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Hell is truth seen too late

Anne Daniels, President
NZNO Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa

It seems to me our society, indeed our world is currently topsy-turvy. In other words we are in a state of confusion or disorder with many unpredictable changes or reversals. My question is why?

Respected thinkers such as Dame Anne Salmond, a social scientist of distinguished merit, have been asking the same question. Dame Anne observes that she has taken democracy for granted. So have I. Surely democracy could not be removed from this country, but it is. Think about it. Look around. It’s happening in the USA where an anti-vaxxer has been appointed to the role of Secretary of Health and Human Services. And it’s happening here in New Zealand.

For instance, the Regulatory Standards Bill is set to elevate individual rights and private property above all other considerations in law-making in New Zealand. The Bill review is being led by the ACT party leader and Minister for Regulation David Seymour with a board appointed by the same minister. If you think that stinks, it does. Moreover, it smells of neoliberalist ideologies where freedom is for capital and investors, not ordinary people who are held in contempt or at the least are treated with callous indifference.

The Bill is set to strip away the rights of all those New Zealanders who support collective and environmental rights. As we commemorate another Waitangi Day, the attacks on te Tiriti o Waitangi are entwined with the not-so-subtle removal of fair wages, health and safety standards, environmental protections and other regulations (in the proposed Regulatory Standards bill, the Fast-Track Act, and the Treaty Principles Bill). Truth is what “sells” but the real truth is in what is not said or done by those perpetrating their version of the truth.

What does this have to do with NZNO and our members? As we enter again into negotiations with Te Whatu Ora, Primary Health Care and Aged Care, our members are being treated with a total lack of respect. This is being compounded with the latest Coalition attack on the rights of workers to strike under the proposed Employments Relations Amendment Bill and its ensuing pay deductions for partial strike.

Collective action through unionism is essential to address the imbalance of power between employee and employer and is necessary for workers to safeguard their rights in industrial relations. The ability to deduct from an employee’s wages is designed to render industrial action ineffective by shielding employers from the financial consequences of industrial action.  This amendment is strengthened by giving employers the discretion to suspend workers taking industrial action which is a punitive approach.

The entire point of industrial action is to impact upon the employer’s business. It is the principle means by which workers can gain leverage over employers in collective bargaining. Without this tool, we will be hamstrung in our negotiations. It will entrench inequity, inequality, and is a deep-rooted bias on the part of this Government against the collective interests of working people. It demonstrates a complete disregard for international law as it will be in breach of New Zealand’s obligations as a member of the International Labour Organisation.

We have 62,500 members and counting. We still have the right to strike and take industrial action. Every one of us has an obligation to use that right and not be swayed by employers who influence our members to do anything that undermines their colleague’s collective decision to take industrial action (NZNO Constitution 6.3.9) as NZNO members also have an obligation to act in accordance with the Constitution (6.3.1). We take industrial action to protect our vision to be free to care, proud to nurse, to be self-determined in shaping the role of the nurse so we lead the way to realise the ambitions of the Pae Ora Act, underpinned by te Tiriti o Waitangi.

We have a choice. We can all ‘Maranga Mai! (Rise Up) together and take united action to win the political and resourcing commitments needed to address the failing health system so we can care for our people. Or we can do nothing in the hope that someone else will do it.

“The only thing to prevent the triumph of evil is when good people do nothing.” Edmund Burke.

Stand up. Fight back!


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Tangatawhenua–ism not Trumpism is the solution for Aotearoa

Kerri Nuku, Kaiwhakahaere
NZNO Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa

The new year kicked off with a political surprise – a new Minister of Health. Dr Shane Reti out and Simeon Brown in!

Since Dr Reti was appointed minister in 2023, we’ve made an effort to connect with him. We know that to get our members what they want and need, we have to be able to at least talk with those in power. Even if we disagree with their politics.

We never got from him what we wanted but the korero with him was always respectful.

We will not judge his replacement Minister Brown just yet. It is early days and we are yet to hear detail of his plans for our nation’s health system.

We have many questions for him. Will he move to deregulate the health workforce? Will he address the issues around pay equity and pay parity? How will he address issues of health justice?

What will he do to increase the shocking Māori life expectancy rate where tangata whenua live seven years less than non-Māori?

My questions may seem rhetorical but we will wait to hear him speak on these matters first.
The wider political environment in Aotearoa is concerning many of us.

We know the powerful influences on that environment are not of our land. They stem from Trumpism – ideologies grown in the United States and extracted from eastern Europe. They are right-wing, neo liberals where white supremacy rules and minorities don’t stand a chance.

That ideology can be found in the latest proposals of our country’s coalition Government, specifically, the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill (PTWB) and the Regulatory Standards Bill (RSB) which many are describing as the PTWB in disguise.

