Amohia Boulton
Ngāti Ranginui, Ngai te Rangi, Ngāti Pukenga, Ngāti Mutunga, Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui
Dr Amohia Boulton is the Director of Whakauae Research Services, a tribally-owned, Indigenous health research centre in Whanganui.
She also holds adjunct positions at the Health Services Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington and in the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences at Auckland University of Technology.
Dr Boulton is a member of the Healthier Lives, He Oranga Hauora National Science Challenge, Governance Group Kahui Māori, a Board member of Te Kotahi Research Centre, University of Waikato, and a Technical Advisor to the National iwi Chairs’ Forum.
Racial justice and emergency responses
State-led responses to emergencies, disasters and/or public health emergencies (whether they are naturally-triggered or human-induced) have often failed to serve Indigenous and racialised communities. In Aotearoa, during the 1918 influenza pandemic, we lost seven times more Māori than non-Māori lives due to racism within the state-led response. Inaction or inadequate action in the domain of emergency responses cost lives in the case of COVID-19 and breached te Tiriti o Waitangi (see Haumaru Waitangi Tribunal report).
Through COVID-19, the Kaikoura earthquakes and Cyclone Gabrielle, we have seen robust Māori-led responses. Pacific and other Indigenous and racialised communities are also stepping into the void. This leadership has been successful when state-led responses have been slow and insufficient. In the context of an increasing climate emergency, the panel will discuss how can racial justice has been embedded into emergency responses so no-one gets left behind.
