Since taking office, the Coalition Government has overseen a hollowing-out of Māori capability across the public service.

Early on there was a directive from the Government to remove te reo Māori names of public service departments and prioritise the use of English in departmental communications. Nicola Willis sought advice on limiting access to te reo Māori allowances for public servants. The Waitangi Tribunal released a report late last year that found these actions had a chilling effect on what had been the growing use of te reo Māori in government communications.

AN INSIDIOUS TREND

There has also been insidious and consistent trend of Māori and Tiriti capability roles, teams, and agencies in the public service and state sector being targeted for disestablishment.

Under the guise of cost-cutting, the Government’s gutting of public service workforces has had a disproportionate impact on kaupapa Māori services.

The disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority, in June 2024 was an early and particularly egregious example of this.

Te Arawhiti, the Office for Māori Crown Relations in the Ministry of Justice, was also effectively disestablished.

Māori and te Tiriti-focused roles have been cut at a wide range of agencies including the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Justice, Te Puni Kōkiri, Stats NZ, Pharmac, Kāinga Ora, and Inland Revenue.

It seems like every week we are informed of new proposed cuts in the Māori and te Tiriti capability space. There are currently proposals to cut roles at WorkSafe, MBIE and LINZ.

The newly formed Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport will have no dedicated Māori or te Tiriti team, despite the original agencies all having had dedicated teams.

CUTS THREATEN IMPROVED OUTCOMES FOR MĀORI

The fear is that the cuts will severely undermine targeted kaupapa Māori policies and Māori-Crown relations programmes which had begun to result in tangible improved outcomes for Māori in education, health, employment, housing, and social services.

This Government is deliberately undermining the ability of the state to address longstanding inequities and barriers to Māori social and economic progress.

This is a radical departure from the work of successive governments in attempting to improve the way that the state engages with and represents Māori.

While progress over the last several decades has been slow and often flawed, there has been a genuine desire to strengthen Māori and te Tiriti capability within the public service and state sector.

FIGHTING AN ANTI-MĀORI AGENDA

The PSA has been fighting in opposition to these cuts. PSA organisers, with the support of Te Rōpū Hautūtanga, have been working with Hinonga Māngai Māori and delegates to resist these changes at the agency level.

We are also working to bring national attention to this issue in the context of the Government’s wider anti-Māori agenda.

We have a responsibility to make the case for an active state that delivers te Tiriti-consistent services alongside whānau, hapū and iwi Māori.