Report released 31 July 2024

All whānau have the right to achieve Te Ora o Te Whānau – that is, whānau who are thriving, culturally connected, living healthy lifestyles, and able to take ownership and responsibility. Current approaches prevent whānau from achieving what they have a right to achieve.

Pou Tangata understand this, hence the decision to embark on a journey across Aotearoa where iwi, hapū and whānau were able to share their stories and voice their concerns to provide the direction for developing a National Plan in order to achieve Te Ora o Te Whānau. The national hui provided an opportunity to wānanga collectively on the three focus areas hononga, mana ōrite and oranga.
What we heard:
The national hui produced key clear messages:
We must be the change-makers – Iwi Māori are the only ones who can determine what our future can and should look like;
1. A ‘by Māori, for Māori, with Māori’ solution still has some way to go when it comes to government policy and investment in resources to improve Māori wellbeing and addressing inequities in health, education, justice, training, and employment;
2. For too long, government agencies have been the authoritative voice on the status of our whānau wellbeing and this coloniality of power must change;
3. Scaling up the investment into our iwi, hapū and whānau needs to continue and ensure a devolution of resources for iwi, hapū and whānau to determine where investment should be given; however, Crown must be realistic in the expectation to address long standing trauma
and multi-generational impacts of colonisation while serving our whānau;
4. Mō tātou katoa: there is a responsibility on all of us, both as members of the collective; and individually, to support and facilitate intergenerational conversations to strengthen whānau connections and to foster whānau leadership. (From the Executive summary).

This report will illuminate the voices of whānau, hapū and iwi engagement, which started with the first Pou Tangata regional roadshow in mid-2022 and was followed by the National Hui in
November 2022.

Record #8938