Category: DJF

Hundreds of Pacific community members came together in Auckland last month for a free health screening event, delivered by ProCare and The Fono, supported by 14 health and social service providers.

The event brought proactive and preventative health services to the community and helped people spot and understand health issues early. The work is part of ProCare’s long‑running partnership with the 14 Healthy Village Action Zone (HVAZ) churches working together with aiga to boost long-term health and wellbeing, including the event host, St Therese Three Kings.

Families took part in health checks and screenings, including dental and blood pressure check-ups, blood sugar testing, and health education. Some people found out they may have undiagnosed conditions and now know what they need to talk to their GP about.

Dr Allan Moffitt, Clinical Director at ProCare and GP at The Fono, says taking services proactively into the community is key to improving access.

“Nearly 500 checks, tests and immunisations were delivered in a single day — that’s the power of meeting people where they are. When we take services into the heart of the community, we remove barriers, we build trust, and we make it easier for families to take that first step toward better health.”

Horticulture is a priority sector for WorkSafe because of its contribution to serious workplace incidents and injuries each year. Many of these involve vehicles, inadequate machine guarding, and exposure to hazardous substances. WorkSafe assessments play a key role in helping the industry improve practices and reduce harm.

Between July and September 2025, WorkSafe inspectors assessed 659 horticulture businesses across the country, including rural contractors. The focus was on high-risk activities such as working around vehicles, machinery, and chemicals.

Key findings

• Significant gaps were found in machine guarding and chemical management.
• 69% of businesses received guidance and practical support to strengthen their safety practices, and inspectors worked closely with others to help them identify and address hazards before someone gets hurt.

WorkSafe’s project lead, Carl Baker, says the scale of the assessments gave WorkSafe a clear picture of sector risks. 

“This was our most substantial focus on the horticulture sector in recent times. The industry, especially key sector groups, has been really willing to work with us. Ultimately, it’s about the sector working together, with WorkSafe’s influence to reduce harm.” 

However, he says while there’s been some improvement in attitudes toward health and safety, more needs to change. 

“I’ve been doing this for more than a decade, and I’ve attended scenes where people have sustained life-changing injuries because of insufficient machine guarding. It’s horrific for those injured, it’s horrific for their families, and it’s also horrific for businesses. 

“Part of the problem is a lack of awareness. People use unguarded machinery without issue, until one day there’s an incident. And that one day affects you for the rest of your life. It’s just not worth the risk.” 

Another area of concern was chemical management. Some assessments couldn’t be completed because paperwork was missing, leaving inspectors unable to verify risks.

“Up to 1,100 people die annually from diseases linked to work-related health, from things like chemical exposure earlier in their career,” Carl Baker says. “Safety data sheets and inventories are vital; they tell you how to manage chemicals and help emergency services respond. Without them, we don’t know the risks.” 

He stresses the assessments aren’t about fault-finding but sharing knowledge. 

“WorkSafe has tools like the hazardous substances calculator to help businesses meet compliance, for example identifying incompatible chemicals, signage, and fire extinguisher requirements.” 

Carl Baker says cooperation from organisations like Horticulture New Zealand was an important part of the success of the assessments. 

Its Chief Executive Kate Scott says worker safety is paramount. 

“Any injury is one too many. The findings show where guidance and practical tools can make a real difference. We’re using data to identify risks and develop industry-specific training and solutions.” 

Kate Scott says the sector is already working hard to improve health and safety, with Horticulture New Zealand and product groups providing targeted guidance and support to growers. 

“We’re aiming to reduce harm by better understanding the causes of injury and putting practical, workable solutions in place. That includes using data to identify risks such as sprains, cuts, machinery, weather exposure and hazardous substances, then developing training and tools to address them.” 

For more information

Managing your hazardous substances

Keep safe, keep farming toolkit

Safe use of tractors – fact sheet

Housing is failing to meet Māori and Pacific families’ needs in New Zealand, say University of Auckland experts Professor Deidre Brown and Dr Karamia Müller.

Housing prices have skyrocketed, leaving many Māori and Pacific people unable to afford their own homes, say Brown and Müller, who are directors of the University’s Māori and Pacific Housing Research Centre – MĀPIHI.

In 2023, only 16.8 percent of Pacific people and 27.5 percent of Māori owned their own home, compared with a national home ownership rate of 66 percent.

Cities have become increasingly gentrified, pushing Pacific people to the edges or outside cities, says Müller.

“Housing pressures are particularly intense in regions such as Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, Auckland, Northland, Oamaru and other parts of the South Island.

“Some regions have additional pressures from homelessness, some need more social housing, and some need more innovative options for home ownership,” Müller says.

Most houses in New Zealand have been designed with small, nuclear families in mind, say Brown (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) and Müller (Sāmoa).

Many Māori and Pacific families are larger and several generations often want to live together.

“Housing isn’t meeting the needs of Māori and Pacific people across the nation, sadly,” says Müller.

“Māori and Pacific people tend to live intergenerationally. They tend to find cultural resilience by living together – it’s mana enhancing.

“But the majority of the housing stock isn’t designed to enable and empower intergenerational living.”

Brown says one larger house is often needed to accommodate Māori whanau, and this can be more affordable than two or three smaller houses.

“Māori whanau thrive when they live as extended whanau.

“Much more flexible houses are required. The houses we have don’t accommodate larger families – they don’t have options like two kitchens, they don’t allow for people to come and stay for longer periods,” says Brown.

Pacific people have different values about the way buildings connect with the environment, Müller says.

“The issue isn’t just about the design of the houses, it’s about how housing is placed, what it connects us to in the environment and whether that’s a source of wellbeing or impacts our wellbeing negatively.”

Māori and Pacific design elements scarcely featured in New Zealand architecture until about 15 years ago, say Brown and Müller.

“Up until recently, more buildings than not have been what you would think of as Pakeha buildings.

“More recently, we’re seeing an emergent movement around Māori and Pacific design and architecture,” says Müller.

The discipline of Māori architecture barely existed when Brown began her postgraduate studies, so her mission has been to create one.

“I see Karamia and I and some others around Aotearoa as creating a contemporary architecture movement.

“We’re looking for transformational change in the built environment to meet the needs of Māori and Pacific people and New Zealanders generally,” Brown says.

The University’s School of Architecture and Planning focuses on training architectural students in placed-based design, says Brown.

“We encourage our graduates to draw on the environment – whether that’s the people or the whenua – to inform their design.”

In the past, public buildings, such as airports and hotels, often featured “tokenistic gestures” to Māori culture, says Brown.

“Now, we’re seeing architects and architectural designers incorporating Māori and Pacific concepts and the involvement of communities in co-design.

“These innovations make sure what communities want and need is reflected in the architecture,” says Brown.

Māori and Pacific design elements in buildings help reflect a sense that Aotearoa is a unique country, located in the Pacific, they say.

“Some people might say ‘why Māori and Pacific when we live in New Zealand?’, but these design elements actually speak to a wider New Zealand identity.

“Māori design elements in our architecture are unique to this whenua.

“They have been developed over almost a millennium by Māori people to reflect our relationships to nature and the way we live in this land,” says Brown.

Müller says most building materials these days come from overseas.

“With the increased globalisation of building materials, it is even more important to have Māori and Pacific design elements in the built realm, because the built realm is a mirror of who we are.

“It affirms and builds our sense of identity,” says Müller.