Over the next two weeks, I will verbally present NZNO’s submission on the PTWB to a parliamentary Select Committee.

Have a read of our written submission here.

You can also read our submission on the RSB here.

This Bill in particular concerns us because it has the potential to deregulate the health workforce, to diminish the mana of our professionals and tramp on mahi we have done as nurses and midwives.

If I were given a minute to speak to Minister Brown, I would encourage him to invest in the models and approaches tangata whenua have been using to try and heal their people.

Those models are working but due to no significant investment in them from successive governments, no one really hears about them. They need real support so they can be scaled up.

Just being Māori: Members of Te Poari, Te Runanga o Aotearoa-NZNO.

That homegrown thinking is of this land and all its people – Māori and non-Māori. Those tangata whenua ideologies aren’t just good for Māori, they are good for everyone in this land.

Our nation as a collective has benefited from many things taken from te ao Māori – the haka, te reo Māori just to name a couple.

Now it is time for decision makers to show some faith in that world and invest in Māori to bring forward their knowledge to heal our health system.


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There are benefits to sharing power with one million Māori

Kerri Nuku, Kaiwhakahaere
NZNO Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa

It’s not unusual in any political cycle that indigenous people are used as political fodder. Internationally, nationally and regionally, indigenous people are blamed for increasing violence, homelessness, poverty and draining state resources particularly in justice, welfare and health.

It becomes easy for ordinary people to believe this because the perpetrators of lawlessness and violence, relentlessly splashed all over the media, are disproportionately images of people of colour. At the heart of these political games are people, children and mokopuna who are already prejudged by parts of society because they look a certain way or are born into a particular class of people.

Shifting the burden of responsibility is easier to do because it is harder to admit that we have failed as a country and we have failed to support our indigenous people.

In Aotearoa, a year into the Coalition Government, attacks on workers, unemployed and Māori are clear to see. From the Treaty Principles Bill and the Māori Wards referenda to the scrapping of Fair Pay Agreements, benefit sanctions, and the war on health and safety legislation, this is a right-wing Government bent on stoking racism, eroding worker rights, and helping the rich get richer.

The assault on our rights is overwhelming, but it has also heightened the consciousness of those who want a more just world. Yet, though we say it all the time, we have to acknowledge that even though this coalition is absolutely terrifying and hateful, no Government of the past few decades has made truly transformative change that benefits the health of our people.

We can’t wait for more promises from politicians or experts to tell us what we already know. We know what it would take to be truly valued in the work we do, and we know what it would mean to live in a society that upholds equity, human rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

We all know what Māori health inequities look like.

As nurses, we know Māori are unlikely to live as long as non-Māori. We also know that by the time many Māori reach the hospital, their illness is advanced and sadly, the clock already began ticking for them before we even triaged them.

There is one common question I’m often asked by non-Māori members and colleagues, who like me are sick of seeing so many tangata whenua die of things that could have been prevented or treated if caught earlier.

That question is: “what’s the best way to address Māori health inequities”?

In my view, the answer does not lie in the medical or the clinical.

The answer lies in sharing power (and responsibility) with Māori at all levels from the boardroom table to the frontline, backline and sidelines, inside and outside our union.

The Māori population is now at its highest – one million – and at the rate my whanau, hapu and iwi are going, it will only rise.

From the people of Ngai Tahu in the South Island to the people of Ngapuhi at the top of the North Island, Māori want the genuine partnership guaranteed to them in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. They want to be in control of their own destiny, they want mana motuhake.

Māori have proved they can fix themselves when power, and that includes resources and spaces, are shared with them and when they are not micromanaged.

In the 1980s, the Māori language had almost become extinct until Māori created the kōhanga reo movement. Forty years later, the language has been saved – tens of thousands of Māori are speaking it. And hundreds of thousands of non-Māori are benefiting too.

At NZNO, we are still on the journey of sharing power, resources and spaces with Māori. The position I hold is a clear example that we have started that journey. But it must not stop there.

We must let Māori fix themselves. Tangata Tiriti or non-Māori in Aotearoa can do that by sharing power, resources, spaces with Māori at every level of our mahi.

Sometimes that means tangata Tiriti stepping aside to let Māori talk rather than talk for them.

What’s good for Māori, can only be good for this nation because when the most disadvantaged in our society are empowered, everyone in that society benefits.


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It’s about life

Kerri Nuku, Kaiwhakahaere
Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO

On 28 February CTU’s youth wing, Stand Up, organised a protest at Parliament against the Government’s all-out assault on Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Te Taiao, and workers. Of all the powerful kōrero from that rally, one stuck out prominently because of its strength and its relevance. It came from Action Station director Kassie Hartendorp (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tuwharetoa) who hit home exactly what the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora means.

