Waatea News: Māori Radio Station

New survey results suggest general practice is beginning to recover after years of workforce shortages and intense financial pressure, but almost half of practices still have a GP vacancy and patients continue to feel the consequences of a system under strain.

The General Practice Owners Association, GenPro, says its latest Annual Pulse Survey shows improvement across almost every measure it has consistently tracked since the survey began.

GenPro Chair Dr Angus Chambers says the direction of travel is encouraging, but the organisation warns it is far too early to declare general practice recovered.

One of the strongest signs of improvement is in workforce numbers.

The proportion of general practices reporting a GP vacancy has fallen from 54 percent last year to 47 percent this year.

Nursing shortages have also eased, with practices reporting nurse vacancies falling from 23 percent to 18 percent.

But having almost one in every two practices still searching for a GP remains a major problem.

GP shortages affect how quickly patients can get appointments, continuity of care and whether practices have enough capacity to enrol new patients.

For communities already facing barriers to primary healthcare, including many Māori, rural and lower-income whānau, continued workforce shortages risk reinforcing existing problems accessing care.

There are also signs that the financial position of general practice is beginning to stabilise.

The proportion of practices concerned about their future financial viability has dropped from 65 percent to 60 percent.

More significantly, the number reporting they were operating at a loss has fallen from 19 percent to 12 percent.

But another figure provides an important warning.

The proportion of practices reporting their overall financial position had worsened during the previous year actually increased from 23 percent to 27 percent.

It suggests the sector may have moved away from the edge of immediate crisis without resolving the underlying financial pressures.

GenPro also says more than half of practices are now charging patients for services that were previously free, another indication that some of the financial pressure is ultimately being felt by patients.

There is better news for people trying to find a GP.

The proportion of practices accepting all new enrolments has increased from 36 percent to 39 percent.

At the same time, practices accepting no new patients fell sharply from 19 percent to 13 percent.

Service reductions are also becoming less common, falling from 29 percent of practices last year to 22 percent this year.

Those changes suggest additional capacity is slowly returning to parts of primary healthcare.

But with 47 percent of practices still carrying a GP vacancy, access remains vulnerable.

The findings matter because general practice is where much of the health system begins.

When people cannot see their GP early, manageable health problems can become more serious. Pressure can then move further into urgent care and hospital emergency departments.

For whānau Māori, improving primary healthcare access is particularly important because affordability, workforce shortages and geographic access can compound existing health inequities.

GenPro believes additional support provided over the past two years has helped halt some of the deterioration after what it describes as a prolonged period of under-investment.

Its message now is that the gains need to be consolidated rather than treated as evidence the problem has been solved.

The survey arrives at a critical political moment as health becomes one of the major issues of Election 2026.

GenPro recently released its election manifesto, Seven Steps to Restore General Practice, calling for action to put family doctors on a sustainable financial footing, improve health outcomes and reduce patient waiting times.

The latest numbers suggest there has been progress.

GP vacancies are down. Nurse vacancies are down. Fewer practices are operating at a loss. More are accepting new patients and fewer are reducing services.

But 47 percent still have a GP vacancy, 60 percent remain concerned about their future financial viability, and more than half are charging for services that were once free.

General practice may have stepped back from the brink — but for thousands of whānau still struggling to find a doctor, afford an appointment or get seen when they need care, the recovery is far from complete.

#GeneralPractice #GenPro #DrAngusChambers #GPShortage #Doctors #Nurses #PrimaryHealthcare #Hauora #MāoriHealth #HauoraMāori #HealthEquity #GPAccess #RuralHealth #Healthcare #HealthWorkforce #CostOfLiving #Whānau #Election2026 #HealthPolicy #NZHealth #TeAoMāori #Aotearoa #MāoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post GENERAL PRACTICE BACK FROM THE BRINK — BUT GP SHORTAGES AND COST PRESSURES KEEP RECOVERY FRAGILE appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

From the Black Ferns showing their defensive steel to the Warriors facing a fight for survival and the All Blacks confronting a painful series defeat, Ken Laban joins Waatea to break down a weekend packed with sporting drama.

The Black Ferns provided one of the weekend’s highlights, absorbing sustained pressure from France and producing a determined defensive performance to secure another important international victory.

For Ken Laban, the performance provides plenty to analyse as the Black Ferns continue testing themselves against the leading teams in world rugby.

The mood was very different at Mount Smart, where the Dolphins defeated the Warriors 26-16 in their NRL qualifying final.

