Gretta Carney (Te Atihaunui a Pāpārangi) is a talented, busy Māmā, who has dedicated herself to food, healing and health. Her mahi in the hauora space has centered around kai, with her taking on leadership roles with The Organic Catering Company, OANZ (Organic Aotearoa New Zealand) and Te Waka Kai Ora.
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MEDIA RELEASE | 19 March 2026
Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated (NKII) is proud to announce a formal commitment to work collectively with Hauora Māori service providers, regional Taiwhenua, PostSettlement Governance Entities (PSGEs), and the Tihei Takitimu Iwi Māori Partnership Board to advance the establishment of the Kahungunu Health Authority (KHA).
Since an initial announcement in September 2025, these parties have collaborated to bring clarity to how the KHA could operate as a separate, independent body designed to achieve better outcomes for whānau.
The KHA will be established to supplement, rather than duplicate, the work of the existing regional Māori health entities. While these entities work from within the public health system to support and deliver health services, and influence investment and accountability, the KHA sits outside the system.
This independence gives it strategic freedom to design and scale innovative models of care, partner with private sector operators, and mobilize iwi resources in a way the public sector system may be too risk-averse to adopt.
Bayden Barber, Chair of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Inc, emphasizes the need for this dual tiered approach.
“The health sector is in crisis, and our statistics continue to languish. By standing together with our regional partners, we’re creating a powerful political force grounded in rangatiratanga. NKII remains the constitutional voice for Treaty and cultural matters, while the KHA carries the technical expertise and political freedom to challenge the system and demand better opportunities and outcomes for our people.”
Central to this development will be a dedicated working group of twenty-five whānau members who expressed their commitment during recent wānanga to help drive the kaupapa forward. This group will ensure the design of the KHA remains rooted in the voices and aspirations of the people it serves.
Speaking on behalf of all parties, Tihei Takitimu Co-Chairs Kerri Nuku and Lewis Ratapu highlighted the critical importance of unity in the current climate.
“At a time when the rights and interests of Māori are being constantly challenged, kotahitanga is our greatest strength. We must move forward together to protect the health of our people. Our role will be to ensure the public system lifts its performance and remains accountable, while the KHA pushes the horizon of what’s possible from the outside. Together, we create a ‘productive tension’ that ensures the system never settles for ‘good enough’.”
The parties will work on a robust governance structure that harnesses the deep knowledge and networks of Hauora providers and PSGEs to ensure all voices are amplified. This unified front positions Kahungunu as a leader shaping the future of Māori health on its own terms.
Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated
Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated is a Mandated Iwi Organisation/Authority. Ngāti Kahungunu is the third largest iwi. Geographically the tribe has the second longest coastline in the country from Paritū in the North to Turakirae in the South. Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated maintains an independent position to provide research, advice and advocate for the interests, rights, values, beliefs and practices of Ngāti Kahungunu alongside our whānau and hapū. Our mission is to enhance the mana and well-being of Ngāti Kahungunu.
Tihei Takitimu Iwi-Māori Partnership Board
Tihei Takitimu is the Iwi-Māori Partnership Board for the Hawke’s Bay (Te Matau a Māui) region, mandated to improve health outcomes for Māori by shaping, monitoring, and influencing the design and commissioning of local health services. We are the authoritative voice for whānau ensuring government health agencies understand the inequities and barriers experienced by our communities and advising them on how they can be addressed. By connecting with local whānau and hapū to understand health needs, we aim to ensure the system better meets their needs and aspirations; assess performance against these; and guide improvements in the design and delivery of services.
Media Inquiries
NKII Chairman – Bayden Barber bayden@kahungunu.iwi.nz
IMPB Co Chairs – Lewis Ratapu lewis.ratapu@ttpb.maori.nz and Kerri Nuku nukuz@xtra.co.nz
Hawkes Bay Today | 13 Nov, 2025 06:00 AM
Kerri Nuku and Lewis Ratapu are co-chairs of the Tihei Takitimu Iwi-Māori Partnership Board.
We need to talk about what’s really holding back Hawke’s Bay, and it’s about the health of our people.
We know that healthy whānau (families) are the backbone of a strong region.
