pasifika - take over from Tuesday. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Biggest shake up for Whānau Ora since its creation
te ao Maori 14 minutes ago Four new agencies have been put in charge of determining how Whānau Ora resources are districbuted to Maori communities across the country. It's the biggest shake up in the history of Whānau Ora since it was created by the the late Dame Tariana Turia in 2010. One of the new commissioning agencies was launched by Wellington iwi Ngāti Toa at Hongoeka Marae near Porirua this morning. Pokere Paewai reports.
Otago Daily Times
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
The leadership clearing the air
A new documentary shows what leadership can look like. I seem to have dodged addiction to nicotine in my life, unlike many of my peers growing up. Just as I don't blame those who are addicted, I cannot take the credit for not having this addiction. The absence of nicotine addiction in my life has been through a variety of accidents of birth and opportunity. For young people today it is different. Those who manage to avoid the lures of the tobacco industry can, to a considerable extent, thank the community leaders who took on big tobacco and made the air cleaner for all of us. I've written about leadership in this column before, at that time focusing on a few inspirational people profiled in an excellent book, Te Kai a te Rangatira , during a period when the general electioneering was downright horrible. Sadly, the neoconservative and individualistic values of those spinning the right-wing rhetoric are now driving our central government leadership. We hear and see their beliefs in the economic approach of "trickle down". An obvious place where their leadership will be responsible for harm in Aotearoa New Zealand, is associated with nicotine and tobacco use. So, in times like these, it's worth remembering the foresight and leadership of others who have long fought to reduce that harm, through initiatives such as Tupeka Kore, undertaken by a collective of Māori organisations and advocates. I was lucky enough to attend the world premiere of a documentary that shares that history, Tupeka Kore: The Whakapapa of Māori Tobacco Control in Aotearoa NZ . Through the documentary, I had a glimpse into the globally significant leadership by the late, great kuia and Te Tohu Kairangi/Dame Tariana Turia, and others. There were key points in this documentary that people who hold positions in our current central government would do well to heed. Key people and key events have stood up, stood tall and stood firm. In 2006, then-MP Hone Hawawira introduced a private member's bill to ban the sale of tobacco and initiated an inquiry into the tobacco industry. The subsequent 2010 report was vociferous in its demand to hold the tobacco industry accountable for its harms. Tupeka Kore, a collective demanding eradication of nicotine from our lives, was born at this time too. Matua Shane Bradbrook was key in its creation and is still one of the leaders of the resistance movement. The documentary ensured that we heard the voices of the Minhinnick family, as they told the story of their kuia going from marae to marae, seemingly a one-person change agent: he mana wahine toa ia. The government destroys our social science research environment, insisting we need more STEM, not arts, yet ignores that science, technology, engineering and maths provide overwhelming evidence against tobacco. Science tells us the product, in all its forms, is evil. Perhaps they should have added economics, making "steem", to understand that a healthy population, not ill from nicotine and tobacco-related illnesses, will produce better outcomes for Aotearoa New Zealand into the future than the short-term gains from being in the same bed as tobacco companies. We heard from my colleagues, Anaru Waa and Lani Teddy, as they epitomised generations of researchers. Work such as theirs should mean making the right choice is the easy choice. As researchers, we know our maths, and the numbers demonstrate that, for the first time in a decade, tobacco use rates in Aotearoa New Zealand have plateaued. We know that vaping was one of the responses of the tobacco companies to declines in smoking rates, their vape devices delivering "new customers" for the industry, while helping to keep their old ones. As scary as vaping has proved to be, even more disturbing is that the tobacco companies and their co-conspirators are continuously creating the next generations of nicotine delivery. In the documentary, we heard from the rangatahi pressure group Hashtags that they don't want nicotine in their lives, and that the repeal of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 2023 was a very clear sign that the current government is not listening to them. I was heartened to hear from Hashtags member Pōtatau Clark, as they stand up, stand tall and stand firm, being vocal in Parliament, in their councils, in their communities, that nicotine has no place in their lives. The Hashtags are nearing voting age; heed this call. Finally, I was privileged to hear from our kuia, Catherine Manning, representative of those who have pushed and pushed against the tobacco industry. We should never forget that this is the industry that lied and lied, knowingly hiding their evidence that smoking tobacco causes cancer. The documentary, Tupeka Kore , is a celebration of Māori leadership, demonstrating the strength of the collective, the strategy and the persistence of many, for the betterment of all, not just Māori. As was said in the 2010 Inquiry into the Tobacco Industry report presentation to Parliament, "the tobacco industry is a killer of whakapapa". Legends were lost along the way. Moe mai rā e kuia, e koro. The documentary demonstrated that although we've been here before, and we shouldn't have to be here again, we can take on the unsupportive and actually obstructive current government and take on the tobacco companies. We have our old people, our communities, and our young people keeping us in Tupeka Kore. Tū mai rā. Kia haere tōtika. Kia kaha haere.
