Photo: RNZ
The Waitangi Tribunal has taken the rare step of directing the government to release a batch of documents.
On Tuesday Judge Damian Stone directed the government to release eight unredacted documents showing its reasoning for disestablishing Te Aka Whai Ora - the Māori Health Authority.
The government has until 5pm on Thursday to release the documents.
Waitangi Tribunal orders govt to release documents
The documents in question were released publicly earlier this year as part of the Waitangi Tribunal's Health Services and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry - but at the time much of the information within the documents was redacted.
Treaty lawyer Roimata Smaill said she could not recall the tribunal issuing a directive like this before.
"The Tribunal is legally a commission of inquiry, so it actually has very wide powers and it hasn't always used it in the past but it can actually summons witnesses and require that documents are provided."
The government is compelled by law to respond to the directive, Smaill said.
The Tribunal can direct the Crown to provide documents as well as summon witnesses, she said.
"It's really quite a strong power, just like any other commission of inquiry, to make sure it's not putting out decisions that don't have all the information, it's really part of a good evidence process.
"The Tribunal I think it always does a really good job of trying to gather all the relevant evidence and it always tries to make sure that it's putting out a report that's based on the right information, so maybe it's finding that it needs to look a bit more closely and push a little bit harder to get everything it needs to make the best decision possible."
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he wasn't aware of the particulars of the directive but the government would work constructively with the tribunal.
"We've been working in good faith with the Waitangi Tribunal. We've been actually trying to engage and actually let them know, share information as much as we possibly can, in the spirit of good faith."
Health Minister Shane Reti said he was seeking legal advice and would not comment until he received that advice.
"At this point we understand that we need a legal opinion to understand how we release it and in what format, and we'll decide once we've received that information as to how to release and what to release to the Waitangi Tribunal."
Reti said he hoped to have the advice by the end of the day.
The government dismantled Te Aka Whai Ora under urgency in February, but the tribunal agreed to hear the matter as part of its Health Services and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry.
It will "examine both the processes and steps taken by the Crown to disestablish Te Aka Whai Ora, as well as the Crown's proposed alternative plans to address Māori health outcomes following its disestablishment".
Smaill said the tribunal was working towards producing a report hopefully before Christmas.
"[It] is all about the process about how it actually happened that Te Aka Whai Ora was disestablished so making sure it knows everything that went into that decision. We had hoped that we could look at what the alternative is to Te Aka Whai Ora but because that hasn't been fully developed yet that's going to have to be a hearing for next year."