Fury over a stop to funding for wahakura that save babies – Maori Women’s Welfare League
The National President of the Maori Women’s Welfare League is appalled at the hypocrisy of a Government where one department proclaims children are taonga and another cuts funding to a programme that has helped to save babies lives.
This week it was revealed the Ministry of Health specified funding could not be spent on wahakura, the flax woven safe-sleeping device, that has just celebrated its 10th anniversary. The wahakura has done much to reduce the Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI) death rate of Māori babies.
The Maori Women’s Welfare League through its members have had a long association with this Māori initiative and the work of Whakawhetū, the national Māori SUDI prevention programme.
“There is no question that use of wahakura has helped reduce deaths,” the National President, Prue Kapua said. “Funding should be extended, not taken away.
“Research shows wahakura work – it embraces our traditional approaches to sleeping, while ensuring our tamariki are safe.
“It is devastating to see the Ministry of Health ignoring coronial recommendations from at least 12 inquiries.
“The Ministry of Health also appears to be taking an institutionally racist view to bed sharing, when it is clear wahakura address the risk while respecting cultural practices.
The Ministry of Social Development promotes the traditional Māori view of children as taonga who learn life’s lessons by living, sleeping and being cared for by the wider Whanau (Volume II of the Ministry of Social Development’s White Paper on Vulnerable Children).
“To use our traditional Māori view of children as the basis for the vulnerable children’s policy and then to ignore our cultural practices and needs by cutting funding for wahakura is sheer hypocrisy,” says Ms Kapua.
“The Government needs to overturn this decision and put more cash, not less, into wahakura and protect our precious babies,” Ms Kapua said.
HEARTLESS GOVERNMENT WE HAVE, SACK THEM ALL!!!
WITH YOU 100%
When I had my babies, it never occurred to me that anyone was responsible for providing for them (or keeping them safe) apart from my own immediate family. All baby gear was second hand or borrowed, then recycled to another family.
When I had my babies, it never occurred to me that anyone was responsible for providing for them (or keeping them safe) apart from my own immediate family. All baby gear was second hand or borrowed, then recycled to another family.
Patrice, this is all very well for you, but a society is better than
“I’m OK, so she’ll be right!”
Oxfam’s figures from 2014 are two years out of date: https://www.oxfam.org.nz/news/richest-10-kiwis-control-more-wealth-remaining-90
… and since then New Zealand has seen young people shut out of housing market, brown-skinned house ownership halved or more, people living in cars and garages, beneficiaries marginalised, prison population at its highest levels.
The victims of neoliberal “wealth distribution”, previously called “trickle-down”, are invariably brown-skinned kiwis more than any other.
Taonga need to be treasured, He waka eke noa
A canoe which we are all in with no exception
Well, the Maori Party sure are part of this National, ACT, United Future and Maori Party coalition.
They are collectively complicit and should take the brunt of this criticism, especially since it is Maori babies, or taonga who will suffer.
Time for Maori voters to send the message to the Maori Party that just having a seat at the “institutionally racist” neoliberal table of slash and burn social services, is NOT enough.
Taonga are taonga and not for sale for transient, expedient “baubles of power”.
“To use our traditional Māori view of children as the basis for the vulnerable children’s policy and then to ignore our cultural practices and needs by cutting funding for wahakura is sheer hypocrisy,” says Ms Kapua.
“The Government needs to overturn this decision and put more cash, not less, into wahakura and protect our precious babies,” Ms Kapua said.
Well said, Wha Left and btw, nice pseudonym , especially the bit about the Maori being part of the Government that Ms Kapua denigrates as part of the problem.
However, now that Tuku is in charge, I’m sure that the Maori Party will “pants” the coalition, get its nose out of the public trough, ensuring long-term survival over short term self-interest and look-the-other-way-do-nothing expedience politics.
Wha Left. 1000+++++
Why don’t you get a real left-wing and union advocate such as Willie Jackson to attack the Maori Party’s role in the coalition on behalf of “wahakura work – it embraces our traditional approaches to sleeping, while ensuring our tamariki are safe.”??