Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu is parting ways with the Whānau Ora agency, Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu.
CEO Arihia Bennett says the rūnanga joined the agency in 2014 to advance Whānau Ora in the South Island and enable services. But Papatipu Rūnanga is now able to deliver those services to Ngāi Tahu on a regional level.
“We know they are really strengthening as they move towards the Māori Health Authority and new Pae Ora legislation that is going to come into effect in July.”
Bennett says Whānau Ora helped build better relationships between providers.
“Even though we leave the collective now, we still have strengthened our relationships with other iwi in Te Waipounamu, so we expect that to continue going forward.
"The essence here is about whānau rangatiratanga. It’s not a competition or anything and we’re all related to one another so we are looking forward to continuing that relationship.”