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The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill aims to promote a national conversation. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) responds by reaffirming our commitment to te Tiriti o Waitangi and partnership with Māori as tangata whenua in Aotearoa New Zealand.

We urge the Government to drop the bill, which it has no intention of passing. The conversation risks creating both division and distraction from the important work of ensuring pae ora for all and addressing the current inequities in health.

We firmly believe that ethnicity is established by evidence as a strong identifier of need and this is supported by a wide range of evidence showing the link between ethnicity and life expectancy, access to care and health outcomes. ��ż���acknowledges that Māori currently experience a range of poorer health outcomes and face obstacles to care including systemic barriers and structural racism.

Inequities in health are particularly evident across a range of women’s health areas. The Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee has chronicled poorer outcomes for Māori across its 15 reports. Māori, Pacific peoples and Indian populations experience worse outcomes than those of New Zealand European ethnicity. And the Fifteenth Annual Report of the Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee provides the stark fact that “Wāhine Māori were 2.91 times more likely to die by suicide as a direct result of maternal mortality than women of New Zealand European ethnicity in the 2006–2020 period.” ��ż���has been a partner in development of the recommendations and has championed them. It has become clear that improvements in outcomes for wāhine, pepī and whānau will not happen unless foundational inequities are addressed.

The health community has worked hard over recent years to address systems that have disadvantaged and Māori and other ethnicities, and to enact the commitments of te Tiriti o Waitangi. ��ż���is disturbed to see doctors and health providers criticised for prioritising the needs of Māori. Equity of health for wāhine and whānau Māori requires significant focus, new approaches, and the effort of the whole health system and all who work in it.

RANZCOG, as the organisation responsible for training and ongoing professional development of obstetricians and gynaecologists in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, is committed to developing the workforce to reflect the populations it serves, and to including cultural safety and health equity in our training curriculum and programmes.

��ż���will continue to focus on health equity through implementation of our Te Rautaki Māori me te Ara Whakamua – our Māori Strategy and Action Plan, and will also continue with our own journey to foster the use of te Reo Māori and enacting partnership in our committees and ways of working.

��ż���is committed to continuing the journey towards equity and to improving health outcomes for Māori. We call upon the Government to stop the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, and to ensure that our health system enacts the commitments of te Tiriti o Waitangi and focuses on equity of health in Aotearoa.

For media enquiries

Bec McPhee
Head of Advocacy & Communications
bmcphee@ranzcog.edu.au
+61 413 258 166