A victory would have secured a week off and a home preliminary final.

Instead, the Warriors have been pushed into sudden-death territory, leaving little room for another mistake.

The defeat will raise questions around execution, pressure and whether the Warriors can quickly reset for the next stage of their premiership campaign.

For the Warriors faithful, the message is now brutally simple.

Win and the dream continues. Lose and the season is over.

Northland provided one of the great results of the weekend, crushing Waikato 34-17 to retain the Ranfurly Shield.

The victory keeps the Log o Wood in Whangārei and gives Northland supporters another reason to celebrate a remarkable period for provincial rugby in Te Tai Tokerau.

It was not simply a successful Shield defence. A 17-point victory over Waikato demonstrated a Northland side playing with confidence and determined to make Whangārei an extremely difficult place for challengers to leave with the trophy.

The Taniwha are roaring and the Shield remains in the north.

At international level, the All Blacks are facing a major review after South Africa completed a 3-1 series victory.

The four-Test series was always going to provide a serious examination of where New Zealand sits against the Springboks.

The final result leaves coach Dave Rennie and his players with plenty to consider.

A single Test defeat can be explained away.

A 3-1 series loss to New Zealand’s greatest rugby rival provides a much bigger body of evidence to examine.

For Laban, attention now turns to what the series revealed about the All Blacks, where the biggest weaknesses emerged and how quickly those problems can be addressed.

There was also disappointment for the Warriors NRLW side, whose season was ended by defending champions Brisbane.

The size of the defeat showed the distance that remains between the developing Warriors side and one of the competition’s established powerhouses.

But the return and development of the women’s programme remains important for rugby league in Aotearoa, providing another pathway for wāhine athletes into the professional game.

The challenge now is building depth and experience from the foundations established this season.

On four wheels, Liam Lawson has again demonstrated his ability to compete on Formula One’s biggest stage.

The Kiwi qualified inside the top 10 for the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, putting himself in a strong position heading into the race.

Every opportunity matters for Lawson as he continues making his case at the highest level of motorsport.

The White Sox have also experienced the fine margins of international sport, suffering a nail-biting defeat in their opening match of the Women’s Softball World Cup.

The narrow loss provides encouragement that New Zealand can compete, but World Cup tournaments offer little time to dwell on missed opportunities.

Attention now turns to bouncing back as the campaign continues.

It leaves plenty for Ken Laban to unpack on Waatea.

Can the Warriors recover from their qualifying final setback?

What has made Northland so difficult to beat with the Ranfurly Shield on the line?

How significant is the Black Ferns victory over France?

And after losing the series 3-1, just how far behind the Springboks are the All Blacks?

From Mount Smart to Whangārei, from the Black Ferns to the Springboks and from softball to Formula One — Ken Laban joins Waatea to make sense of another extraordinary weekend of Hākinakina.

#KenLaban #WeekendSports #SportsWrap #Hākinakina #BlackFerns #AllBlacks #Springboks #Warriors #NZWarriors #NRL #NRLFinals #NRLW #NorthlandRugby #Taniwha #RanfurlyShield #TeTaiTokerau #WhiteSox #SoftballWorldCup #LiamLawson #Formula1 #F1 #Rugby #RugbyLeague #MāoriSport #AotearoaSport #MāoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post KEN LABAN’S SPORTS WRAP: BLACK FERNS STAND TALL, WARRIORS FACE SUDDEN DEATH AND ALL BLACKS LEFT HURTING appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

More than 180 Māori idioms have been brought together in a new book aimed at strengthening the richness, creativity and everyday use of te reo Māori.

Respected Māori academic, language expert and author Professor Hona Black is behind He Kete Kīwaha, a collection celebrating kīwaha and the distinctive ways meaning, humour, emotion and whakaaro can be expressed through te reo Māori.

The publication comes as the revitalisation of te reo increasingly moves beyond simply increasing the number of speakers towards strengthening the depth, confidence and natural expression of the language.

Kīwaha are an important part of what gives a language its personality.

Idioms can communicate an idea or feeling in ways that cannot always be understood through a literal translation of individual words.

They carry humour, emphasis, cultural knowledge and ways of seeing the world that have developed through generations of speakers.

That makes preserving them particularly important as te reo Māori continues its revitalisation.

He Kete Kīwaha brings together more than 180 expressions, providing another resource for learners and speakers wanting to deepen their understanding and expand the reo they use in everyday life.

