Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says a change in contracts for Whānau Ora is not a political hit job.
About 1000 people are reportedly in line to lose their jobs at the three Whānau Ora commissioning agencies after Te Puni Kōkiri negotiated new contracts with four agencies including Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Toa.
About 600 of the cuts were at the North Island's Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency (previously known as Te Pou Matakana) led by Te Pāti Māori's president John Tamihere.
Te Pāti Māori's co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer had said it was a political attack "on the very existence of Māori-led solutions".
Speaking to reporters at Parliament after the weekly Cabinet meeting, Christopher Luxon was questioned about the impression some may reach that Tamihere's organisation was being targeted as part of a political hit job.
"Well, it's not. it's entirely appropriate after 10 years that TPK (the Māori Development Ministry, Te Puni Kōkiri) makes an operational decision to change its commissioning agencies. It's not about an individual commissioning agency or, frankly, John Tamihere," he said.
"It's actually about making sure that those agencies deliver through their providers for their communities and we get the improved outcomes that we want to see in social services in general.
"It's a good thing."
He said the reallocation of the contracts was an operational decision for TPK, and it was entirely appropriate to focus on delivering outcomes for communities.
"The providers, they may be wired into existing commissioning agencies today, those commissioning agencies will change and it's entirely appropriate that they do - you know, it's a good call, I support that.
"But obviously those providers can connect back into those commissioning agencies ... there's an expectation that they deliver for their communities."
It was not the end of Whānau Ora, he said.
"No, absolutely not. We want Whānau Ora and we want Social Investment to be at the heart of what we're doing in our social services policy. You know, it's very simple for us ... I've seen some of the comments over the last 24 hours and there's nothing further from the truth.
"We want Whānau Ora to be powered up and actually to do really well."
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the contracts were "ultimately a matter for TPK", but it was important to have a clear transition plan.
"There are a lot of vulnerable families who rely on the support from Whānau Ora and I would hate to see that all thrown up in the air unnecessarily because they haven't managed a transition."
He said he had not personally looked into it but the contracts all changing at the same time seemed an "unusual move".
"Normally you'd look to stagger them, you'd look to manage a transition, but those are really questions for TPK. But were I on the other side of the fence looking at this from a minister's viewpoint, one of the questions I'd be asking of them is: why do it all at once and what is your transition plan?"
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