Andrew Dickens: I'm truly confused over Dr Anthony Jordan's resignation from Pharmac

Andrew Dickens Afternoons

I have always avoided getting into the Treaty principles debate.

It’s just too much of a swamp to get trapped in.

Either you’re for David Seymour's debate on a reset, in which case some will call you a racist.

Or you’re against a select committee debate means the racists will call you a wokester.

Both of which are gross exaggerations of what’s really going down, so it’s best to just avoid it.

However, with the resignation of Dr Anthony Jordan from the Pharmac board, I find myself truly confused.

Dr Jordan quit over the Government's treaty directive. David Seymour told Pharmac it was inappropriate for the agency to keep considering the Treaty of Waitangi in the health sector.

Dr Jordan said he "could not with good conscience" continue to work for the agency following that direction.

But as an outsider, I can’t understand how the treaty was factored into Pharmac’s decisions.

If ever there was an agency that’s work was based on need, it’s Pharmac. Everybody gets sick, everybody needs medicine. Pharmac’s job is to decide what medicines work for New Zealand.

While it’s true that Māori get some illnesses more than others it’s still a need. If that need is great enough it may get funded.

It’s a bit like the belief that the Māori Health Authority and Te Whatu Ora’s setup meant that Māori received priority in healthcare. It’s a factor to be looked out for in identifying need but at the end of the day nobody jumped the queue. Once your need is identified you join a raceless list based on priority.

But Dr Anthony Jordan has now resigned, and I wonder if he’s ever considered that this will have more effect on Māori seeking equitable healthcare results from Māori than David Seymour's war on Treaty principles.

Dr Jordan is, by the way, the partner of a Labour MP and his resignation smacks to me more of political virtue signalling than standing up for Māori in the healthcare system.

The question for Dr Jordan is: Was it better to be fighting for Māori inside the tent or sitting around outside the tent moaning and achieving nothing at all?

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