Pharmacists or Witchdoctors

Pharmacists or Witchdoctors

It seems that the Pharmacy Council has chosen for us that we will now have to have pharmacists with the skills of witchdoctors.

Pharmacists across New Zealand are upset over new cultural competency rules imposed by the Pharmacy Council.

"All pharmacists to be “confident to perform waiata tautoko,” a Maori support song, and to advocate for “giving effect to te Tiriti at all levels,” “prioritising Maori voices and trusting Maori intelligence.”

Pharmacists must also be familiar with Maori health models such as Te Pae Mahutonga, which, according to the Health Ministry, refers to the Southern Cross constellation.

Additionally, pharmacists are expected to explain the impacts of pre- and post-Te Tiriti o Waitangi events on the health of New Zealanders.

So now they are expected to be not only able to dispense medicines but also explain the historical impacts of events on the health of New Zealanders.

The Pharmacy Council said on its website the introduction of these standards involved “a whāriki tāpui”—a formal woven mat—symbolising a deliberate integration of Western and Te Ao Maori ideologies. The Council described this as an effort to create a “stronger and more cohesive fabric” by merging two distinct worldviews.

These rules are nothing more than ideological bullshit which undermines scientific standards and puts race based barriers on professionals entering and remaining in the pharmacy industry.

When I go to a pharmacy I don’t give a rat’s arse as to what they know about the pre or post-colonial impacts of events on the health of New Zealanders, I want to know that they are qualified to dispense medicines in line with current medical science.

I certainly don’t go to pharmacist expecting them to sing a waiata or “give effect to Te Tiriti at all levels, prioritising Maori voices and trusting Maori intelligence.”

I believe that this requirement to exhibit knowledge of Te Ao Maori and the need to be able to able to comply with these ideological rules have a huge potential to affect patient care.

Pharmacists have criticised the Pharmacy Council for being “out of touch”. They have stated that practitioners don’t treat patients based on ethnicity; they treat them based on need and called on Health Minister Simeon Brown to intervene.

Minister Brown promised to demand an explanation from the Pharmacy Council, stating that professional bodies should focus on core competencies, not cultural mandates. “Kiwis expect safety and expertise from their pharmacists—not ideological compliance,” he said.

From Medicines to the Internet and Real Estate sales, it seems that nothing in New Zealand is now safe from Treaty mania.

The InternetNZ Council, which is the body that is responsible for administering the .nz domain name, has recently declared that InternetNZ is systemically racist and is proposing a new constitution that will make the organisation co-governed.

The proposed principles for the new constitution include the following:

• InternetNZ must centre Te Tiriti o Waitangi in its work
• InternetNZ will be co-governed with two co-chairs – one of whom must be Maori
• Any member who does not agree with InternetNZ being a Te Tiriti centric organisation will be ineligible to be on the Board
• At least one third of the Board must be Maori

I would love for someone to explain to me how the internet is systemically racist and particularly in relation to Maori and the Treaty of Waitangi; given that the internet did not exist in 1840 when the Treaty was signed and any so-called requirement for co-governance with Maori is nothing more than a dangerous, divisive threat to our democratic system of governance. 

But it is obvious that currently, from the internet to medicines, nothing in New Zealand is safe from Treaty mania.

This InternetNZ proposed new constitution and real estate agent Janet Dickson's ongoing battle against unnecessary politicised Treaty and Te reo indoctrination as imposed by the Real Estate Authority are classic examples of this issue and just how widespread it is across other industries than just Pharmacists.

New Zealanders should not have to submit to indoctrination in order to be allowed to do their jobs.

Who is going to take us seriously if we keep insisting on placing traditional Maori knowledge over scientific knowledge? Who is going to want to study in our universities? Who is going to want to invest in businesses knowing the nonsensical hoops they'll have to jump through to prove cultural competence?

We have to bring an end to industry bodies having the power to impose political and cultural beliefs on professionals, who submit because they have to in order to obtain a licence or to maintain their businesses.

I vote for provision of scientifically qualified pharmacists and lets leave the witchdoctors where they belong; in the past.

If not NZ currently has approximately 200 different ethnicities in our citizens make up and we might find that we have a demand for all of them to be acknowledged by the professionals and have their world view taken into account. Impossible!!!