Speech to Te Arawa Whanau Ora Hui Owhata Marae, Rotorua

I want to firstly congratulate and celebrate with you, each of the organisations who have taken up the challenge and the opportunity to be involved in Whanau Ora:
• Korowai Aroha
• Arohamai Cancer Care
• Te Papa Takaro o Te Arawa
• Te Roopu a Iwi o Te Arawa
• Te Runanga o Ngati Pikiao
• Te Whare Hauora o Ngongotaha
• Te Kaahui Hauora Trust
• Te Utuhina Manaakitanga Trust
• Te Waiariki Purea Trust
• Tipu Ora Charitable Trust

If we just look at your names alone, we have represented within your collective the emphasis on trust, on hauora, on manaakitanga, on aroha, on growing up in the spirit of Te Arawa, on being embraced within the korowai of your people.

This is as close of vision of whanau ora as we could hope for.

I am often asked to describe what Whanau Ora is, and what it is that Whanau Ora will do.

Yesterday – in blazing heat - 1600 children in Wellington took part in the world’s largest sporting event for children, the Weetbix tryathlon.

Lining up amongst the masses was a nine year old Maori boy who up until a fortnight ago couldn’t swim and could barely stay on a bike let alone complete a four kilometre circuit.

In fact, truth be known he was the least sporty one in the whanau and his decision to enter had come completely out of the blue.

But with help from right across his whanau, he learnt to swim, he gained confidence on the bike, and yesterday, with his whanau cheering him on, he became the proud recipient of a Gold Medal.

In doing so he inspired his big brother to say next year, he’d join his teina and they could run the course together.

In that one story, there are all the factors of whanau working together to make the impossible happen, to create extraordinary outcomes out of every day situations. Doing it as whanau; working together for the greater good.

When I think about Whanau Ora it’s synonymous with transformation and innovation – transformation of the way we work with whanau and the innovation that will be needed for whanau to navigate their way towards improved outcomes.

The heart of Whānau Ora lies in building on whānau strengths and capability, growing whānau connections, supporting the development of whānau leadership and enhancing best outcomes for whānau.

It is, in brief, the most exciting opportunity to open the door, to come home to ourselves.

The poet T S Eliot, once said “And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time”.

In many respects the end of our journey of whanau ora will be in its essence another beginning, as whanau determine their destinies according to their aspirations and understanding their histories.

Providers will need to look for new ways of planning and delivering services which are whanau-centred.

I understand you were the first collective within Te Arawa waka to sign your Engagement Agreement with Te Puni Kōkiri, and commence development of your Programme of Action.

There is strength in numbers. But not only that, your collective approach means you have an integrated far-reaching capacity across a multiple range of social domains such as health, education, justice, social services and sport and recreation.

Woven into this is your very strong networks with marae, hapū and iwi.

All of this makes you a force to be reckoned with. This is what we need in Whānau Ora.

Right across the motu, what we have experienced is that at the heart of the Whanau Ora approach is relationships.

Relationships which are sustainable, constant and consistent will provide a vital foundation for moving forward.

It is important not to under-estimate the amount of time and energy necessary to build and maintain trust.

I want to just touch on a few areas which I imagine are already part of your conversations together.

Leadership across many levels – within whānau and its members, in hapū, iwi and communities – will be a critical success factor for Whānau Ora.

The strategic leadership roles of Regional Leadership Groups will contribute to the impetus, this will in turn be supported by the leadership of the Whānau Ora Governance Group.

The Te Arawa Whanau Ora Strategy developed by your Regional Leadership Group is unique to your progress - I look forward to learning more about the Strategy and how it has emerged from the principle focus of wellbeing of whānau within your rohe.

Whānau Ora has the potential to be ‘everything to everyone’.

For Whānau Ora to be successful, emphasis needs to be on priorities that have the biggest impact for whānau.

Critically, all of you need to think about how whānau can be involved in achieving best outcomes for themselves.

And finally, the key challenge for Whanau Ora is around capacity.

Your collective is impressive in terms of its capacity with more than 180 FTEs including doctors, registered nurses, social workers, counsellors, health promoters, managers, tutors, and community and youth workers. Your engagement as workers is an important first step in reconnecting whānau with each other and with their communities.

But vital to your success is the need for whanau capacity to be the driver and the guide to every step you take.

I know you have just spent the past two days in strategic planning to set the foundation for further developing your Programme of Action. I understand that your plans include strengthening relationships with providers and simplifying pathways so whanau are able to navigate smoothly to connect to services they need.

What I am really keen to know, is how have whanau across this rohe inspired your strategic planning; how will the Programmes of Actions demonstrate the steps to be taken, to achieve a future where our whānau are self-determining: living healthy lifestyles; participating fully in society and in Te Ao Māori; and are economically secure, cohesive, resilient and strong.

That’s just a start.

How can we ensure our whanau are educationally successful; that they understand health literacy – are able to take care of their own wellbeing? Most of all, what can we do, what can you do, to ensure they are the most powerful advocates for themselves?

And of course if I could be so bold, I would ask ourselves – all of us – how do we live our lives according to kaupapa and tikanga? For example, how do we demonstrate manaakitanga - behaviour that acknowledges the mana of others as having equal or greater importance than one’s own? What is our ability to express manaakitanga towards others, taking care not to trample the mana of others, while clearly defining our own?

Are we committed towards the expression of rangatiratanga – recognising and acknowledging the authority of whanau, hapu and iwi in our rohe? Is the conduct and activities of this collective, reflective of the attributes of rangatira – if not, how can we achieve this?

How will Whanau Ora promote whanaungatanga as the model for good collective arrangements between different parties?

What will Te Arawa Whanau Ora providers do to achieve consensus, to uphold kotahitanga as the principle of unity of purpose and direction?

Living up to the ideals of kaupapa tuku iho is not simple – but it is fundamental to the change we need. It is about the bigger picture, the collective good – and it is about having the courage to act in the best interests of our whanau.

I celebrate all of you for your decision to take up the greatest opportunity ever; to make Whanau Ora well within the reach of all our whanau; and I want you to know that in my mind, there is nothing more important that what you are all doing, right now. Tena tatou katoa.