Officials were unable to tell MPs how many whānau are waiting to access Whānau Ora services or how long they are waiting, despite repeated questioning during a scrutiny hearing that reignited debate over how the programme measures success.
Waitlists and the quality of data used to assess Whānau Ora dominated Tuesday’s Māori Affairs Select Committee hearing, where Labour’s Whānau Ora spokesperson Shanan Halbert challenged Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka and Te Puni Kōkiri officials over growing demand for support.
“You can’t talk up your data set and then not tell the committee how many whānau are on the waitlist for providers across the country because it’s here and now that people care about,” Halbert said.
“It’s here and now that whānau need support where they’re doing it tough.”
Halbert said providers were reporting increasing demand from whānau seeking support through the cost-of-living crisis.
“They will tell you that they have a significant waitlist, that more whānau than ever are presenting to them needing specialist support to access the basic resources.”
The questioning came as Potaka highlighted what he described as the success of Whānau Ora 2.0, telling MPs more than 8,000 whānau had enrolled with Whānau Ora services since July last year and that there were now more navigators than under the previous model.
However, when asked how many people were currently waiting to access services, officials were unable to provide a figure.
“There is, from what I’m advised, there is a waitlist of whānau that will be engaged,” Potaka said.
When Halbert asked how many people were on that waitlist, officials said they did not have a specific number available.
After the hearing, Potaka acknowledged he had not been provided with the information before appearing before the committee.
“That’s not something that was immediately provided to me before I came into the room and of course I don’t want to get that wrong.”
Information later provided by Te Puni Kōkiri to Te Ao Māori News showed that as of 31 October 2025 there were 91 individuals who had been accepted into Whānau Ora but had not yet been allocated a navigator.
The agency also confirmed it does not collect information on how long people wait before being assigned a navigator, which regions have the longest waiting times, or what services people are seeking while they wait.
The issue was also raised by Te Pāti Kākāriki MP Huhana Lyndon, who questioned how the programme’s effectiveness could be properly measured without understanding the scale of unmet demand.
“Ko te pātai miriona tāra tērā ki te minita me ōna āpiha. He aha te roa o te tatari o te whānau kia kuhu ki roto i te kaupapa whakahirahira o Whānau Ora.”
Lyndon said she continued to hear from Whānau Ora workers that families were waiting for support.
“E rongo ana i ngā kaimahi o Whānau Ora, kei reira ngā whānau ki roto i ngā takiwā e tatari tonu ana.”
New data system ‘already paying dividends’
The hearing also covered how Whānau Ora’s success should be measured and whether previous versions of the programme had already proven their value.
This was also a key issue also covered in the last scrutiny week at the end of Decement 2025.
Potaka and Samuels defended changes made under the new commissioning model, arguing that linking Whānau Ora information to the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) was providing a clearer picture of who was accessing services and the challenges they faced.
“The investment into the IDI and the investment into the data capture is already paying dividends,” Samuels said.
Officials told MPs early data showed people engaging with Whānau Ora were significantly more likely to be seeking social housing, disengaged from education or employment, or facing other forms of disadvantage.
Potaka argued the new approach was giving the programme a stronger evidence base.
“Before it was a bit harder to actually understand that, calculate it, it was more anecdotal. Now we’ve got far more defensible, more credible evidence.”
The comments drew a sharp response from Labour’s Willie Jackson, who accused officials of downplaying the achievements of Whānau Ora under Dame Tariana Turia and the original commissioning agencies.
“So basically you are telling us today that Whānau Ora that came in 2014 (with the three commissioning agencies at the time) had been a failure until you came along,” Jackson told the committee.
Potaka rejected that characterisation.
“It’s not saying one point zero was a failure.”
“It’s saying one point zero was a fantastic foundation and start.”
Jackson remained unconvinced.
“He maha ngā tāngata i tino tautoko tēnei kaupapa Whānau Ora.”
He said previous reviews had already demonstrated the programme’s value and challenged suggestions it had lacked evidence.
“What a load of rubbish.” he said.
Jackson also questioned why Māori providers were required to meet increasingly stringent reporting requirements when mainstream agencies were not subject to the same level of scrutiny.
The clash comes as Samuels prepares to step down as Te Puni Kōkiri chief executive next month after more than six years in the role, with Dion Tuuta set to take over leadership of the agency.
Minister Tama Potaka and Dave Samuels along with other officials will be back in front of the Select Committee on Tuesday as they face futher questions over the Māori Development estimates.