And our recent study, conducted in partnership with the Hawke’s Bay Regional Economic Development Agency (HBREDA) and NZIER, confirms a stark reality: when working-age Māori can’t access the care they need, our entire regional economy suffers.
This systemic inequity is costing our region a staggering $122 million in lost productivity every year, equivalent to over 1800 healthy workers being absent from our workforce annually.
This human and economic loss is concentrated in health conditions that primary care can and should prevent. Mental illness is the greatest burden, followed by cardiovascular disease and cancer. Most tragically, over 90% of this lost productivity – around $114.1m – stems from premature mortality. Our whānau are dying too early, largely because of systemic access gaps.
Key barriers include inflexible working hours in primary industries, preventing working-age Māori from attending routine appointments, and significantly lower screening coverage across all major cancers.
This low engagement with preventative care drives higher rates of acute hospitalisations and Emergency Department visits.
This evidence demands a fundamental “programme reset”: we must urgently shift investment to early-stage prevention and culturally-responsive care, particularly for mental illness in young people and chronic conditions in older workers.
The magnitude of this challenge cannot be met by working in silos. That’s why our strategy is built on the Māori principle of kotahitanga: unity, togetherness, and collective action. Kotahitanga means operating with one heart and one mind to achieve the shared vision of Pae Ora – healthy futures for all. It requires us to move past contractual boundaries and build authentic, trust-based partnerships where every sector is an invested partner in a unified effort.
We are humbled by the commitment of our collaborators. This collective includes our Hauora Māori providers, who are the trusted core delivering culturally safe, holistic care grounded in mātauranga Māori; local employers and business leaders, who are exploring workplace flexibility and worksite health service delivery; Post-Settlement Governance Entities (PSGEs) and iwi, who provide the strategic leadership for generations; and health leaders (Te Whatu Ora, PHOs), who are vital for shifting funding models and ensuring system accountability for whānau outcomes.
Translating vision to action
A highly successful cross-sector workshop resulted in 23 leaders from iwi, employers and health organisations agreeing on four distinct priority initiatives to develop and pilot:
Multidisciplinary Outreach Health Service: A collaborative, mobile health service delivering care directly to whānau at large employers and PSGE sites, offering “alternative access” for those with rigid working hours.
Health Promotion and Education Campaign: A localised campaign using trusted local faces and lived experience to drive early access, prevention, and activate health screening.
Whānau-led Innovation Platform: A mechanism for solutions to come directly from our people, functioning as a development platform where whānau can “hack a solution”, pitch it in a “Kina Den”, and secure partner funding for a trial.
Kahungunu Health Insurance: A long-term initiative to deliver a tikanga-based, hapū-driven health insurance programme, aiming to provide accessible, affordable coverage, including mental health and rongoā Māori (traditional Māori healing).
The $122m is not a cost we have to bear; it’s an asset we have the power to unlock through kotahitanga. By investing in these collaborative, whānau-led models, we’re not just investing in Māori health; we’re investing in the economic stability and social future of Hawke’s Bay for everyone. We look forward to your continued support as we work, in unity, to ensure Pae Ora is not just an aspiration, but the reality for every whānau in our region.
This is the work of a generation, and it has only just begun.
The Tihei Takitimu Iwi-Māori Partnership Board (IMPB) is urging the government to adopt a “programme reset” as a constructive alternative to the proposed amendments to the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022.
In a submission to the Health Select Committee, the Board argues that its current legislative functions in needs analysis, monitoring, and strategic commissioning are critical for driving local solutions that are patient-centred and responsive to whānau needs. The proposed amendments would be a “backward step” that disregards the significant progress already made and operational issues that could be quickly resolved. The Board’s submission highlights the unique position IMPBs have to address the disproportionate rates of high-priority health conditions and barriers to care faced by Māori. Rather than diluting the impact of IMPBs, the Board believes a reset would enable and catalyse success by leveraging the momentum and knowledge they’ve already established.
The proposed programme reset focuses on four key areas:
Tihei Takitimu has already built a new entity from the ground up, establishing deep capabilities and trusted relationships with whānau across the Te Matau a Māui/Hawkes Bay district.
Board Co-Chair, Kerri Nuku says that the trust Tihei Takitimu has established is linked closely to its direct influence and focus towards achieving better patient outcomes within the region.