For generations of Māori who were disconnected from their language through colonisation and policies that marginalised te reo, revitalisation has required rebuilding knowledge across whānau, kura and communities.

But language survival is about more than vocabulary and grammar.

A thriving language needs the informal expressions, jokes, sayings and turns of phrase that allow speakers to communicate naturally.

That is where collections such as He Kete Kīwaha can play an important role.

They help learners move beyond technically correct Māori towards reo that carries greater expression, character and cultural depth.

Black’s work also highlights the importance of recording and sharing language knowledge while ensuring it remains actively used.

A kīwaha preserved on a page becomes even more powerful when it moves from the book into the kāinga, classroom, workplace, marae, sports field and everyday conversations between whānau.

The challenge facing the revitalisation movement is therefore not simply getting more people to learn Māori.

It is creating generations who can think, joke, debate, celebrate, grieve and live naturally through te reo Māori.

As Aotearoa continues the work of strengthening te reo Māori, resources that capture the language beyond formal teaching have an important place.

Every idiom carries more than its literal words.

It carries a way of expressing whakaaro shaped within Te Ao Māori.

With more than 180 kīwaha gathered together, Black has created a kete that can help ensure those expressions continue travelling from one generation of speakers to the next.

Because revitalising te reo Māori is not only about ensuring our language survives — it is about ensuring all its humour, colour, creativity and character survives with it.

#HonaBlack #HeKeteKiwaha #Kiwaha #TeReoMaori #MaoriLanguage #TeWikiOTeReoMaori #MaoriLanguageWeek #KiaKahaTeReoMaori #ReoMaori #LanguageRevitalisation #MataurangaMaori #TeAoMaori #Ako #MaoriAuthors #MaoriBooks #ManaReo #Whanau #Aotearoa #MaoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post MORE THAN WORDS: HONA BLACK’S NEW KETE KĪWAHA CELEBRATES THE COLOUR AND CHARACTER OF TE REO MĀORI appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon is putting whānau wellbeing, equitable public services and the cost of living firmly into the election conversation as fresh revelations about thousands of wrongly suspended MSD payments raise serious questions about how government services are working for the people who depend on them.

The Green Party MP, who holds portfolios including Health, Māori Development and Whānau Ora, has built much of her political advocacy around strengthening whānau and ensuring public services respond to the communities they are supposed to serve.

That kaupapa comes into sharper focus following the release of an MSD review revealing widespread failures involving Winter Energy Payments and the new Confirming Your Circumstances process.

Waatea News reported this week that 16,270 New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension clients had their Winter Energy Payments wrongly suspended.

Perhaps even more concerning was the timeline.

Winter Energy Payments began on 28 April.

An MSD staff member raised concerns about the problem just two days later, on 30 April.

But senior leadership was not made aware of the full issue until 13 August.

By then thousands of people had been affected.

For Lyndon and the Greens, the issue sits within a wider debate about whether government systems are actually reducing hardship or making life harder for whānau already struggling with the cost of living.

The MSD review found more than one failure.

The legislation failed to properly protect Winter Energy Payments for affected superannuitants and Veteran’s Pension recipients.

MSD also underestimated the workload created by mandatory circumstances reviews, creating processing backlogs.

Some people provided information but still experienced payment interruptions because MSD had not processed their cases in time.

A separate MyMSD email notification problem then increased the pressure, while the Ministry ultimately had to manually examine around 51,000 client files to understand the scale of what had happened.

The financial consequences were substantial.

MSD identified 2,460 main-benefit clients affected by processing delays, with average identified arrears of $390, and 11,990 supplementary-assistance clients, with average identified arrears of $140. The Ministry has cautioned that some groups overlap and should not simply be added together.

The Green Party has responded strongly to the review.

Its Social Development spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez March is calling for compensation for people who suffered hardship after payments were wrongly suspended.

The Greens argue that simply paying back money that people were already legally entitled to does not necessarily compensate them for the consequences of suddenly losing income.

For a household already struggling, even a temporary interruption can mean debt, missed bills, difficulty buying food or problems meeting housing costs.

The party had called for compensation before the final review was released and renewed that demand following its publication.

For Lyndon, the wider political question is what whānau experience when they actually need public services.

Cost-of-living pressure is normally measured through rent, mortgages, groceries, petrol and power.

But when income support fails, those pressures can quickly become much worse.

