133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T+64 4 496 2000
9 August 2023
Grace Hadan
By email: [FYI request #23473 email]
Ref:
H2023029057
Tēnā koe Grace
Response to your request for official information
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) to Manatū Hauora
(the Ministry of Health) on 12 July 2023 for information regarding Manatū Hauora, Te Aka Whai
Ora (the Māori Health Authority) and Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand).
As you have been advised, information relating to operational decisions, budget allocations, and
operating models at Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand and Te Aka Whai Ora – the Māori
Health Authority are best answered by the respective agencies. Please refer to our
correspondence of 1 August 2023 for information regarding parts of your request that have
been transferred to their agencies pursuant to section 14(b)(i) of the Act.
The Ministry wil address the remaining parts of your request below.
“On the landing page of the ministry of health it states “Manatū Hauora in partnership with
Te Aka Whai Ora and Te Whatu Ora is developing a series of health strategies, which wil
set out our health service priorities and system improvements over the next 5–10 years.”.
According to past census only 3-4% of the population speak te reo Maori, of the
remainder the vast majority were educated here and have no idea what the words Manatū
Hauora ,Te Aka Whai Ora and Te Whatu Ora mean. Not one of those words is a company
or a statutory body, ie they are not legal entities nor legally defined yet. It appears that
these names have the responsibility for our health services. Please provide by way of OIA
the following:
-
The documentation which sets out the background to these names being created and
assigned, the consultation, costs and approvals associated with this
-
Documents which show how much was paid in consultation for the branding, for printing
of stationery and signage and promotion of the brands
-
Documents showing the basis and authority including accountability provisions to the
public on which these three undefined names can have legal responsibility for our health
system
-
Documentation to show who approved this expenditure and what official capacity this
person or persons held
-
Documents showing consultation with the 96% of the population who either do not speak
Māori or are not Māori as to their understanding and interpretation of these terms and an
explanation as to why the majority of the population is not catered for in the language
which we were educated in the NZ education system
-
During Covid we were told to trust the health ministry now this same ministry is
confusing the public by using non legal names... if due diligence cannot be performed as
to the identity and legal name of a government body how can we the public have
confidence that we are not being misled with regards to other matters. we require
transparency and legal names to be used why has this not occurred”
By way of background, al government departments are covered by the Crown’s commitment to
Maihi Karauna, the Crown’s Strategy for Māori Language Revitalisation 2019 – 2023. The
Strategy requires departments to develop and implement their own Māori language plans. The
Ministry’s legal name (as is listed in the Public Service Act 2020) is the Ministry of Health. The
Ministry also uses Manatū Hauora, which is the Māori translation for the Ministry. Akin to the
private sector, government departments can use a trading name instead of their legal name in
public facing domains. The te reo name has been in use since the Department of Health
became the Ministry of Health on 1 July 1993.
Parliament passed the Māori Language Act 1987, which established the Crown entity Te Taura
Whiri i te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Commission), which continues under Te Ture mō te
Reo Māori 2016 (Māori Language Act 2016) to promote the use of te reo Māori as a living
language and as an ordinary means of communication. It is a taonga (treasure) that government
works to protect. In line with this shift, most government agencies have taken steps to adopt te
reo Māori, including acquiring Māori names to use at their discretion alongside their English
name.
Government agencies’ use of other Māori terms, such as referring to the country as Aotearoa or
Aotearoa/New Zealand, has also been increasing in line with this broader use in society.
However, there is no specific government directive to use ‘Aotearoa’. The Ministry’s
correspondence and public communications include both versions of the name.
In response to your specific questions, Manatū Hauora has not rebranded in the past five years.
However as mentioned above, in 2021/22 Manatū Hauora made some minor updates to its
visual identity. This included updating the Ministry’s logo by swapping the positions of the
English version of the Ministry’s name and the te reo version. These changes were made in-
house at no cost. There was no public consultation on this change therefore under section 18(e)
of the Act, I am unable to provide you with documents relating to consultation.
Although there was no additional cost in the 2021/22 change, you may be interested in the
information on the brand that is publicly available in the June 2023 Health Select Commit ee
Questionnaire, which has been published on the Parliament website. Please refer to page 32:
eac25a98008a09dcf1feea41e1161e2d248b93f6 (www.parliament.nz).
I trust this information fulfils your request. If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request with
us, including this decision, please feel free to contact the OIA Services Team on:
[email address].
Under section 28(3) of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review any
decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be contacted by email at:
[email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
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Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Manatū Hauora website at:
www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases/responses-
official-information-act-requests.
Nāku noa, nā
Sarah Turner
Deputy Director-General
Government and Executive Services | Te Pou Whakatere Kāwanatanga
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Document Outline
