PĀNUI PĀPĀHO / MEDIA RELEASE
Monday, March 10, 2025

 

The Government’s decision announced Friday to unceremoniously dump the South Island Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency, resulting in hundreds of job losses and upheaval for thousands of whānau, is “destruction of Whānau Ora by stealth”.

Late on Friday afternoon, dozens of staff at Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu and more than 80 partner organisations throughout the South Island learned that the government had rejected the agency’s bid to continue Whānau Ora commissioning services after 10 years at the helm.

Just last year, the agency was told by the Chief Executive of Te Puni Kōkiri, which oversees the Whānau Ora contracts, that their unique and proven approach was the preferred model for the delivery of Whānau Ora commissioning services.

“We are shocked and utterly devastated,” said Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu Pouārahi, Ivy Harper, “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.”

Harper said that instead of focusing on attending to consistently documented policy failures, the Government and Te Puni Kōkiri had chosen to tamper with a social investment model that was not broken.

“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 the Government had significantly changed the goalposts within the tender process, which was announced without warning in August 2024. The focus had essentially shifted from a model driven by whānau aspirations to a range of targeted government services, she said.

Te Puni Kōkiri highlighted this shift in a notice published the day after the late Dame Tariana Turia, the architect of Whānau Ora and the first Minister for Whānau Ora, was buried.
“It took less than 24 hours for her legacy to be trampled on.”

Hina-i-te māra Moses-Te Kani, Co-Chair of Te Taumata, the iwi shareholder council of Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu, said the southern agency had operated with integrity and efficiency for 10 years and, together with iwi, whānau and partners and Navigators, had made huge inroads.

As just one example, an independent study in 2023 found that returns from Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu’s flagship Wave investment stream had seen whānau shift from state dependency and subsistence living towards independence and wealth creation.

Whānau who participated in Wave initiatives studied that year also reported higher life satisfaction than the general Māori population.

“Our data shows clearly that our model, which places whānau at the centre, not as an add-on, and allows whānau to decide what is best for them, supports an improved space and with a fraction of the spending allocated to traditional agencies.”

Moses-Te Kani said the decision by the Government to burn it all down and start again would be felt across the South Island for years to come.

“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.”

Decision flies in the face of evidence
Harper said the irony of the decision by Te Puni Kōkiri to remove Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu together with the original North Island and Pasifika commissioning agencies, was that successive reviews had found that Whānau Ora has been successful for tens of thousands of whānau, including an audit by the Auditor-General in 2015 and a 2018 ministerial review.

However, the same reviews demonstrated that a significant shift towards supporting or implementing whānau-centred services from the public service had not occurred.

In 2023, the Auditor-General issued a directive, saying public sector processes and practices needed to change to better respond to the interrelated aspirations and needs of whānau to achieve the best outcomes. The same report noted that the public sector had made little progress supporting Whānau Ora and whānau-centred approaches.

A more recent report from the Auditor-General, issued in November last year, noted that Te Puni Kōkiri planned to enhance the use of data to measure results and improve reporting to better demonstrate the value of Whānau Ora as a social investment.

Still, it chose to overlook more than 17 evaluations of Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu that demonstrate this value.

“We have been a leader in social investment approaches, backed by significant data and research, and have established strong, enduring partnerships with whānau, hapū, iwi, marae and other community organisations that stretch to the very edges of Te Waipounamu.
“For Te Puni Kōkiri and the Whānau Ora minister to overlook the strength of this established network is devastating,” Harper said.

“Our hearts go out to the many whānau in Te Waipounamu impacted by this decision who may never get the opportunity to realise their dreams and aspirations.”
Moses-Te Kani said the organisation’s focus in the coming days was on the many people impacted.

“The power of Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu has always been our people and their commitment to whānau. Our priority now lies with our incredible kaimahi, iwi stakeholders, Partners, the huge network of Whānau Ora Navigators and the whānau we all serve to ensure their well-being is central as we navigate the next steps.

“But we also want to send a strong message to whānau: we now know what it means to place our whānau first, how to live with hope and build resilience. As a people, we have the capability, and we will rise from this; we will be even stronger in our beliefs because, whether we have the belief of the Government or not, we know Whānau Ora works.

“Kahurangi Turia’s message to all of us was simple: no-one may dictate the ideal path for a whānau besides that whānau themselves. Her belief in whānau being able to define their own solutions was unwavering,” Moses-Te Kani said. “We must never forget this.”

ENDS

 

CONTACT
Nicola Coburn E: nicola.coburn@teputahitanga.org M: 021 2595 166