For Māori whānau already experiencing economic and health inequities, access to reliable public services can make the difference between managing and falling further behind.

That makes government administration more than a bureaucratic issue.

It becomes a whānau wellbeing issue.

With the election approaching, the MSD controversy presents political parties with a much larger challenge.

It is not enough to promise that people will receive the support they are entitled to.

The systems delivering that support have to work.

For Lyndon, whose portfolios span health, Māori development and Whānau Ora, the debate goes directly to the question of whether public policy is designed around government agencies or around the people those agencies exist to serve.

The MSD review has now provided a stark example of what can happen when policy, legislation, technology and frontline delivery fail to align.

For thousands of New Zealanders, that failure did not occur on a spreadsheet in Wellington. It arrived in their bank accounts.

And heading towards Election 2026, the question for every political party is increasingly simple:

What will you do to make sure whānau are never left carrying the cost when the system itself gets it wrong?

#HūhanaLyndon #GreenParty #MSD #WinterEnergyPayment #WorkAndIncome #NZSuper #WhānauOra #Whānau #CostOfLiving #Hauora #MāoriDevelopment #SocialDevelopment #IncomeSupport #PublicServices #GovernmentAccountability #Welfare #Kaumātua #HauoraMāori #Election2026 #NZPolitics #MāoriPolitics #TeAoMāori #Aotearoa #MāoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post HŪHANA LYNDON: MSD PAYMENT FAILURE SHOWS WHY WHĀNAU NEED A SYSTEM THAT WORKS FOR THEM appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Restoring pay equity could deliver an average $300 a week to 91,000 families, help lift thousands of children out of poverty and provide a significant boost to the wider economy, according to the Public Service Association.

PSA Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons says pay equity should be treated as a major economic and cost-of-living issue, not simply an employment relations debate.

The union argues restoring pay equity would direct substantially more income into households where it is likely to be spent on everyday necessities including housing, kai, power, transport and healthcare.

For a household under pressure, an average $300 increase each week represents around $15,600 over a full year.

The PSA says around 91,000 families would benefit from restoring pay equity, providing greater financial security for workers and their tamariki at a time when household budgets remain under significant pressure.

Fitzsimons argues that makes pay equity one of the most powerful cost-of-living interventions available.

Rather than providing temporary relief, higher wages continue flowing into household incomes week after week.

The PSA says the benefits would extend directly to tamariki.

Increasing the incomes of predominantly female workers in lower-paid sectors would increase the resources available within tens of thousands of households and, according to the union, lift thousands of children out of poverty.

That matters because low household incomes can affect everything from the quality of housing and food available to children through to healthcare, education and participation in sport and community activities.

For Māori whānau, pay equity also intersects with wider questions of economic equity, particularly where wāhine Māori are concentrated in essential but historically undervalued caring and support roles.

The PSA is also making an economic argument.

Its analysis is that additional wages do not simply disappear from the economy.

Workers receiving higher incomes are likely to spend a significant proportion locally on groceries, rent, mortgages, electricity, transport and other goods and services, supporting businesses and economic activity in their communities.

Previous PSA analysis using a Treasury economic model estimated pay equity could add around $13.5 billion to GDP over four years, support approximately 13,000 additional jobs and generate around $5 billion in additional tax revenue.

Those figures are PSA modelling using a Treasury model rather than a Treasury forecast, but the union says they demonstrate the potential scale of the economic impact.

Fitzsimons says the numbers should force a wider debate about where government spending delivers the greatest benefit.

The Government has promoted tax relief and other measures as ways of helping households manage living costs.

The PSA argues pay equity could deliver considerably greater gains to many affected households while simultaneously addressing longstanding wage discrimination.

That sets up a clear political dividing line heading towards the election.

Is pay equity primarily a cost to government and employers — or should it be viewed as an investment in household incomes, child wellbeing and economic growth?

For Te Ao Māori, the debate has particular significance.

Many of the occupations at the centre of pay equity claims are essential caring and community roles, including workers supporting disabled people, older people, children and vulnerable whānau.

These are jobs upon which communities depend, but the PSA argues their value has historically not been properly reflected in wages.

For wāhine Māori working in those sectors, restoring pay equity therefore becomes both an employment issue and a question of wider economic justice.

With households still focused heavily on the cost of living, pay equity is shaping up as another significant election issue.

The PSA’s proposition is straightforward.