“Te Aka Whai Ora was about life,” she said.

It was about the simple but horrifying fact that Māori die seven years younger than Pākehā. All Te Aka Whai Ora was intended to do was find ways to close that gap so our mokopuna get seven more years with their kaumātua; So we can have seven more years to keep deepening our reo and tikanga; So we can have seven more years living with Ranginui above us, Papatūānuku beneath us, and growing in the universe that our tūpuna fought so hard to deliver us into.

We know in health that equity literally is the difference between living and dying. How can they justify this, knowing that it means people dying too young? This Government intentionally attacks any policy or structure that aims to create equity because they maintain their power through racism and division. And if that means death so be it. They will continue to trample on Māori and as they do they will blame us for the outcomes of the injustice they have created.

But they won’t just blame Māori. They’ll blame women for not being able to earn enough. They’ll blame young people for not being able to keep a job. They’ll blame nurses for not being able to keep up with the demands of tangata whaiora. They’ll use their power and control to try to convince us all that we are responsible of our own exploitation and oppression. Or, of course, they’ll wheel out their favourite tactic: saying that the real reason workers have no power is because Māori are trying to take it.

Yet more and more, people are understanding that this is not the case. The Toitū Te Tiriti movement has seen unprecedented shows of solidarity from Pākehā and tauiwi because people are seeing the restoration of tino rangatiratanga not as a threat, but simply as a matter of justice and equity. As Angela Davis said, “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” People are standing up and saying they do not accept the idea that Māori are powerless on their own land. They do not accept that Māori will die seven years before Pākehā. And they will not accept the erosion of workers’ rights, nor the destruction of the earth.

This struggle concerns all of us. You must understand that this Government will continue to do all in its power to dismantle everything we have fought so hard for, including the structures that protect you at work. If you see the injustice and cannot accept this reality, then you have a role to play. Together we have the power to change the world. We simply must take the next step and show true leadership, unlike those in Parliament. That means getting organised, talking with each other, and taking our struggle to the streets.


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Toitū Te Tiriti

Kerri Nuku, Kaiwhakahaere
Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO

Across our history there have been many hikoi, each one as significant as the next. These shows of kotahitanga and peaceful action were used to raise issues and promote dialogue as partners in te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The Coalition Government’s current priority to “review The Treaty of Waitangi” and Māori policy has sparked a new wave of kotahitanga action. Responding to these concerns over Government policies related to Māori, Kingi Tuheitia called for a hui-a-motu to unify the nation. This was held late last month and with thousands of Māori and non-Māori in attendance and represented another significant milestone in our history.

Waitangi Day is expected to be one of action and unity like no other. This year a rōpu of Māori nurses will be travelling to Waitangi to send the wero that colonisation is a social determinant of health. It is not by choice that we are over-represented in poor health outcomes; it is a construct of colonisation and legislation. We will challenge legislation that continues to enable racist funding that sees our Māori and Iwi provider nurses being paid significantly less – and data and statistics that continuously report our negative health with little action. Not one more policy should be developed without Māori. 

This kaupapa is important for all New Zealanders, not just Māori, because if we have even one community in need that is neglected by this Government, it undermines the entire nation. We all need to stick together to oppose David Seymour’s proposed Treaties bill.

In the photo: Whina Cooper seen here on the Auckland bridge was joined by thousands in her land hikoi to Parliament in 1975.

Here are some other significant historical hikoi that took place in the recent past:

On 13 October 1975 Whina Cooper led the land march to Parliament. Along the way on her journey, she was joined by others until approximately 5000 people arrived at Parliament to present a petition signed by 60,000 people to Prime Minister Bill Rowling protesting the continual loss of Māori land through sales or confiscation. Her message was “not one more acre”.

This represented a significant milestone in Māori history forever captured in the famous photo as Whina and her mokopuna start their journey from the country gravel road to the smoothly paved steps of Parliament. The moment was symbolic as the journey was long, unknown challenges, but with an unwavering determination and action of tino rangatiratanga which galvanised Māori and non-Māori alike.

The Foreshore and Seabed Hikoi in April 2004 began in Northland. As they marched the support increased until they arrived in Wellington on 5 May 2004. The hikoi was against proposed legislation to vest ownership of New Zealand’s foreshore and seabed to the Crown a breach to Te Tiriti of Waitangi.

The hikoi on 29 July 2019 called for a halt to Oranga Tamariki removing tamariki from whānau and Iwi. And removal of Oranga Tamariki legislation which entrenched and enabled such violent and traumatic uplift of a newborn baby from Hastings Hospital.  As we saw in the Hastings baby uplift case.