‘A message we hear regularly from whānau has to do with how often they are surveyed and by different organisations asking the same things, without any real manifestation of change. With the IMPB’s their experience is different, especially with our mandate to influence better outcomes,’ she says.
The Board’s first Community Health Plan published last December consolidated important achievements and identified 23 priorities that matter to whānau. Due to some of the systemic and operational barriers these priorities are still waiting to be addressed, but the Board’s been able to build constructive relationships with the Regional teams focussed on planning, funding and outcomes, and has found some innovative workarounds to ensure whānau voice is heard.
As an example of its innovative approach, the Board collaborated with the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) and HBREDA to explore the links between health and productivity in the region.
The resulting report revealed that improving the health of working-age Māori could lead to a potential productivity gain of $122 million per annum and add 1,800 workers to the region. It also highlighted that working-age Māori are not accessing essential care early enough, leading to more serious conditions.
Co-Chair, Lewis Ratapu says that this type of localized, evidence-based approach is exactly what the IMPB is mandated to do: advise and determine where regional investments should be made. However, as the Minister says, we need to get the basics right, especially for delivery on the ground.
“We’re asking the Select Committee to consider the insights we have gained and approaches we have made, and enable and strengthen IMPBs like Tihei Takitimu to continue their regional work programmes, without either legislative or operational barriers that compromise better health outcomes for whānau.
“Without this dual national and regional focus, stark inequities in Māori health across Te Matau a Māui/Hawkes Bay will persist and the government’s intentions to put patients first will be lost.”
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The report, “Health and productivity opportunities: Assessing the economic value of addressing priority health conditions in Hawke’s Bay working-age Māori”, was commissioned jointly by Hawke’s Bay Regional Development Agency (REDA) and the Tihei Tākitimu Iwi-Māori Partnership Board.
Produced by NZIER economists Sarah Hogan and Tom Dunn, the report is thought to be the first in New Zealand to consider the critical links between Māori wellbeing and regional economic development. Māori make up 29 per cent of Hawke’s Bay’s overall working population and play a vital role in the food and fibre sector industries, along with regional recovery.
“The research shows that Hawke’s Bay’s working-age Māori aren’t accessing health care early enough, for a variety of reasons, which leads to more serious primary health conditions,” Lucy Laitinen, REDA’s CEO says.
“One of the reasons it’s so difficult for Māori to access health services is because they largely work in agriculture, forestry, and fishing with little or no flexibility in their working hours. They also earn less than the regional average. These are among the issues driving the relatively low use of preventative care which leads to the high rate of ED visits.’’
Tihei Tākitimu Iwi-Māori Partnership Board co-chair Lewis Ratapu says the report provides the wider community with a burning platform to think about and act differently in how health services to Māori are delivered. We need to invest more effectively and deliver services targeting mental illness and addiction, diabetes and cardiovascular disease so Māori can lead happier, healthier lives, provide for their whānau and continue to make a productive contribution to the local community.
Ratapu hopes the collaboration with REDA ensures health stays on the agenda for local regional leaders – the Matariki Governance Group – as it considers its priorities over the coming year. He noted the Regional Recovery Plan identified a need for 2,500 extra people to deliver the recovery programme over the next three years and with co-ordination needed to address current and future workforce requirements.
“We will be actively encouraging and facilitating a joined-up approach to addressing this issue, including exploring alternative health service models with large local employers, iwi, hauora Māori and health service providers and local and central government working together to trial different options for Māori that suit their needs, Ratapu says.
The research only further highlights the importance of Māori health to Hawke’s Bay’s future. This issue is not going to go away, especially as the working-age population of Māori is expected to grow to 43,540 within the next two decades.
Together as a community we have to improve Māori health now,” Ms Laitinen says.
We’ve started an A-Z Index which profiles many of our local providers, so that whānau can find out where to access the right services when they need them.
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We’ve started an A-Z Index which profiles many of our local providers, so that whānau can find out where to access the right services when they need them.
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The collection also explores the contrast between the bustling streets and the quiet, unnoticed corners of the city. It’s a celebration of urban life, highlighting the diversity, culture, and vibrancy that make each city unique.