RNZ News
16-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Whānau Ora commissioning agency Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu farewells staff
Photo: Maxwell Productions South Island iwi have been celebrating the successes of Whānau Ora commissioning agency Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu, as they farewell staff at a series of events around the South Island. As of the end of June, the organisation will no longer provide Whānau Ora services after a change in Government direction, with Te Puni Kōkiri opening the contracts to other providers . It means around 40 staff will be without jobs, with a further 100 from the partner navigator network. Six poroporoaki (farewell events) have been held across the South Island, where staff and whanau have spoken of their devastation at the agency's closure, and celebrated the many success stories that resulted from its mahi. Whānau Ora was created in 2010 by the late Dame Tariana Turia in an effort to improve social and health services for Māori. Dame Tariana Turia led the establishment of Whānau Ora and said it was about empowering whānau to take control of their future. Photo: RNZ Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu general partnership board chair Tā Mark Solomon said the agency worked on behalf of eight South Island iwi to determine the best ways to support whānau development. Solomon recalled when he first heard about Whānau Ora, at a meeting with Dame Turia in Christchurch more than a decade ago. "I stood up at the end and asked her, if I could get all the tribes of Te Waipounamu to come together, could we put in a bid for the Whānau Ora commissioning agency? "She gave a bit of a giggle and said yes, if you think you can get the tribes together by all means." Solomon said two meetings later, they were united. He said it was the first time in history that all the tribes of Te Waiponamu had come together to work collectively. They put in a bid for the contract and were successful. Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu general partnership board chair Tā Mark Solomon says in the last 11 years, the agency has worked with thousands of whanau across the South Island. Photo: Maxwell Productions An independent evaluation of the agency's direct social investment model hailed it as an "outstanding exemplar of an organisation delivering public services that actually work". The evaluation demonstrated that the most conservative impact implied an economic benefit of $2.40 for every $1 of investment. It also found that across 83 funded initiatives, almost 5000 Māori were positively impacted, with the value of increased life satisfaction combined put at $7.2m. "Proud is an understatement. I'm absolutely in awe of what has been done and the good that it has brought to Te Waipounamu," Solomon said. In the last five years, Te Pūtahitanga navigators had worked with 14,973 whanau and more than 8,000 people had been supported into employment within communities across the South Island. The poroporoaki (farewell) for Whānau Ora commissioning agency Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu at Ngā Hau E Whā Marae in Ōtautahi. Photo: Maxwell Productions The new provider, Solomon said, was working under a "totally different" framework. "Whānau ora to me is families themselves determining what they need and what goals they need to set to change their life, it's not to be dictated by a government policy." Te Taumata, the iwi shareholder council of Te Pūtahitanga, co chair and Ngāti Kuia representative Hina-i-te māra Moses-Te Kani said the poroporoaki in Ōtautahi on Thursday was an emotional celebration. She said for the last 11 years, it had been given the opportunity to celebrate mana motuhake, self determination, with funding from the Crown. It had supported countless business ideas through Tūātea, the social investment fund that gave whānau the agency to realise their own aspirations. The Te Whanau O Waipareira vax team help vaccinate locals in Papakura as part of Whanau Ora campaign on November 30, 2021 in Auckland, New Zealand. Photo: 2021 Getty Images "Whānau would come to us with their dreams and aspirations and we had coaches and support people and champions who supported them to set up their organisations in the right way, to live the dream that they wanted to live... one of the outcomes was getting more people into jobs and we created thousands of jobs in this kaupapa." Many of those businesses were focused on hauora, health and fitness, rongoā Māori, hospitality, art and design. "We had a 12-year-old who wanted to be the leading poi manufacturer in the world and she achieved that at 14." She said research showed that the agency had developed one of the most successful international indigenous commissioning models in the word, supporting whanau intergenerationally. "It's one of the key celebrations for us - this is intrinsically kaupapa Māori all day, every day." The Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu main office in Christchurch will close on Friday, after the agency lost the contract to provide Whānau Ora services across the South Island. Photo: She was still in disbelief at the Government's change in focus, which was now directed at deprivation instead of self-determination. "How could such a successful life-changing model - moving whanau from deprivation without even focusing on that - how could it be seen as not the right model?" Moses-Te Kani said the iwi alliance across the South Island remained strong and the whanau ora movement created in Te Waipounamu would continue to shine through. "I think that the legacy from Te Pūtahitanga will morph into something new and something brilliant and we won't completely disappear. What we have created here is like a beautiful flowing awa across the whole of Te Waipounamu and the next brilliant thing will turn up, maybe it'll be international money, or maybe it'll be somebody else's money that will support the kaupapa that we're doing." Whānau Ora Minister Tama Potaka says the government continues to back the initiative, as seen by the commitment of $180 million in last year's Budget. Photo: RNZ/Samuel Rillstone Whānau Ora Minister Tama Potaka announced earlier this month that four new community-based Whānau Ora commissioning agencies will replace the three agencies that have led the scheme since its inception. The South Island contract has been awarded to Te Tauraki Limited, a subsidiary of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. He said the agencies were selected to deliver on the government's focus to provide better public services, which were moving in a "refreshed direction". Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
