Turia Tariana: General Debate 
Turia Tariana: General Debate 
[Volume:631;Page:2920] 
TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Seven years ago in 1999 visiting public policy expert Dr Camara Jones noted: “Understanding the impacts of socio-economic status on health and how this contributes to ethnic disparities in health does not go far enough. If we are really going to eliminate health disparities we need to understand the contemporary structural factors … That is we need to address institutionalised racism if we are really going to make change.” Seven weeks ago the United Nations special rapporteur Professor Rodolfo Stavenhagen reported that: “significant racial inequalities continue to exist in health housing employment education social services and justice”. 
The Maori Party is here today to say that we will not wait another 7 years another 7 weeks or another 7 days to put up with the price of racism. This week the reputable academic partners of Statistics New Zealand Public Health Intelligence and the Wellington school of medicine joined forces with the Ministry of Health to report that higher mortality for Maori relative to non-Maori cannot be explained purely by the overrepresentation of Maori in lower social classes. This analysis can no longer be ignored or dismissed by a range of riddles that diminish research if it comes from the United Nations—from an anthropologist and an international expert. 
It is New Zealand’s aptly named Public Health Intelligence that is urging us to seek explanations for the ethnic disparities in mortality.  
Decades of Disparity III 
 reports that the impact of racism on ethnic inequalities in health is likely to be mediated through both socio-economic—institutionalised racism—and non - socio-economic or interpersonal and internalised racism pathways. In essence this final report in a series of three that examines disparities between Maori and non-Maori from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s reinforces the impact of personal cultural and institutional racism in this nation—and we are not alone. Another reputable source the  
British Medical Journal 
 describes a growing literature showing an association between racism morbidity and mortality. A  
British Medical Journal 
 editorial states: “Cross sectional studies in the United States report associations between perceived racial discrimination and hypertension birth weight self related health and days off sick. In a recent study from the United Kingdom victims of discrimination were more likely to have respiratory illness hypertension a long term limiting illness anxiety depression and psychosis.” It therefore stands to reason that countering racism must be considered a major public health issue. 
If the “r” word is too scary members should think about the following questions. Why is survival from cancer—even adjusting for age and stage—lower among Maori than non-Maori? Why is that although the prevalence of paediatric asthma is similar for Maori and non-Maori Maori children have more severe symptoms when they present to the health provider require hospitalisation twice as often as non-Maori and are less likely to receive adequate asthma education or even be prescribed preventive medication? The analysis is clear consistent and convincing. Differences in access to and quality of health care create different outcomes for Maori compared with non-Maori. Considering racism to be a cause is an important step in developing a research agenda and response from health services—and it is about time. We must start getting real about the links between racism and health if we are really and genuinely committed to preventing disease prolonging life and promoting health. There is no time to wait. Only then will the Maori Party be able to accept the catchcry of one law for all.