RNZ reports:
Shane Reti: Life expectancy for Māori was 30 years in the 1840s but today it is around 73.4 years.
Willie Jackson: Shane is talking nonsense.
There have been enormous health (and other) gains for Māori over the past 100 or so years. I gathered them together in one document here.
Progress is being made but constant polemic-driven politicking and redundant reforms will not hasten it.
If Andrew Little's goal is to reduce bureaucracy to improve efficiency, why develop two separate health authorities? He too is flying in the face of reality.
Ultimately, the personal decisions individuals make about their own health will have the greatest impact on their longevity.
That should be the message to Māori and every other person of every other ethnicity.
