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ABSTRACT
AIM: This study examines how public health policy in New Zealand has represented the Treaty of Waitangi (the English version) and te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Māori text) between 2006 to 2016.
METHOD: A dataset of 49 public health strategies and plans, published between 2006 and 2016, were secured from the New Zealand Ministry of Health database. A thematic analysis using Braun and Clarke's process was undertaken and then the findings were reviewed against the Māori text of te Tiriti.
RESULTS: Twelve documents referred to either te Tiriti or the Treaty. Crown discourses were characterised as i) rhetorical, ii aspirational, iii) practical and/or iv) substantive. We present a matrix of Crown health strategy and plan discourses and analyse their relationship to te Tiriti.
DISCUSSION: Public health strategies and plans rarely address Treaty of Waitangi or te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations. This silence is inconsistent with legislative requirements to engage with the Treaty and health equity and is likely to inform health-related Waitangi Tribunal claims [WAI 2575]. Further work needs to be done to strengthen alignment of health policy to fulfil Crown obligations under te Tiriti.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Maori text) and the Treaty of Waitangi (English version) and the understandings that surround them constitute and codify the relationship between Māori and the Crown. Under international law the Māori text of te Tiriti, the text which reaffirms Māori sovereignty-absolute territorial authority-is the sole legitimate version of this founding document of the colonial state.1 In 2014 the Waitangi Tribunal2 ruled that Ngāpuhi (and by extension other Māori) did not cede sovereignty by signing te Tiriti, sparking renewed debate about its place in policy. This has been heightened in the health sector with preparations for WAI 2575, the health-related Waitangi Tribunal claims.
The relevance of te Tiriti to health is well-established, particularly in the work of Māori scholars, including Durie,3 Ramsden,4 Reid and Robson.5 This relationship is also established in law through the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act (NZPHDA) 2000, which requires the health sector to work towards eliminating entrenched health inequities between Māori and other New Zealanders. It expects the sector to engage with Treaty principles of partnership, protection and participation that were developed by the Royal Commission on Social Policy.6 As...