Yesterday Andy Tookey took his daughter to Parliament with a 1600 signature petition. They appeared before the Health select committee to promote Jackie Blue's Human Tissue (Organ Donation) Amendment Bill which seeks to prevent family members overriding the wishes of those who have indicated they want to be donors.Last night I caught a snippet of Tariana Turia addressing Mr Tookey, whose daughter will need a liver transplant by age 10. Her words went something like, you seem to have no regard for Maori cultural sensitivity...and spirituality. Mr Tookey more or less nodded his agreement.
Here is a man fighting for his daughter's life and Turia is banging on again about Maori cultural sensitivity.
This is what she previously said about the bill, which the Maori Party will not support;
Many Māori are uncomfortable with organ donation following death. The tüpāpaku is tapu. To interfere with it in any way is abhorrent to our
culture.
Many Maori are in need of organs. If a family member wishes to donate one is that taboo? Would they turn down a Pakeha organ? Does Tariana really speak for all Maori?
If an individual wants to donate their organs NOBODY has the right to override their wishes.
I apologise in advance if I have offended some readers for not showing regard for Maori cultural sensivity. My values are respect for the wishes of the individual and the preservation of life.
6 comments:
Good blogging
Thanks for your support. I had to bit my tounge as I did not want to get into a slanging match at the time, as it was not the time and place to do it.
Though I wish I had brought up the fact that Maori want the penny and the bun, they don't want to donate but are happy to receive... What wasn't shown was me arguing the case that it is not compulsory, Maori can go on the register or not.
2 otherpoints which now I wish I had come up with.
At the forst reading of the government bill Tariana said: "The House is not the place to enter into negotiations about either spiritual or cultural philosophies, values, and attitudes" Tariana Turia Human Tissue Bill first reading. (Hansard)
(though she was happy to bring it in at this stage.)
The other interesting thing is that not one Maori organisation.Maori health provider has made a submission on the bill. Not one! I take that to mean that they are not that unhappy about it enough for them to put pen to paper.
Andy, It is an absolute nonsense for an MP to say, "The House is not the place to enter into negotiations about either spiritual or cultural philosophies, values, and attitudes" That is what political debates are all about. That's what political parties are formed on. Maori don't have a monopoly on cultural philosophies, values and attitudes.
I think you handled Tariana very graciously. And thanks for letting us know that not one Maori Health provider has made a submission. It is my belief that the Maori Party want to shape Maori ideas - not represent them. I have yet to meet a Maori who voted for them.
I heard you talking to Danny Watson. Try tuning in to Radio Live at 1pm . I'd be surprised if Willie Jackson and John Tamihere don't discuss this.
Will listen in, I flick between channels.
Your site is the first to know about no Maori submissions.
Tariana was grumpy that none had made any. Submissions are now closed but i'm told if people want to make a submission even now it may sneak in, wouldn't surprise me if if a few'health providers'weren't 'instructed' to make a late submission now
I stopped listening to Turia the day she said Maori are the only people who have nowhere else to go.
Hell she hasn't even visited Taiwan yet has she?
My organs are already under the supervision of someone else in the event of my death to prevent others deciding what to do with them.
That person will decide who gets what based on what he thinks I would want.
I am sort of on the fence, I am Maori, English, Irish and scottish, I am proud of being a NZer. I give blood and am also a donor, I am happy for my organs to be transplanted in the event of my death, but then on further reflection, I thought about my husband and children and if when they die how I will feel if they were 'incomplete' in their coffins. Although I wouldnt be able to tell the difference...I will know. Grief is a complicated feeling, and maybe organ donation makes it more complicated at that time.
Even though I can empathise with Mr Tookey and the situation he is in, please realise (Brian Smaller) that organ donation is an individual decision, you can not expect someone to give you something just because you need it. Its not a matter of cultural sensitivity, Maori may or may not give organs, but their reasons (whether cultural, spiritual, or family orientated) are individual, and surely they should not have to justify them to strangers.
SOME FACTS TO THINK ABOUT....
Maori receive disproportionately lower rate of transplants despite comprising approximately 30% of the total population on dialysis.
There has been an increase of 46% in 2003 to 49% of live donors in 2005 and an increase in NZ Pakeha transplantation, from 65% to 89% within the same time period; however, NZ Maori transplants have decreased from 14% to a mere 3% in 2005 (ANZDATA, 2006).
A MERE 3% OF Maori ARE GETTING TRANSPLANTS COMPARED TO 89% OF NZ PAKEHA!!!!!!!!!!
is that equality??? 3% vs 89%.???.
There is a problem with this in Maoridom, but not only from a Maori Perspective. Many ICU staff do not know how to ask Maori for organs, or are scared to ask? Is that the Maori families fault?
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