Unity is strength! Toitū Te Tiriti!! Uphold the Treaty.


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Toitu Te Tiriti

Kerri Nuku, Kaiwhakahaere,
Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the contract setting out rights and conditions for Māori and non-Māori to come, live and share the land. Te Tiriti has always been about honouring the agreement as we live and evolve as a country, sharing power.

As indigenous people across the world continue to fight for their rights and freedom, tangata whenua Māori struggle from the impact of colonisation. History is written to advantage the privileged. 

Legislation upon legislation was introduced to speed up the assimilation of Māori, especially within the health sector.

The Nurses’ Registration Act 1901 impacted on Māori tapuhi. Prior to the enforcement of the Act, tapuhi were providing care to communities using traditional Māori medicines travelling to wherever the communities needed help. Following the introduction of the Act Taphui were considered unskilled, not capable of providing care, and were branded illegal.

The assault of the 1907 Tōhunga Suppression Act was an intentional effort to suppress tohunga (Māori experts) by removing the use of rongoa (traditional medicines) and tikanga (traditional and spiritual health). Further legislation was passed to allow Māori nurses to train and go into the districts as “ambassadors” to enforce the use of western medicine.

Māori nurses who did train under the western medical model were further alienated when their name was entered on the registration. Māori nurses were discouraged from using their Māori names. Each Māori nurse was strongly encouraged to change her name to a more acceptable English version, or they were merely recorded as a number. Māori men, who once played an important role in childbirth, were not permitted to be nurses or midwives.

The process of colonisation entrenched intergenerational disparities in health and negatively impacted the outcomes for Māori across all sectors of society. The impact of these health inequalities reflected today in our shorter life expectancy, include reduced access to Primary Health Care, less treatment and greater risk of misdiagnosis and mistreatment – and all continue today. Such inequalities are unacceptable, unfair, and unjust in a developed country like Aotearoa New Zealand.

As a Māori health professional, it is soul destroying to have to enforce the policies and practice that continue to negatively impact on Māori health outcomes. As a Māori midwife, I saw the disadvantaged young mothers and whānau, and the policies that impose privilege to some and not to all. I could not be the observer, I wanted to be part of the change.

It is not fact that, “Māori are far better off now than what they were prior to the coming of the British” or that we bear the scars of histories abuse.

This talk and action by the new Government is tantamount to circling back and reenforcing colonisation. The time for Māori and non-Māori to rise up again has arrived.

The peaceful marches on 4 December gave renewed hope. Māori and non-Māori katoa sent a powerful message of unity and the aspiration for a te Tiriti future.

Kia kaha to a restful summer and enjoy spending time with whānau.


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Our health, our taonga

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Inspired attendees at the Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa conference 2014

Kerri Nuku is NZNO’s kaiwhakahaere and is of Ngāti Kahungunu descent. As a leader for Māori within NZNO she sees it as her responsibility to ensure that equity is achieved for all Te Rūnanga members.

The other day someone asked me what the highlight of my year has been so far. Usually that kind of question causes me to ponder for a while, but not this year. The absolute highlight of my year is the very first Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa conference, held in Tāmaki Makaurau in August.

The theme for the conference was “Our health, our taonga”, which really resonated with me – as I sense it did with every other attendee. We were stimulated and challenged in our collective responsibility to protect our fundamental right to good health and wellbeing.

It was so energising to be with over 250 indigenous nursing leaders, including nurses, midwives, nursing students, kaimahi hauora and health care assistants. Our combined enthusiasm and commitment to make sure health is a taonga was infectious. It is a privilege of our te ao Māori (Māori worldview) that we see health/hauora as a part of our whakapapa, our whanau, our environment and our culture.

As indigenous nursing professionals, we are committed to reaffirming our rights under the United Nations Declaration of Indigenous people’s article 3, to self determine, and this must underpin any future Māori nursing strategy. We must have faith in ourselves and be courageous in our aspirations for the health of our whānau, hapū and iwi. We must look towards the imagination place to see what could be.

We honour our early Māori nursing pioneers, like Te Akenehi Hei, who halted the death of Māori from introduced diseases. We have nothing to fear as we move into the future – our tipuna made sacrifices and we will too, so that our mokopuna, whānau, hapū and iwi receive the best health care available in Aotearoa.

As indigenous health professionals, we must have the freedom to determine what is best for us.

We will continue to advocate for Māori nursing and workforce issues. We will lobby for change and challenge the barriers that are placed in the way of Māori nursing and workforce success.

Kaimahi hauora:  be brave, take action when you can! Ko te kai ā te rangatira he kōrero!

No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

 

Click here for more information about Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa, NZNO.