A Whānau Ora campaign to vaccinate locals in Papakura in 2021 was one of thousands of projects designed to improve social and health services for Māori. Photo: 2021 Getty Images
A change in direction at Whānau Ora has drawn the ire of agencies, which are set to lose their long-held positions as commissioning bodies and say up to 1000 jobs could be lost. .
Whānau Ora was created in 2010 by the late Dame Tariana Turia in an effort to improve social and health services for Māori.
Three commissioning agencies - the North Island's Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency, the South Island's Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu and Pasifika Futures - were awarded contracts in 2014 to distribute funds to service providers.
However, the agencies say they were told by Te Puni Kōkiri - which administers the Whānau Ora contract - their bids to continue commissioning services had been rejected.
It is the first time since the initial awarding of the Whānau Ora contracts that commissioning arrangements have been tested through an open tender to other providers.
They will be replaced by two agencies for the North Island, one for the South Island, and one for Pacific, from 1 July.
South Island Whānau Ora commissioning agency Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipōunamu has called the decision to not renew their contract a "destruction of Whānau Ora by stealth".
In a media release, pouārahi Ivy Harper said the organisation were "shocked and utterly devastated".
"Not just for our staff and partners, the many whānau we work alongside and our communities, but because what the government is now presenting as Whānau Ora is in fact a watered down version that rips the heart out of what has been a highly successful approach to inequity.
"We were praised for our collective work, especially around our data and information that highlight the huge gains for whānau in Te Waipounamu over the past 10 years and then dumped with little explanation. Our question is, where do whānau and partners, who are the heart of Whānau Ora, fit into informing this shift in policy?"
Harper said contract tender process had changed suddenly in 2024 and shifted from a model driven by whānau aspirations to a range of targeted government services.
Successive reviews - including an audit by the Auditor-General in 2015 and a 2018 ministerial review - found Whānau Ora had been successful for tens of thousands of whānau, Harper said.
Hina-i-te māra Moses-Te Kani, co-chair of Te Taumata - the iwi shareholder council of Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu - said the decision to "burn it all down and start again" would be felt across the South Island for years.
"This government is destroying the most successful model it has ever supported. Our whānau-led model of commissioning here in the south is backed by evidence, is value for money, and has made a difference for thousands of whānau. How such clear and unequivocal data can be ignored is extremely disconcerting. This is nothing but destruction of Whānau Ora by stealth," Moses-Te Kani said.
'A political attack on the very existence of Māori-led solutions'
In a statement, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngārewa-Packer said the party's sincerest gratitude went out to the kaimahi affected.
"You have carried the vision of Tā Mason Durie and Dame Tariana Turia, building a model that has transformed Māori health and wellbeing.
"This decision does not reflect on your mahi - it is a political attack on the very existence of Māori-led solutions.
"Te Pāti Māori acknowledges the excellence in every review and audit that have repeatedly affirmed Whānau Ora's effectiveness. The results speak for themselves-this is a service that should have been strengthened, not stripped." Ngārewa-Packer said.
Meanwhile, Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangtira confirmed on Facebook it was a preferred candidate to take over one of four contracts up for grabs.
Chief executive Helmut Modlik told RNZ the primary focus of Whānau Ora was well-being and its "genius" was its holistic approach to Māori issues.
"Well-being is a multifactorial outcome. It's not physiological alone, it's not derived from having access to health alone, to education alone, to housing alone, and then there are wider issues beyond physiology, like our spiritual dimensions, our wairua.
"It is a profoundly personal journey that we're talking about, right?"
Modlik said Ngāti Toa had been pursuing a "vision of paddling their own waka" and creating an ecosystem of support services.
"When you or I have a problem in our lives, who's the first person - beyond ourselves - that we turn to? It's people... our family and our nearest friends.
"Our approach to Whānau Ora will be to integrate all of those who are best placed both in formal networks and informal networks to participate in an integrated ecosystem of support."
Ngāti Toa would be responsible the area covering south of Hamilton to Wellington, and Modlik said he shared the sentiment of aroha to everyone whose jobs might be impacted by the transition.
"Aroha to all of them through this period of uncertainty and the impact on them, and their families, of what comes next.
"It is a transition... this is about the commissioning layer, as opposed to the kaimahi on the ground who do the real work.
"There are real people doing real work, good work, who will be affected, and I have nothing but aroha for them and best wishes for them [during] the transition," Modlik said.
In a statement, Te Puni Kōkiri said over the past decade, the Whānau Ora focus on strong trusted relationships had delivered results for many whānau across New Zealand communities.
"Te Puni Kōkiri has been running a procurement process to select commissioning agencies to deliver Whānau Ora services under new contracts from 1 July 2025.
"This is the first time, since the initial award of the Whānau Ora contracts, that commissioning arrangements have been tested in the market through an open tender... the decision to go to market for the commissioning of Whānau Ora does not reflect on those involved in Whānau Ora to this point."
The statement said all respondents were notified of the selection decisions on 7 March and while some of the respondents being taken through to contract negotiations had self-identified since then, public announcements on the new arrangements would be made once negotiations had concluded and contracts had been signed.
"The changes we are making will have a greater focus on outcomes, ensuring we target our investment to where it can make the biggest difference," it read.
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