Summarised by Centrist
In August, OurHealth Hawke’s Bay posted that Māori and Pasifika aged 14-24 would qualify for additional free healthcare services.
Todd Stephenson, ACT’s health spokesman, called the policy “lazy and divisive,” prompting Health Minister Shane Reti to intervene.
Stephenson said “The change in government should have sent a clear message to our bureaucracies that New Zealanders are sick and tired of race being put at the centre of everything.”
Reti ordered officials to scrap the policy, citing the government’s focus on need rather than targeting population groups.
Reti said that the focus on ethnicity was misplaced.
“They hadn’t read the room,” he said, referring to health officials involved in drafting the policy.
“The way to improve Māori and Pasifika health is through better housing, education and addressing the cost of living, not by disadvantaging others,” Reti said.
The updated criteria now exclude Māori and Pasifika based solely on ethnicity, although the changes were made on the website quietly without acknowledging the revision.
