Te Poari rohe begins from Eketāhuna, and extends to Cape Palliser, bounded by the Tararua Range in the west and in the east from Rangiwhakaoma /Turanganui a Kiwa south to Turakirae Point. Our rohe includes a number of marae, as shown on our rohe map, five of which are designated ‘matua marae’ along with five rural towns and smaller rural communities. Masterton is the main provincial town of Wairarapa.

There is an estimated 8,169 Māori in our rohe, which is approximately 20 percent of the population of the Wairarapa. This is around 1.1 percent of the total Māori population of Aotearoa.[1]

[1] Te Whatu Ora (2023). Wairarapa Current State Report

There is an estimated 8,169 Māori in our rohe, which is approximately 20 percent of the population of the Wairarapa. This is around 1.1 percent of the total Māori population of Aotearoa.[1]

A detailed analysis of demographic information for our rohe is available from the University of Auckland.[2]

Evidence is clear that Māori bear the inequitable impacts of the socio-political and economic environments that drive adverse health and disability outcomes in Aotearoa, and it is no different for us in the Wairarapa.[3] For example, in 2012, life expectancy at birth for Māori in the Wairarapa was reported as 74 years compared with 81 years for Pākehā, a difference of seven years. Data from 2022 also tells us Māori in Wairarapa are 2.9 times more likely than Pākehā to have ‘poor’ self-rated health.

These health and disability inequities experienced by Māori (which are the differences between Māori and non-Māori and non-Pacific populations that are unfair and unjust) have been written about extensively by Māori scholars [4] and have been assessed by the Waitangi Tribunal as requiring urgent action.

While part of the work of Te Poari, and the task of this strategic plan, is to build and use the evidence base on inequities to create change; we also know (as Ta Mason Durie has said for decades) that these conventional measures are imperfect and “fail to capture Māori vitality or mauri”.[5] Like Ta Mason Durie, we recognise the importance of a holistic approach to health that incorporates Māori cultural values, identity, and community involvement and this too is reflected in this plan.

[1] Te Whatu Ora (2023). Wairarapa Current State Report

[2] You can access the full analysis here: fmhs.auckland.ac.nz/assets/fmhs/soph/epi/hgd/docs/dhbprofiles/Wairarapa.pdf

[3] Health Quality and Safety Commission, 2021

[4] Harris et al., 2019; King, 2019; Reid et al., 2019; Talamaivao, 2020.

[5] Durie (1998), p 139.