Ki te whaiao, ki te ao Mārama Waitangi Tribunal decision Claims to the Waitangi Tribunal about the Government’s COVID-19 response were prompted by the Government’s refusal to share Māori vaccination data with Māori health providers. Examining the Government’s response in December 2021, the Waitangi Tribunal found the Government had breached the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in its decisions: • not to adopt a lower age-adjustment for Māori in the vaccine roll-out • to rapidly transition to a new COVID-19 protection framework before Māori vaccination rates had reached the required thresholds These decisions had put pressure on Māori health providers. Furthermore, the tribunal found there was inconsistent engagement with Māori.xv As the Omicron wave hit in early 2022, COVID-19 has continued to disproportionately affect Māori and Pacific communities. As at 9 May 2022, the ethnicity breakdown for COVID cases is Māori (19%), Pacific (12%) and Asian (13%), compared with 53% for NZ European. xvi The double vaccinated breakdown is Māori 88.3%, Pacific 96.7%, Asian 106% and NZ European 93.3%, while the boosted breakdown is Māori 56.2%, Pacific 59.0%, NZ European 65.9% and Asian 70.9%. xvii Researchers at Waikato University have noted that – given the history of Māori-Crown relations – Māori, in particular, are vulnerable to conspiracy theories, and that is a barrier to vaccination uptake. xviii Rise of mis- and disinformation During the pandemic, misinformation1 and disinformation2 circulated. Often originating with international far-right white supremacist groups mis- and disinformation have become increasingly prevalent as the Delta and Omicron waves have spread through the country. Māori racism being circulated within their own circles.xix The protest at Parliament in February 2022 shared similar traits: neo-Nazi, antisemitic and Islamophobic slogans and tropes shared space with tino rangatiratanga and United Tribes’ flags. The Disinformation Project reported in November 2021 that the “spread of mis- and disinformation point to a broader threat: that COVID-19 and vaccination are being used as a kind of Trojan Horse for norm-setting and normentrenchment of far-right ideologies in Aotearoa New Zealand”. The researchers noted that disinformation was targeted at Māori, drawing on their long-standing distrust of government, while simultaneously there was increasing anti- This summary shows how COVID-19, as the latest crisis point in the history of Aotearoa, brings together multiple experiences of racism – interpersonal, institutional and internalised – while also providing a space for overt white supremacy, driven by a far-right agenda, to grow. As the remainder of this report will show, this is only the most recent crisis point, not an isolated one. 1 False information created or shared without the intent to hurt others. 2 False information created with the intent to cause harm. Te Kāhui Tika Tangata 30