Te Pāti Māori has announced a new policy that they say will strengthen protections for Takatāpui, backed by $200 million over three years.
A major move of the Mana Takatāpui policy would see an independent takatāpui-governed commission formed that will manage funding allocation, community-led services, monitor government delivery and have the power to hold agencies to account.
Co-leader Rawiri Waititi says they are launching the policy “into an attack”, highlighting the Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill which proposed definitions of women and men based on biological sex, excluding gender identity and not expressly addressing intersex people.
“A bill that tells our takatāpui and trans whānau that their own understanding of themselves is up for a vote. That is homophobia,” Waititi says.
MP for Tāmaki Makaurau, Oriini Kaipara, says the policy will strengthen protections against discrimination, including “harm driven through political, legislative, or religious campaigns”.
“We will amend the Human Rights Act so that gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics are explicitly protected grounds”, she says.
Kaipara listed additional areas that funding will flow into, including cultural leadership pathways.
- Education: Kaupapa Māori programmes and training made available for educators to prevent bullying and exclusion, and supported pathways to te reo Māori and tikanga fluency.
- Housing: Investment for Takatāpui-led housing solutions and those experiencing homelessness or unsafe conditions.
- Healthcare: Gender affirming kaupapa-Māori healthcare within the public health system, including hormone therapy, primary and specialist care, accessible pathways to surgery, and investment into the workforce needed to deliver the care.
- Mental Health: Kaupapa Māori, takatāpui-led mental health, suicide prevention and crisis support services.
The party plans to gather the $200m from various portfolios; $100m from Health, $50m from Social Development, $40m from Housing and $10m from Vote Māori.
The funding would be ring-fenced and given annually through Te Puni Kōkiri without ministerial discretion over the “amount, timing, or whether it occurs”, and results will be publicly reported and independently audited.
“For too long, that authority has sat everywhere except with takatāpui themselves. This policy begins to transfer that authority back; it came from our own people,” says Waititi.