Put more money into the wages of workers, and that money flows into 91,000 family budgets, through local economies and ultimately back into government revenue.

For political parties, the challenge will be explaining whether they agree with that economic case — and, if not, what alternative policies will deliver comparable improvements for the families affected.

Because for a whānau struggling to make the numbers work every week, an extra $300 is not an abstract economic statistic. It can fundamentally change the household budget.

#PayEquity #FleurFitzsimons #PSA #TePukengaHereTikangaMahi #EqualPay #WahineMaori #Whanau #CostOfLiving #ChildPoverty #MaoriEconomy #EconomicEquity #FairPay #WorkersRights #CareWorkers #PublicService #Income #HouseholdCosts #Election2026 #NZEconomy #NZPolitics #TeAoMaori #Aotearoa #MaoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post PAY EQUITY COULD PUT $300 A WEEK BACK INTO 91,000 FAMILY BUDGETS, PSA SAYS appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa is calling on the New Zealand Government to ban imports linked to Israeli settlements in the Occupied West Bank, arguing Aotearoa is falling behind international action and failing to adequately respond to its international legal responsibilities.

PSNA spokesperson Rinad Tamimi says New Zealand should prevent goods produced in Israeli settlements from entering the country and take stronger action against economic activity that the organisation says helps sustain the settlement system.

The call places renewed pressure on the Government over how New Zealand responds to Israel’s occupation and settlement activity in Palestinian territory.

Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory have long been a major source of international condemnation.

In a landmark 2024 advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice found Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory unlawful and said states must not recognise as legal the situation arising from that presence or provide aid or assistance in maintaining it.

The United Nations Security Council has also previously stated that Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 have no legal validity under international law.

Israel disputes key aspects of the international legal and political characterisation of the occupation and maintains that issues including borders and settlements should be resolved through negotiations.

Tamimi says statements of concern are no longer enough and wants New Zealand to use trade measures to ensure the country is not economically supporting settlement activity.

The proposed ban would target products associated with settlements in the Occupied West Bank rather than amounting to a blanket prohibition on all Israeli goods.

For PSNA, the distinction is important.

Its argument is that if settlements are considered unlawful under international law, New Zealand should ensure its trade settings do not contribute to their economic viability.

New Zealand has historically supported a negotiated two-state solution and opposed settlement activity that undermines prospects for a viable Palestinian state.

PSNA argues the Government now needs to translate those positions into concrete policy.

The organisation says other countries and international institutions are increasingly considering stronger economic and diplomatic responses, leaving New Zealand at risk of falling behind.

Whether international law requires New Zealand specifically to impose the import ban advocated by PSNA is a legal question, however, and the Government’s obligations should be distinguished from the particular policy response the solidarity network is seeking.

The campaign reflects a wider international debate about whether governments should move beyond condemnation and impose economic consequences connected to settlement activity.

Supporters argue trade restrictions would help prevent overseas consumers and businesses from contributing financially to settlements.

Opponents of boycott measures have challenged their effectiveness and warned against measures they believe could make diplomatic efforts more difficult.

For New Zealand, the issue therefore raises questions spanning foreign policy, international law, trade and human rights.

PSNA wants the Government to make clear that products originating from Israeli settlements will not be accepted into the New Zealand market.

Tamimi’s challenge is ultimately about whether New Zealand’s stated commitment to international law should have consequences for what crosses the border.

As international scrutiny of the occupation intensifies, Wellington faces a growing question: if New Zealand opposes settlements in principle, how far is it prepared to go to ensure it does not support them economically?

#Palestine #PalestineSolidarity #PSNA #RinadTamimi #OccupiedWestBank #WestBank #IsraeliSettlements #Israel #Gaza #InternationalLaw #HumanRights #UnitedNations #ICJ #ForeignPolicy #Trade #MiddleEast #Aotearoa #NZPolitics #Election2026 #IndigenousRights #Justice #MāoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

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Rural health leaders are putting political parties on notice ahead of the election, warning that where New Zealanders live continues to have too much influence over whether they can access timely healthcare.

Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network Chairperson Dr Fiona Bolden is calling for rural health to become an election priority, pointing to persistent workforce shortages, funding pressures and gaps in access to health services across rural and remote communities.

With the 7 November election approaching, Hauora Taiwhenua wants political parties to demonstrate how they will deliver a health system that works beyond the major urban centres.

For many rural whānau, accessing healthcare can mean travelling considerable distances, taking time away from work and finding transport simply to reach services that people living in larger centres may have much closer to home.

