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Whether we’re asking the companies we invest in to improve their business practices or asking why some communities in Aotearoa New Zealand have poorer access to healthcare services than others, we think it’s important to step into some of the harder questions at MAS. We’ve brought that idea to this issue of OnMAS, which is themed around asking hard questions.

We know that, on average, women in Aotearoa are retiring with less in their KiwiSaver accounts than men. What’s causing that gender gap, and what can we do about it? Click through to find out more about some innovative work to help wāhine prepare financially for the future.

Whether the young people in your life are worried about rising sea levels or asking you about the birds and the bees, it can be hard to know how to answer kids’ tough questions. In Hard Talk: Helping tamariki with tricky topics we share some advice from the experts on how to handle these difficult conversations.

Also in this issue, MAS Member Dr Carol Shand looks back at her pioneering career fighting for women’s rights to access contraception and abortion from the early 1960s onwards, and discusses whether our country has made enough progress in this field. And Professor Suzanne Pitama shares how a simple four-step system is helping to make our health system more appropriate for Māori whānau.

Our recent reader survey suggested our Members enjoy reading OnMAS, but we always want to make sure we’re creating the magazine that you want to read. Send us an email at onmas@mas.co.nz to let us know what you think or to suggest any topics you’d like to see in OnMAS.

Tā te Kaiwhakatika tuhipoka

Ahakoa e tono ana mātou i ngā kamupene e haumi ai mātou kia whakapai ake i ā rātou tikanga pakihi, ahakoa e ui ana mātou he aha te take he kino ake te urunga atu o ētahi hapori o Aotearoa ki ngā ratonga tiaki hauora i tō ētahi atu, e whakapono ana mātou i MAS he mea hira te ruku atu ki ētahi o ngā pātai uaua ake. Nā mātou taua ariā i kawe ki tēnei putanga o OnMAS, ko tāna kaupapa ko te ui i ngā
pātai uaua.

E mōhiotia ana, ko te toharite, ka tāoki ngā wāhine o Aotearoa me te pūtea iti iho ki ā rātou pūkete KiwiSaver i tā ngā tāne. Kei te takea mai taua rerekētanga ā-ira i te aha, ā, me aha tātou hei whakatika i tērā? Huri ki whārangi 28 hei rapu i ētahi atu kōrero mō ētahi mahi auaha hei āwhina i ngā wāhine ki te whakarite ā-ahumoni mō te wā e heke mai ana.

Ahakoa e āwangawanga ana ngā taiohi ki tō ao mō ngā pae moana e piki haere ana, ahakoa e ui ana rātou ki a koe mō ngā manu me ngā pī, he uaua pea te mōhio me pēhea e whakahoki i ngā pātai uaua a ngā tamariki. Ki whārangi 18, ka tuku tohutohu mātou mai i ngā mātanga me pēhea te whakahaere i ēnei kōrerorero uaua.

Ki tēnei putanga hoki, ka tiro whakamuri te Mema MAS a Tākuta Carol Shand ki tāna umanga whaitaki e whawhai ana mō ngā tika wahine kia whiwhi ki te rongoā ārai hapū, ki te whakatahe hoki mai i te tīmatanga o te tekau tau o 1960, ā muri ake nei, ā, ka wānangahia mēnā rānei he rawaka te kokenga whakamua o tō tātou whenua mō tēnei kaupapa. Ka whakapuakina hoki e Ahorangi Suzanne Pitama te āwhina o tētahi pūnaha whā-tūmahi ngāwari kia tika ake tō tātou pūnaha hauora mō ngā whānau Māori.

Ko tā te uiui kaipānui nō nākuanei e ngākaunui ana ā mātou Mema ki te pānui i OnMAS, heoi, i ngā wā katoa e hiahia ana mātou kia whakaū ai e hanga ana mātou i te maheni e hiahia ana koe ki te pānui. Tukuna mai tētahi īmēra ki onmas@mas.co.nz hei whakamōhio mai i ō whakaaro, hei marohi rānei i ētahi kaupapa e hiahia ana koe kia kite ki OnMAS, ā, haere ki on.mas.co.nz hei pānui ā-ipurangi i tēnei putanga.

Mike Davy
Kaitaunaki Matua o Ngā Mema

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