Flavell Te Ururoa: Third Readings 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Third Readings 
[Volume:636;Page:7184] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Madam Speaker. Kia ora tatou katoa. Some debates in this House are concerned with nothing less than life and death decisions. The series of seven bills under final consideration here which impact on the preparedness of the nation to face the onslaught of an epidemic is exactly that. The Maori Party recognises the heavy responsibility this Parliament brings to bear when we take into account the inevitable and disproportionate impact of an epidemic on Maori. The association with Maori of “epidemic” is one that is far too frequently made. 
A month ago Professor Martin Silink head of the Brussels-based International Diabetes Foundation told an international conference that the diabetes epidemic could wipe out Maori and Polynesian Islanders by the end of the century. And there is the meningococcal disease which has been categorised as an epidemic since 1991 with demonstrably more adverse impacts on Maori and Pacific populations. 
Dr Lis Ellison-Loschmann who has been following the work of the Maori Asthma Review has described asthma mortality rates for Maori as reaching epidemic rates in the 1970s and 1980s. Dr Neil Pearce has also described the major medical controversy around the asthma drug fenoterol which some 15 years ago caused an epidemic of asthma deaths. 
The significant and growing ethnic and socio-economic inequalities in lung cancer mortality in New Zealand and the relatively high lung cancer incidence and mortality particularly among Maori mean that lung cancer has been reported in the  
New Zealand Medical Journal 
 as an epidemic. The Workshop on Obesity Food and Policy: New solutions? held at the University of Auckland on 16 November talked about an obesity epidemic. Associate Professor Wayne Cutfield reporting on the situation in Auckland has revealed an escalating epidemic of childhood obesity wherein an estimated half of Pacific Island and a quarter of Maori children are overweight. There is also the concept of epidemic used in connection with cannabis and methamphetamine. So in short Maori seem to attract epidemics if we are to believe all this information. 
These are not just recent occurrences. I refer to a statement from our first New Zealand - trained Maori medical doctor Te Rangi Hiroa—Sir Peter Buck. He said: “Various epidemics were introduced by civilisation and have remained with us ever since … measles typhoid scarlet fever whooping cough and almost everything except plague and sleeping sickness have taken their toll on Maori.” So indeed almost everything has taken its toll on Maori. In the initial years following colonisation the Maori population suffered a period of almost unbroken decline from 1858 to 1896 with the susceptibility of Maori to epidemics and other diseases introduced by the settlers being described as a major factor. But if there was one epidemic to outdo all others it was the influenza epidemic of 1918 in which at least 2160 Maori lost their lives. So our history provides us with visible and violent proof of the high likelihood of Maori experiencing significant mortality and morbidity in future epidemics. 
Alongside our history—alongside the epidemiology of disease—there is also the policy incentive provided in  
He Korowai Oranga 
 which demands that specific provision must be made to protect and enhance the well-being of Maori and to ensure that Maori health disparities are reduced. Achievement will require a total commitment from Government a commitment to the elimination of institutional racism across the board—in incomes housing employment and justice as well as in health. It will require an about-turn on the denial of rights for tangata whenua for how can a person be whole and healthy when that person is assumed to have only subhuman rights? 
Dr Lorna Dyall senior lecturer in Maori health at the University of Auckland’s faculty of medical and health sciences has suggested four integrated pathways of work to run alongside each other in the case of an impending epidemic: the need to rebuild and strengthen whanau; the need to involve Maori at all levels of decision making; the need to ensure that Maori can access and receive effective health services; and the need to ensure that a whole-of-Government approach is taken towards addressing Maori health matters. It is said that vision without action is a daydream and action without vision is a nightmare. The Maori Party has a vision in which Maori interests are able to be placed at the very centre with our well-being protected and enhanced so that our future and survival are assured. 
The action that these seven bills could drive is the bringing on board of appropriate Maori leadership the use of Maori infrastructures and networks and the ability of health workers to engage with iwi and Maori communities in helping to fight the excessively high rate of mortality that all predictions expect to occur in the likelihood of an epidemic. We want action in which our whanau are actively prepared and ready to support and care for tamariki and pakeke in the event of an outbreak of an epidemic. Should avian influenza or indeed any infectious disease prove itself to be capable of becoming an epidemic our communities need to be on high alert about how to preserve our most precious resource—“He tangata he tangata he tangata”. 
The particular anxiety expressed by many tangata whenua about this legislation has been around looking at the concept of how best to minimise face-to-face contact. Questions have arisen specifically around our tangihanga and whether the epidemic risks will entail mass burials to occur therefore disrupting long-held expectations about the traditions associated with paying our respects to the deceased and their whanau. In this regard we welcome the recommendation from the Government Administration Committee that an epidemic notice will be issued only for outbreaks of quarantinable rather than infectious diseases per se. The notice should be the sole preserve of highly infectious diseases capable of becoming a pandemic. 
We have considered the viability of using marae for quarantine centres. The changes to the Health Act increase the powers of medical officers of health to detain people for medical surveillance for a period of up to 28 days. We note also that the police will be able to use force to detain people suspected of suffering from bird flu. We would suggest that rather than using the enforced authority represented by either the medical officer of health or the police it would be preferable in the interests of safeguarding public confidence and accountability for encouragement to be given to utilising venues that are already familiar to the people such as marae. We would also suggest that MPs take on board the need to inform their constituencies of what can be done to be “epidemically prepared”. Accessible and widespread information will be critical to effective preparedness. 
In closing I tell members that the 2006 census results were released last week which showed that New Zealand’s Maori population has experienced a growth exceeding 7.4 percent since 2001 to reach a grand total of 565329. A century ago in 1905 the Maori population hit an all-time low of 45000 and was at risk of extinction. Not only did tangata whenua survive but we have sustained a substantial and vibrant level of population increase since then. We celebrate that growth and we look forward to it continuing. Our future as a nation depends on our young population our Maori population being able to thrive on many counts. We want to see our population contributing to the Maori economy of the future. We want to know our taonga will be protected for future generations. And we want to be content in the knowledge that our very survival is not at threat. Voting in support of the seven bills debated today bills that were previously grouped together as the Law Reform (Epidemic Preparedness) Bill is one more step along the way towards achieving that. Kia ora tatou.