The pressure becomes greater when local services are stretched or specialist treatment requires travel to a regional or metropolitan hospital.

Hauora Taiwhenua argues rural communities should not be disadvantaged simply because of geography.

The issue is particularly important for Māori, with many whānau living in rural communities where access barriers can compound existing health inequities.

One of the biggest challenges remains attracting and retaining enough health professionals to work in rural Aotearoa.

Rural general practices, hospitals and community services can face difficulties recruiting doctors, nurses and other health professionals, putting additional pressure on those already working in the system.

When vacancies cannot be filled, the consequences can flow directly to patients through reduced availability, longer waits and greater pressure on remaining services.

Dr Bolden wants political parties to recognise that solving the rural workforce problem requires long-term planning rather than temporary fixes.

That includes building training pathways that encourage people into rural healthcare, supporting professionals already working in rural communities and ensuring services have the resources necessary to retain them.

Hauora Taiwhenua is also raising the question of whether current health funding adequately recognises the additional costs involved in providing services across geographically dispersed populations.

Delivering healthcare in rural communities is not necessarily the same as delivering it in a major city.

Smaller populations, travel distances, workforce pressures and the need to maintain services despite lower patient volumes can create additional costs.

For rural providers, chronic underfunding can ultimately become another access problem for patients.

The rural health debate also has a strong equity dimension for tangata whenua.

For Māori communities outside the major centres, the challenge can involve not only accessing a doctor but reaching culturally appropriate primary, specialist and hospital services.

That makes the future of Māori and rural health closely connected.

Strengthening rural healthcare could therefore play an important role in reducing inequities for whānau Māori, particularly where kaupapa Māori and locally delivered services are part of the solution.

Hauora Taiwhenua wants rural health to be treated as a core election issue rather than something addressed after wider health policies have already been designed.

The challenge to political parties is increasingly straightforward.

How will they increase the rural health workforce?

How will they ensure funding reflects the actual cost of delivering healthcare outside major centres?

And how will they guarantee rural communities can access essential healthcare regardless of their postcode?

For rural Aotearoa, those answers could determine whether the next government begins closing the health divide — or allows it to become even wider.

Because when somebody needs healthcare, distance from a major city should never determine the standard of care they receive.

#RuralHealth #HauoraTaiwhenua #FionaBolden #Election2026 #Hauora #RuralNZ #RuralCommunities #HealthWorkforce #Healthcare #HealthEquity #MaoriHealth #HauoraMaori #Whanau #PrimaryCare #RuralHospitals #HealthFunding #HealthPolicy #NZHealth #Aotearoa #NZPolitics #MaoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post RURAL HEALTH LEFT BEHIND: ELECTION CALL TO END AOTEAROA’S HEALTHCARE POSTCODE LOTTERY appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi is issuing a blunt warning to whānau Māori ahead of Election 2026 — enrol, turn up and vote, or risk returning a Government he believes has continued to undermine Māori rights, institutions and wellbeing.

Waititi says Māori cannot afford to sit this election out, with major political battles now emerging over Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the future of the Waitangi Tribunal, public services and the economic pressures facing whānau.

His warning is direct — without Māori participation at the ballot box, the country could end up with these clowns again.

It is characteristically uncompromising language from the Te Pāti Māori co-leader, but behind it is a serious political message: Māori electoral participation matters, and every vote will count on 7 November.

Waititi’s concern comes as ACT leader David Seymour proposes one of the most significant changes to the Waitangi Tribunal since it was established.

ACT wants to end the Tribunal’s jurisdiction over contemporary Crown policy and conduct, restrict its work to eligible historical claims lodged by 1 September 2008, and ultimately disestablish the Tribunal once those claims are completed.

The proposal would mean Māori could no longer take new contemporary claims to the Tribunal alleging current Crown actions breach Treaty principles.

ACT argues elected governments and Parliament should determine public policy, with future rights disputes dealt with through the ordinary courts and legal system.

For Waititi, however, the policy forms part of a much wider political pattern.

He is concerned Government parties continue to denigrate Māori and challenge institutions and mechanisms that provide Māori with a voice in the relationship between tangata whenua and the Crown.

The argument is therefore bigger than the future of one institution.

It goes directly to competing visions of Te Tiriti, tino rangatiratanga, Māori political power and the constitutional future of Aotearoa.

Waititi’s message to whānau is that anger alone will not determine the next Government.

