Postscript

Abstract

There has been a ruling in December 2021 by the High Court in New Zealand that data to do with vaccination be given over by the Ministry of Health to the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency. The present article, Ngā Pakanga Maramara, The Data Wars, forms a Postscript to Maramara me te Iwi, Data and the Indigenous Group, an earlier paper in tekaharoa.com and  takes the argument therein to a consideration of this ruling and the context involved. A similar form is followed to that of the earlier paper and in the example of the High Court ruling and its aftermath concepts of state and ethnicity are considered along with an overview of government and Iwi organisations in Aotearoa-New Zealand. The ruling is considered as something of a change or a breakthrough to new forms of data control. The nature and use of data is considered in general terms as well as in the specific context of the Covid 19 pandemic in Aotearoa-New Zealand. There is considerable discussion of border concepts and practices as there is of mental as well as physical health.