National will disestablish the Māori Health Authority. Māori health will be a strategic directorate inside the Ministry of Health. We will focus relentlessly on improving Māori health outcomes and the health outcomes of all New Zealanders.

National will devolve as much decision making as possible away from centralised Wellington and closer to the home and the hapu. We believe in localisation not centralisation.  

The National Party believes that employees in the public service should be treated in a fair and impartial manner, free from discrimination.

We will continue work to ensure that employees in the public service are being paid fairly for the work they do in delivering measurable outcomes for New Zealanders on the frontline, irrespective of their gender and ethnic background.  

A strong public and community sector that meets the needs of everyone and upholds te Tiriti o Waitangi is a vital part of a decent society. We will provide better support for public services and support people working in the public sector to understand their obligations under te Tiriti.

The Green Party will uphold te Tiriti throughout the approach of the public service, including by funding Māori organisations, iwi, hapū and marae to run community and environmental initiatives that meet the needs and aspirations of Māori.

We will support and strengthen these Kaupapa Māori approaches, which are vital in ensuring that the wellbeing of tangata whenua is prioritised and sustained.

We are proud of our record in delivering more equitable public services. We set up Te Aka Whai Ora, a significant step towards tino rangatiratanga in health and living up to the Crown’s obligations to Māori.

In education, we have walked the talk when funding Māori Education. That has seen money for new teachers and learning resources, investment in property, improved classrooms, new land for kura and much more.

In housing, we support by Māori for Māori solutions, like Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga.

We will continue our work to deliver public services that work for Māori, in partnership with Māori. 

National will focus the public service on delivering measurable results on the frontline for New Zealanders, including Māori, to ensure better health, education, and law and order outcomes.  

National believes that all New Zealanders, no matter what ethnic background they come from, should have access to New Zealand’s public services on the same grounds. 

National will ensure that the public service meets its obligations to deliver for all New Zealanders in an equitable, fair and impartial manner. 

Everyone has a right to safe, decent, and meaningful work.

The Green Party supports strong workplace protections, support unions to bargain for their members to deliver a better working life for all.

Where certain public services are devolved to iwi or other community organisations, the pay and conditions of workers are generally the responsibility of those organisations.

However, as a government we have worked to lift pay and conditions for all workers. We have increased the minimum wage, introduced fair pay agreements, increased sick leave entitlements and ensured that many public sector contractors are on the living wage.

We will always continue to look to improve working conditions for Māori and non-Māori in the public sector and beyond. 

National will focus the public service on delivering measurable outcomes for New Zealanders on the frontline.

In certain situations, this will mean that the public service will need to work alongside local government, private sector and iwi/ Māori organisations on the frontline to understand the needs of our communities and deliver results in an efficient manner for all New Zealanders.   

Colonisation and Te Tiriti o Waitangi breaches have caused inequitable systems and vast disparities for Māori.

The Green Party will:
Support recruitment policies to actively encourage Māori applicants, particularly in the public sector
Require workplaces to identify and address institutional racism in their recruitment, promotion practices and retention of workers

Support Māori-led work and business-related initiatives

Support and resource development of the Māori economy

Under our government, Māori unemployment rates have been at near record lows and this has been no accident. We have implemented targeted initiatives to improve Māori employment outcomes.

Initiatives like the Māori Trades and Training Programme, free apprenticeships, the Māori Employment Action Plan and backing by Māori for Māori employment programmes have seen great results.

We want the public sector to represent the people that it serves. That’s why our reform of the Public Service Act included requirements for Public Service leaders and the Commissioner to promote diversity and inclusiveness within their organisations.

Since 2016, we have seen an almost doubling of Māori in tiers 1-3 leadership in the public service, there is always more to do but we are starting to see the results of our mahi.