Lady Tureiti Moxon says a new Māori health system based on self-determination is what is needed to address the alarming Māori health statistics across the country.
The comments come in the wake of a Waitangi Tribunal report that says the Crown has breached the Treaty by not ensuring that outcomes of the current system are equal.
Moxon, managing director of Te Kōhao Health in Hamilton, has long campaigned for a health system that addresses Māori health issues. She was one of the group which lodged the claim with the Tribunal in 2005.
Moxon is excited by the recommendations of the Hauora: Report on Stage One of the Health Services and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry report released this morning.
One of the recommendations of the report is for the Crown to "commit to exploring the concept of a stand-alone Māori Primary Health Authority". Moxon says it is something Māori have been calling for some time.
"Our view is we want to to look after our own and we want to do that in our own way. So please, step aside, and let us do that," she told Te Ao Māori news this afternoon.
She says a "by Māori, for Māori" health system would be Tino Rangatiratanga in action, "It looks like our iwi entities, where we're making decisions for ourselves in our way. We're not put into a basket that's one size fits all. We're actually working with our own people, we're working with whānau hapū, iwi. We're working with our own communities."
Moxon is also excited by what a Māori-focused system could mean for the future of Māori.
"We may have our own hospitals. We may have our own tertiary operations and organisations based on our own tikanga, based on our own people's moemoeā."
Māori tertiary health providers could be another example of Tino Rangatiratanga in the health sector, with Moxon saying, "Why wouldn't we want our own specialists? Our own radiologists? Our pathologists? We can actually determine how we want the system for us, that actually meets our needs."
The report also reaffirms health statistics that show Māori are over-represented in negative areas. Māori males have a life expectancy 7.3 years lower, and Māori females 6.8 years lower than non-Māori.
Moxon says given the chance of self-determination, Māori can again address the most urgent needs within the Māori community.
"We can determine that, we can prioritise that but at the moment we're not a priority in any shape or form and so we are able to grow and develop ourselves in our own way and make ourselves the priority," she says.
Associate Minster of Health, Peeni Henare says in a statement that he recognises the importance of the report.
"[My] primary priority in health is to work toward equity of health outcomes particularly for Māori given the special relationship that exists between the Crown and tangata whenua. Everyone involved has invested a great deal of time, effort and thought to produce the substantial and detailed report published this morning.
"It merits a considered response from the government. We will respond to the recommendations fully in due course."
There has been no indication as to when that response will be made, however Tribunal have given the government until January 20, 2020 to do so.