16-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Whānau Ora commissioning agency Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu farewells 200 staff
Photo: Maxwell Productions South Island iwi have been celebrating the successes of Whānau Ora commissioning agency Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu, as they farewell staff at a series of events around the South Island. As of the end of June, the organisation will no longer provide Whānau Ora services after a change in Government direction, with Te Puni Kōkiri opening the contracts to other providers . It means around 200 staff will be without jobs. Six poroporoaki (farewell events) have been held across the South Island, where staff and whanau have spoken of their devastation at the agency's closure, and celebrated the many success stories that resulted from its mahi. Whānau Ora was created in 2010 by the late Dame Tariana Turia in an effort to improve social and health services for Māori. Dame Tariana Turia led the establishment of Whānau Ora and said it was about empowering whānau to take control of their future. Photo: RNZ Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu general partnership board chair Tā Mark Solomon said the agency worked on behalf of eight South Island iwi to determine the best ways to support whānau development. Solomon recalled when he first heard about Whānau Ora, at a meeting with Dame Turia in Christchurch more than a decade ago. "I stood up at the end and asked her, if I could get all the tribes of Te Waipounamu to come together, could we put in a bid for the Whānau Ora commissioning agency? "She gave a bit of a giggle and said yes, if you think you can get the tribes together by all means." Solomon said two meetings later, they were united. He said it was the first time in history that all the tribes of Te Waiponamu had come together to work collectively. They put in a bid for the contract and were successful. Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu general partnership board chair Tā Mark Solomon says in the last 11 years, the agency has worked with thousands of whanau across the South Island. Photo: Maxwell Productions An independent evaluation of the agency's direct social investment model hailed it as an "outstanding exemplar of an organisation delivering public services that actually work". The evaluation demonstrated that the most conservative impact implied an economic benefit of $2.40 for every $1 of investment. It also found that across 83 funded initiatives, almost 5000 Māori were positively impacted, with the value of increased life satisfaction combined put at $7.2m. "Proud is an understatement. I'm absolutely in awe of what has been done and the good that it has brought to Te Waipounamu," Solomon said. In the last five years, Te Pūtahitanga navigators had worked with 14,973 whanau and more than 8,000 people had been supported into employment within communities across the South Island. The poroporoaki (farewell) for Whānau Ora commissioning agency Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu at Ngā Hau E Whā Marae in Ōtautahi. Photo: Maxwell Productions The new provider, Solomon said, was working under a "totally different" framework. "Whānau ora to me is families themselves determining what they need and what goals they need to set to change their life, it's not to be dictated by a government policy." Te Taumata, the iwi shareholder council of Te Pūtahitanga, co chair and Ngāti Kuia representative Hina-i-te māra Moses-Te Kani said the poroporoaki in Ōtautahi on Thursday was an emotional celebration. She said for the last 11 years, it had been given the opportunity to celebrate mana motuhake, self determination, with funding from the Crown. It had supported countless business ideas through Tūātea, the social investment fund that gave whānau the agency to realise their own aspirations. The Te Whanau O Waipareira vax team help vaccinate locals in Papakura as part of Whanau Ora campaign on November 30, 2021 in Auckland, New Zealand. Photo: 2021 Getty Images "Whānau would come to us with their dreams and aspirations and we had coaches and support people and champions who supported them to set up their organisations in the right way, to live the dream that they wanted to live... one of the outcomes was getting more people into jobs and we created thousands of jobs in this kaupapa." Many of those businesses were focused on hauora, health and fitness, rongoā Māori, hospitality, art and design. "We had a 12-year-old who wanted to be the leading poi manufacturer in the world and she achieved that at 14." She said research showed that the agency had developed one of the most successful international indigenous commissioning models in the word, supporting whanau intergenerationally. "It's one of the key celebrations for us - this is intrinsically kaupapa Māori all day, every day." The Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu main office in Christchurch will close on Friday, after the agency lost the contract to provide Whānau Ora services across the South Island. Photo: She was still in disbelief at the Government's change in focus, which was now directed at deprivation instead of self-determination. "How could such a successful life-changing model - moving whanau from deprivation without even focusing on that - how could it be seen as not the right model?" Moses-Te Kani said the iwi alliance across the South Island remained strong and the whanau ora movement created in Te Waipounamu would continue to shine through. "I think that the legacy from Te Pūtahitanga will morph into something new and something brilliant and we won't completely disappear. What we have created here is like a beautiful flowing awa across the whole of Te Waipounamu and the next brilliant thing will turn up, maybe it'll be international money, or maybe it'll be somebody else's money that will support the kaupapa that we're doing." Whānau Ora Minister Tama Potaka says the government continues to back the initiative, as seen by the commitment of $180 million in last year's Budget. Photo: RNZ/Samuel Rillstone Whānau Ora Minister Tama Potaka announced earlier this month that four new community-based Whānau Ora commissioning agencies will replace the three agencies that have led the scheme since its inception. The South Island contract has been awarded to Te Tauraki Limited, a subsidiary of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. He said the agencies were selected to deliver on the government's focus to provide better public services, which were moving in a "refreshed direction". Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
