The following concerns that I raise were covered formally in my submission to the Govt Inquiry. Fiona Green (from Business Crisis Support NZ) responds:
As an *Aspie, a Business/Mental Health/Disability Activist and a past consumer of our local Mental Health and Addictions Services, one of the things that was brought up at the Public Meeting by many of the Maori there including myself, was that we wanted mental health to be inclusive for all particularly in the area of race/ethnicity. This isn’t the case with some of the things I have read in the Executive Summary of the Report.
In my submission to the Inquiry I used my own lived experience to show that my needs as a Maori woman were met. In fact it was a Maori Mental Health nurse who told me, after I’d been admitted to Earnshaw Residential that I could go home and kill myself if I wanted to.
The ones who provided top notch healing for me were the multi-ethnic psychologists/psychiatrists for initial diagnosis, the Occupational Therapist who was Canadian, and my assigned Nurse who is a Kiwi.
The Govt Inquiry Report recommends mental health workers across the board take into account the Principles of the Treaty of the Waitingi, cultural alienation, and the impact of colonisation.
I need to set the record straight here as no one has corrected this. (If they have, they’ve been shutdown. I bet bullying and gaslighting techniques were used to prevent the truth coming out).
The Treaty of Waitangi is a land document. I am a direct descendant of the Treaty Makers and I stand by what I know according to our Hapu and traditional Ngapuhi tikanga.
My Mental Health and Addictions matters were caused through a range of factors leading up to and after the loss of my business. The impact of cultural alienation and colonisation, had nothing to do with my situation and the healing techniques applied by trained mental health professionals.
The Treaty of Waitangi principles had nothing to do with my situation either of business loss, the mental health impact, and healing I experienced.
In fact, I lost by business in the 21st century not the 1840s. If you want to know about the impact of Colonisation you need to interview the people that were around in the 1800s when the first settlers arrived in Niu Tireni (not Aotearoa).
All I cared about in 2017 was getting well. The last thing on my mind was the Treaty of Waitangi. I was trying to handle depression, anxiety, an adjustment disorder, as well as my progressive illnesses. The last thing on my mind was the Treaty of Waitangi. (By the way, my direct ancestors were the Treaty Makers).
Colonisation, Treaty of Waitangi, cultural alienation carry with them narratives that have been distorted to suit some seriously misinformed, misguided individuals who have only succeeded in making the general population think we Maori these days are victims and we are weak.
They have disempowered the Mana of the older generation because Maori are resilient.
I have had younger extended family members trample on my Mana regarding language, culture, and customs which I learned at my Grandmother’s knee and my Mum’s knee. (Mum was brought up by turn of the century kuia and kaumatua).
The ‘Final Report’ into Mental Health and Addictions has raised some pluses (you will need to see the Report yourself which is available online). In some instances, it’s a case of the blind leading the blind and it is disappointing that the plight of those experiencing business loss/failure has not been acknowledged.
* Aspie – person with Asperger’s Syndrome