5. Question No. 5—Health (Māori Health)Dr ELIZABETH KEREKERE (Green) to the Associate Minister of Health (Māori Health)Question No. 5—Health (Māori Health)5. Dr ELIZABETH KEREKERE (Green) to the Associate Minister of Health (Māori Health): E whakapono ana ia he rahi rawa ngā mahi a te kāwanatanga hei akiaki i te werohanga o te iwi Māori ki te kano ārai mate inā hoki ki ngā rohe pēnei i Te Tairāwhiti me Te Tai Tokerau?[Does he believe the Government is doing enough to lift Māori vaccination rates particularly in rural areas including Tairāwhiti and Te Tai Tokerau?]Hon PEENI HENARE (Associate Minister of Health (Māori Health)): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. Ki te pātai—direct to the member's question the answer is yes and in particular I share with the member some feedback while I was on the road recently from Geoff Milner the chief executive of the Ngāti Hine Health Trust the largest Māori health provider providing the vaccine in Northland. He says that he has never had such great support from central government DHBs GPs Hauora and pharmacy for our whānau on the ground." I also quote Mr Reweti Ropiha chief executive of Turanga Health who said "While we've had mobile services in Tairāwhiti for rural outreach for some time following the Minister's visit to Tairāwhiti where he listened to our needs and followed up with support we will now be able to reach more deeply into our rural communities."Dr Elizabeth Kerekere: Kia ora. He aha ngā kaupapa kua whakamaheretia motuhaketia mā te Māori kei te taiwhenua ā ka pēhea tā ngā kaupapa nei akiaki i ngā rōpū Māori ki te ārahi i te whakautu ki te mate nei? [What outreach is planned specifically for rural Māori and how will this empower Māori organisations to lead the response?]Hon PEENI HENARE: Tēnā koe. Ki te pātai a te mema he maha ngā rautaki me ngā mahere kua whakaritehia nei e mātou o te Kāwanatanga. Tuatahi ko te āhuatanga ki ngā pūtea. Tata ki te kotahi rau miriona tāra ka tukuna atu mō tēnei kaupapa. Tuarua ka wātea nei e mātou i ētahi o ngā huarahi ka āhei ngā ratonga hauora Māori ki te whakatutuki i ngā mahi tuku i te kano ārai mate. Anā tuatoru ko te whakapakari ake i ngā ratonga hauora Māori kia āhei rātou te tuku i tēnei rongoā ki te Iwi Māori.[To the member's question there are many strategies and plans that we the Government have prepared. Firstly the aspects related to finance. Nearly $100 million has been released for this initiative. Secondly we have made several avenues available to Māori health services to successfully administer the vaccine. And thirdly to increase the capability of the Māori health services so that they are able to deliver this medication to the Māori people.]Dr Elizabeth Kerekere: Ka tautokona e te Kāwanatanga tētahi rautaki e arahina ana e te Māori ki te whakautu i te horokukūtanga ki te kano ārai mate pēnei i tā Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā i marohi ai? [Will the Government support a Māori-led approach to addressing vaccine hesitancy as recommended by Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā?]Hon PEENI HENARE: Āe. I te tīmatanga o te whakaritenga o te mahere i hui tahi mātou me ngā tohunga o Te Ao Māori mō tēnei take ko ētahi kei runga i te rōpū kua kōrero mai nā te mema. Nō reira kua whakarongo mātou ki wā rātou kōrero kua hui anō mātou ki ngā ratonga hauora Māori kia whakarongo ki ngā nawe me ngā kōrero kei runga i te papa. Nā konā mātou i whakarite ai i tō tātou mahere kia tuku ai i te kano ārai mate. [Yes. At the beginning of the development of the plan we met with the experts of the Māori community regarding this issue—some of them are on the group that the member spoke of. So we have listened to their feedback. We've also met with Māori health service providers to listen to their objections and the points made on the floor. That is why we developed our plan to deliver the vaccine.]Teanau Tuiono: E taea ana e te Kāwanatanga te oati kei te whai rātou i te ara kia iti rawa ngā pānga māuiuitanga tae rā anō ki te wā e wātea ana te kano ārai mate otirā kia tutuki rā anō te āraitanga tiketike o te tamariki Māori?[Can the Government ensure that they are following the right paths to keep cases as low as possible until vaccinations are available for children and high coverage is achieved for tamariki Māori?]Hon PEENI HENARE: I tēnei wā tonu kia tirohia e tātou katoa ki te āhuatanga ki wā tātou tamariki mokopuna arā ki ngā rangatahi. I tēnei wā tonu kua tīmata ai tētahi mahere mā ngā rangatahi anō tērā kōrero e tukuna atu ki wā tātau rangatahi kia whakaratarata mai wā tātau rangatahi ki tēnei kano ārai mate. Engari me kaua tātou e tukuna atu i ngā hēki katoa ki te pākete kotahi. Nō reira he maha ngā mahere heoi anō ko tāku e mea atu ana koia rā tētahi. Mehemea e hiahia ana te mema i ētahi atu a tēnā horekau he raru ki ahau nei kia tukuna atu i ētahi atu mahere ki a ia.[At this time let us look at our children and youth. At this time we have begun some initiatives for our youth. We have begun campaigning to our youth to encourage our youth to be vaccinated. But we cannot put all of our eggs in one basket. So there are many initiatives; I am merely saying that that is one. However if the member would like of course it would be no problem for me to supply these initiatives to him.]Teanau Tuiono: He aha ngā kōrero ki te whānau o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa? He aha te ara e whai ana rātou kia hīkina ngā nama ki roto i ērā whānau mō te whiwhi i te kano ārai mate?[What are the details surrounding our Pasifika whānau and what are the measures they are taking to increase vaccination numbers within those families?]Hon PEENI HENARE: He pātai pai tēnā. Kua whakapau werawera te Minita a Minita Sio ki te tautoko ake i ngā tū whāinga o ngā hāhi he mōhio nō tātou katoa i te kaha o ngā hāhi ki te whātoro atu ki ngā iwi moutere. Kua kōrero atu mātou katoa ki ngā mea pou kei roto i te hapori mō te hunga nō Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa kua whakaritehia anō e mātou i ētahi o ngā ratonga hauora mō te hunga nō ngā moutere ki te tuku i tēnei kano ārai mate. Engari me kaua tātou e pōhēhē kua oti noa ngā mahi. He nui tonu ngā mahi kei mua i a tātou Māori mā Ngāi Pasifika mā ki te hiki i ngā nama ngā tatauranga ka kitea nei e tātou. [That is a good question. Minister Sio has been working hard to support the different goals of the church because as we are aware the church has significant influence within the Pasifika community. We have had discussions with the pillars within the community with respect to those from the Pacific community and have established health systems options for Pasifika to be vaccinated. But we should not be fooled that our job finishes here. There is still plenty of work to be done for Māori and for Pasifika to lift the numbers and statistics that we currently see.]"