The "standard story" of anti-Māori talk in Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill submissions

Abstract

Aim: To review some common patterns of race talk in a sample of submissions made to the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill. This bill proposed a structural reform of the health system in Aotearoa New Zealand to address long-standing health inequities experienced by Māori, the Indigenous peoples, and other priority populations. Method: In a sample of 3,000 individual submissions made in late 2021, we found 2,536 explicit references to race. Utilising the "standard story" frame of Pākehā/non-Maori race talk, five longer submissions that inferred that the Pae Ora bill was "racist" were analysed in detail. Results: Many "standard story" race discourses were identified in the Pae Ora submissions. Three derived discourses included in this paper are: Pākehā as norm (monoculturalism or not seeing Pākehā as a culture), equality and the "Treaty" (equality for all to access healthcare), and one people (we are all New Zealanders). Sources such as the Waitangi Tribunal Wai 2575 Hauora report were drawn on to provide alternative discourses. Conclusion: Identifying Pākehā standard story discourses enables learning about language patterns systems draw on, and the development of tools and procedures to improve equity for Māori and eliminate institutional racism.