Hon Tariana Turia, Minister Responsible for Whanau Ora Pearls from her 6 May 2010 Speech to a large audience at Kingsgate Hotel Hamilton

In implementing whanau ora a seismic shift has taken place, Government has

i) signaled it will no longer be the defacto head of the family

ii) indicated that whanau ora is about long-term transformation of service provision which is expected to take place across a wide range of areas, in the drive to support whanau centred practice

iii) placed its faith in families by investing in the potential of whanau. iv) moved from defining families by the level of risk to instead being prepared to trust in their potential.

v) moved its focus to a strength based one of building and maintaining the capability of whanau to be self-managing. to take responsibility for their own economic, social and cultural development.

vi) shown that wellbeing is not about bricks and mortar - about buildings and corporate branding

vii) also stated that well being is not about categorising problems or taking a deficit approach to our families in the greatest need. It is about doing things differently.

viii) Confirmed that the “five cars up a driveway approach” indicating the number of Government agencies working with one family is to cease.

ix) acknowledged that some service providers already practice utilizing a whanau centred approach.