Whānau Ora wants the High Court to decide who wins in the battle with the Ministry of Health over information about unvaccinated Māori.
It has filed fresh legal papers after the Director General of Health again refused to release the data.
The Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency wants contact details for Māori who are not fully vaccinated against Covid, or who've only had one dose, so it can talk directly to them about getting immunised.
The court previously ordered the Ministry of Health to rethink its earlier refusal.
Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency chair Merepeka Raukawa-Tait has told Checkpoint the vaccination rate gap between Māori and non-Māori is getting bigger.
She said that divide will get bigger unless Whānau Ora can reach Māori families for Covid vaccinations.
“All we’re asking for is good data.”
She said it has been surprising to see the Ministry of Health refuse to release data, and she is sorry to see Dr Bloomfield’s response.
“We want to do exactly what he has asked all New Zealanders to do: to get vaccinated. So if we can help speed up the vaccination numbers for Māori - and that's what we want to do - so I'm disappointed.
“We’re always handling data. We don't throw it all around for everybody to see. I mean, we've been in business for many, many years now. So perhaps [Dr Bloomfield] is just saying we cannot be trusted. And if he’s saying that, then maybe he needs to tell us that and why he believes so.
“I certainly do believe that there are some people in Wellington that do like to retain the power and control over the services that go to Māori. They also want to pick and choose who's going to deliver those services.
“We’re far more effective than any DHB in terms of what we provide - the Māori health providers.
“We don't want to have an argument. We very much respect the work that Dr Bloomfield has done over many, many months in carrying the weight of concern for all New Zealanders. We want to support him to do that work.
“Our expectation from him is he will help and support us, not put up ridiculous barriers.”
As Aucklanders are expected to be travelling around Aotearoa in December, Raukawa-Tait said she believes it is a life and death situation for many Māori.
“We are very concerned. I cannot tell you how gravely we are viewing the situation. We know we're coming up to summer, Christmas time, people want to be with families, we fully appreciate that. So we are really hard up against a tight timeframe.”