Votes will.

For Te Pāti Māori, mobilising Māori voters will be critical both in the seven Māori electorates and through the party vote.

Waititi is effectively challenging whānau who disagree with the direction of the Government to translate that opposition into political participation.

Because regardless of protests, social media engagement or public debate, Parliament is ultimately determined by the people who enrol and cast a ballot.

That makes turnout a political weapon.

Waititi has also turned his attention to the major failures revealed inside the Ministry of Social Development.

An internal review found 16,270 New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension clients had Winter Energy Payments wrongly suspended.

The first internal query about the problem was raised on 30 April, just two days after Winter Energy Payments began, yet senior leadership was not made aware of the full issue until 13 August.

The same review found serious problems with the Confirming Your Circumstances process.

MSD had underestimated the amount of work required. Only around 46 percent of reviews were submitted digitally and about 80 percent required staff assessment or processing, contributing to a backlog that resulted in some people having payments suspended before MSD had processed information they had already supplied.

MSD subsequently identified 2,460 main-benefit clients and 11,990 supplementary-assistance clients affected by processing delays, although there is overlap between those groups and the figures cannot simply be added together.

Estimated arrears reached $850,000 for main benefits and $1.7 million for supplementary assistance.

For Waititi, failures such as MSD’s are not abstract administrative problems.

When government systems fail, the consequences arrive directly in households.

A suspended payment can mean less money for kai, electricity, petrol, medication or housing at a time when many whānau are already struggling with the cost of living.

MSD has restored entitlements, paid arrears and apologised to affected clients. Its own review acknowledged that some people did everything required of them and still had their payments suspended.

That adds another dimension to Waititi’s election message.

The debate is not only about constitutional issues and Te Tiriti.

It is also about whether the machinery of government works for ordinary whānau.

The competing political positions could hardly be clearer.

ACT is campaigning to dramatically reduce the future role of the Waitangi Tribunal and ultimately close it once qualifying historical claims are completed.

Te Pāti Māori is campaigning for greater Māori political power, tino rangatiratanga and a stronger place for Te Tiriti in the constitutional future of Aotearoa.

Waititi’s argument is that whānau cannot simply watch that contest unfold.

They have to participate in it.

His language may be provocative, but the underlying arithmetic of an election is simple.

If whānau want a different Government, they first have to enrol — and then they have to vote.

#RawiriWaititi #TePatiMaori #Election2026 #MaoriVote #EnrolToVote #Vote2026 #MaoriPolitics #TeTiritiOWaitangi #WaitangiTribunal #TinoRangatiratanga #ManaMotuhake #MaoriRights #DavidSeymour #ACTParty #MSD #WinterEnergyPayment #WorkAndIncome #Whanau #Kaumatua #CostOfLiving #GovernmentAccountability #Aotearoa #NZPolitics #TeAoMaori #MaoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post WAITITI’S ELECTION WARNING: ENROL, VOTE — OR WE COULD END UP WITH THESE CLOWNS AGAIN appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

A first-of-its-kind initiative at the Manukau District Court is putting the wellbeing of tamariki and whānau at the centre of what happens when a parent faces imprisonment.

Pillars Ka Pou Whakahou CEO Tuhi Leef says the organisation’s new Kaiwhatu Kura Whānau pilot has been designed to support children and families affected by parental imprisonment and help interrupt cycles of intergenerational harm.

The initiative recognises a reality often hidden behind sentencing and imprisonment — when a parent goes to prison, the consequences can extend well beyond the person being sentenced.

For children, parental imprisonment can bring sudden disruption to everyday life.

Whānau may have to deal with changes in caregiving arrangements, housing, income, schooling and relationships, alongside the emotional impact of losing the day-to-day presence of a parent.

Pillars Ka Pou Whakahou has long focused on children and whānau affected by imprisonment, and the Manukau pilot brings that support closer to the point where the justice system and whānau intersect.

Rather than waiting until families are already struggling with the consequences of imprisonment, the initiative is intended to identify and support affected whānau through the court environment.

Leef says the kaupapa is ultimately about breaking cycles of intergenerational harm.

That means recognising tamariki as people with their own needs rather than treating them simply as an extension of the person appearing before the court.

The consequences of parental imprisonment can continue long after sentencing, particularly where families are already experiencing financial pressure, unstable housing or other challenges.

Early and appropriate support provides an opportunity to reduce that disruption and strengthen the whānau around the child.

