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A disability advocate is concerned dedicated support for Māori and Pasifika living with a disability could end up "slipping away again" in the government's planned restructure of Whaikaha, the Ministry of Disabled people.
Social Development Minister Louise Upston announced Whaikaha would lose responsibility for delivering support services and that the ministry would become a standalone, no longer sharing back-office functions with the Ministry of Social Development.
This decision followed a critical review which said the ministry had inadequate budget controls and was not set up effectively to manage the scale and nature of its funding.
Dr Huhana Hickey, a Māori lawyer and disability advocate, said there were some good elements in the changes in terms of making the policy element stronger, but transferring the funding over was a worry.
"We knew it was going to be a problem because it's always been underfunded."
Hickey said it was important that tangata whaikaha had their own ministry to ensure a seat at the table.
Dr Huhana Hickey. Photo: Sharon Brettkelly
"We need our voice to be at all levels of leadership. That's Māori, non-Māori disabled. We need to be there."
She said there was currently no one in Parliament who represented tangata whaikaha, which was why the ministry was set up "to influence policy and law".
During a media briefing on Thursday, Upston said no policy decisions would be made overnight and the disability community would need to be involved.
"Their voice and insights will be so important in getting this right."
New Zealand has the only pan-tribal, pan-disability Māori organisation in the motu called TAMA, Te Ao Mārama Aotearoa, which was developed with the creation of Te Aka Whai Ora and Whaikaha.
Hickey said it was not clear whether that kaupapa would be funded in order to continue.
"We don't know if the Māori voice around disabilities will continue, because we're not sitting at decision-making tables, and that's where we all need to be."
Ensuring that Māori were a part of making decisions was vital, Hickey said.
"While the mainstream population [of Māori] is 24 percent, we're actually 33 percent with disabilities. But by the time we reach the age of 40, 67 percent of Māori have disabilities."
In a statement, Upston said the shift of support service delivery to MSD was "significant but necessary", and said MSD had the controls and capability in place to manage its funding.
"This will also solve the conflict of the Ministry of Disabled People - Whaikaha having both advocacy and service provision roles, making it a representative and powerful voice in government for disabled New Zealanders."
Hickey said there was a massive need for kaupapa Māori services and while everyone should have the right to decide how their care should be, having the ability to have a cultural lens on their support was "hugely important".
"And for me, I want it to be run in a kaupapa Māori approach, and there's no two ways about that. "
Hickey said Māori and Pasifika whānau could end up "slipping up away again" with the restructuring of Whaikaha and lack of funding.
"We were getting more Māori and Pasifika actually engaging and getting support. But the problem is, the ministry had never increased the budget. And even though they got top ups in the financial year, it's still underfunded because there's no model to find a way to fund disability supports sustainably."
Whaikaha was established following a "proper partnership model" which was in relationship with Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Hickey said.
"Everything about it was from disabled people until it got started and until the Ministry of Health people came over, then it started changing the dynamic and we lost that ability to be unique.
"We got absorbed and ended up with what's happening now."
Hickey said Upston had not had any engagement with them at all, and said they were looking forward to the concept of consultation.
"And we do hope it happens, but we're curious as to how that's going to take place, and how do we feed into what's going to develop," she said.
"They've got to make sure that it's disabled people, that have those skills and background, are the ones giving their advice... talk to us, but don't run away from us.
"You need to talk to Māori and Pasifika, migrants, all of the community with disabilities and a range of disabilities. Not just the providers, not just the parents, but disabled people themselves."
Hickey said they still had faith in Paula Tesoriero, Whaikaha Ministry of Disabled People's chief executive, and said she can "really nail a strong robust policy team".