The Devonport Flagstaff Page 30
Interview
October 21, 2022
Health high-flyer wants allies in fight for equity Sharon Shea has carved out a career in health governance and was instrumental in recent reforms. She tells Helen Vause about fighting inequities, even in the face of angry resistance. As a highly motivated young scholar, it never occurred to Sharon Shea that she would do anything other than work for the health and well-being of Māori people. And her stellar career in governance and health has often had her advocating for Māori at the highest level. She has worked at the heart of recent health reforms and on the development of the new Te Aka Whai Ora – Māori Health Authority. She was co-chair of the new authority during its start-up phase and remains on its board. The authority works alongside Health New Zealand and will commission kaupapa Māori services. It will also work with the Ministry of Health to develop strategies and policies that work for Māori. As the public waits to see how the new system will function, Stanley Point resident Shea took time out to talk to the Flagstaff about what drives her in a high-powered career that led to her being named a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in the 2019 New Years Honours, for services to Māori health and development. In recent years, the hectic schedule of the self-confessed workaholic has been handled from her desk at the home where she’s raised three sons with husband Morris Pita. After growing up in the Bay of Plenty, Shea came to Auckland and did a conjoint arts and law degree at the University of Auckland. Though she had very few other Māori students in her cohort, she met Pita at university. From Beach Haven, he was another Māori student and a kindred spirit. Recognising there could be strength in numbers, the two gathered together the other Māori students studying law to form their own student group. Pita designed a logo for the group of around 20 students, proudly giving them a joint identity.
Shared benefits... Sharon Shea says changes aimed at a more equitable health system should be welcomed by everyone Shea’s excellent grades took her as a law graduate into an established legal practice, but she soon saw a job advertisement for someone to write health contracts. “That sounded like me,” she says. “I really didn’t know anything about doing that but thought I could figure it out. My motto is to always put myself in the way of opportunities. And so I fell into the health sector.” She describes herself as a “recovering lawyer”. Shea also reconnected with Pita, even though he had by then moved to Wellington. Married, the couple were both ambitious
and hungry for higher learning. In 2001, they headed to the United Kingdom together, to study at Oxford University. When Shea graduated with a degree in comparative social policy, she had excelled among young scholars from all over the world – topping her class. “It was the most incredibly exciting time, and just so stimulating.” They were living on a shoestring, in accommodation for married students. “We were something of a curiosity there, along with the other indigenous people, and other people were very interested in
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