The Kaiwhatu Kura Whānau pilot represents a shift towards looking at the wider consequences of imprisonment as they happen.

Its location at Manukau District Court is significant, bringing the service into an environment where families can be confronted with major and sometimes immediate changes to their circumstances.

The approach does not remove accountability for offending.

Instead, it asks another question alongside it — what happens to the tamariki when their parent goes to prison?

That distinction matters because children are not responsible for the actions that bring a parent before the courts, yet they can carry some of the longest-lasting consequences.

The initiative also has particular relevance for whānau Māori given the impact imprisonment can have across generations.

Supporting tamariki means considering the wider whānau around them, strengthening connections and ensuring children do not become invisible as adults navigate the justice system.

For Pillars Ka Pou Whakahou, intervention at this point creates an opportunity to help families navigate what can be an enormously difficult transition while protecting the wellbeing and future of their tamariki.

The Manukau pilot could also provide lessons for the wider justice system.

If early support can reduce the harm experienced by children, strengthen whānau and help prevent another generation becoming caught in cycles of disadvantage, the benefits extend beyond an individual court case.

It turns the conversation from simply responding to imprisonment towards preventing its consequences from being passed from one generation to another.

A parent may receive the sentence — but their tamariki should not have to serve one alongside them.

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Untreated hearing loss is emerging as a major health, social and economic issue, with new research suggesting it is costing New Zealand more than $1 billion every year.

New Zealand Hearing Industry Association CEO Barney Irvine says hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders are living with untreated hearing loss, with consequences extending well beyond simply struggling to hear.

The research points to lost workplace productivity, poorer health outcomes and increased social isolation as part of the wider cost being carried by individuals, whānau, employers and the country.

Hearing loss can gradually change how people participate in everyday life.

Difficulty following conversations can affect relationships, employment and participation in community activities, while people may begin withdrawing from situations where communication becomes difficult.

For older New Zealanders in particular, untreated hearing problems can contribute to isolation at a time when maintaining social connections is increasingly important.

Irvine says the findings demonstrate hearing health needs to be considered as part of the wider health system rather than treated as an issue people simply have to live with.

The research estimates untreated hearing loss is costing the country more than $1 billion annually, bringing the economic consequences of hearing health into sharper focus.

Lost productivity can occur when people struggle to communicate effectively in workplaces, experience difficulty performing particular tasks or leave employment earlier than they otherwise might.

But the cost extends beyond employment.

Poorer health outcomes and social isolation can create additional pressure across health and community services, meaning delaying hearing support can ultimately shift costs elsewhere.

One of the challenges is that hearing loss can develop gradually.

Unlike an injury or sudden illness, deterioration may occur over years, with individuals adapting their behaviour without immediately recognising how significantly their hearing has changed.

Family members, friends and colleagues may notice the signs first.

That makes early identification important, particularly as New Zealand’s population ages and the number of people experiencing hearing difficulties is expected to remain a significant health issue.

The findings also raise questions about how easily New Zealanders can access hearing assessments, devices and ongoing support.

Cost can become a barrier for some households, particularly when hearing assistance competes with housing, food, power and other everyday expenses.

For Māori and people living in rural communities, geographical access and existing health inequities can create additional barriers to diagnosis and treatment.

Ensuring people can access hearing healthcare earlier could therefore deliver benefits well beyond the individual.

The billion-dollar estimate changes the way the hearing-loss debate can be viewed.

This is not simply about whether somebody can hear the television or follow a conversation.

It is about participation in employment, connection with whānau, independence, health and the ability to remain actively involved in society.

And if untreated hearing loss is already costing Aotearoa more than $1 billion annually, the question for policymakers is whether investing earlier in prevention, testing and treatment could ultimately cost the country considerably less.

Hearing loss may happen quietly — but its impact on whānau, workplaces and the economy is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

#HearingLoss #HearingHealth #BarneyIrvine #NZHearingIndustryAssociation #HearingCare #Hauora #HauoraMāori #HealthEquity #PublicHealth #HealthyAgeing #Kaumātua #Whānau #SocialIsolation #WorkplaceHealth #Productivity #HealthCosts #Accessibility #Disability #RuralHealth #NZHealth #Election2026 #Aotearoa #MāoriNews #NZNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post THE SILENT BILLION-DOLLAR HEALTH CRISIS: UNTREATED HEARING LOSS COSTING AOTEAROA appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.