A Māori health expert believes that visible success and local government action are key to shifting youth aspirations and addressing the root causes of poor health outcomes in South Auckland.
Dr Timoti Te Moke has experienced the power of walking home in his scrubs from Middlemore Hospital, a deliberate act meant to normalise brown excellence and show that Māori and Pacific doctors exist.
Without them, he says, people see him as “everyone else…doing it hard” and mistakenly identify him as a cleaner rather than a successful doctor.
He shares his story as a testament to what South Auckland residents can achieve despite the challenges they face.
Te Moke says local government has a role in supporting such role models.
“…people in South Auckland need to see a brown skin doctor and they need to see it really, really often. So often that it’s like it’s just in their head that, yeah, that’s just part of what we do,” he says.
Te Moke recalls an encounter when he got off the bus near Hunter’s Corner and noticed an eight-year-old boy staring at him from his bike.
“We walked past each other, and he goes, ‘Hey, bro.’ …because he’s an eight-year-old boy looking to aspire to something. And a thousand times more often, he would see a gang patch.
“By the time he turns 15 or 16, if that’s all he’s seen, that’s what he’ll aspire to be. But if he sees a doctor all the time, he might go, ‘I’m going to become a doctor’,” he says.
Beyond personal success
Te Moke grew up in Māngere and is set to speak at a sold-out event at Māngere Library later this month as part of the Auckland Council’s We Read Auckland series.
His recently released memoir, which topped the New Zealand bestseller list, recounts his journey from a violent gang environment to medical school and explains why he has chosen to remain in South Auckland instead of moving to a more “flash” suburb.
“I could go and live somewhere else, but I don’t,” Te Moke says. “I stay in a building complex with my own people because success needs to be visible in the community. That’s the only way it can break cycles.”
For him, the book is not about financial reward but about making an impact.
“I had no interest in financial reward. The plan is to convince the Office of the Ombudsman to recommend the book goes into prisons and rehabs. That’s where it will have the most benefit, the most impact with people who find it hardest to get hold of a copy,” he says.
“I’ve decided to give 15 per cent to helping Māori who are in my circumstances, helping through… 15 per cent goes to non-Māori suffering from those negative social determinants… 15 per cent goes to the people of Palestine… I’m giving away virtually half of what I’m making. And I believe that that’s what it should be done. And that’s what I can do with my book.”
Systemic barriers linked to local decisions
At Middlemore Hospital, Te Moke sees the human cost of systemic issues daily – patients in Emergency Department queues unable to afford GP visits, returning to overcrowded, cold homes, and eventually bringing their whole whānau back to the hospital.
“You’ve got the government making it hard on local councils, then councils raising rates, and that flows straight to renters,” he says. “Most of us are renters. That’s …easier for employers… to not pay their employees as much as they should… We’re being hit from both ends.”
He argues that national and local policies must align on housing, access to healthy food, education, and employment to improve health outcomes.
Council-backed platforms matter
Louisa Tipene Opetaia, local business owner and communications specialist, will chair the library event. She believes Te Moke’s story represents an important type of success for the community to celebrate.
“Dr Te Moke is such an impressive person and I’m really honoured that I get to kōrero with him about his extraordinary life,” she says. “We know about our athletes and musicians, but to have a doctor who is also an author is important to show different kinds of success.”
She says that events like this can directly impact on South Auckland audiences, especially young people.
“Dr Te Moke’s message to young people is very important, that they should aim high and that they are capable of achieving success,” she says. “Although we had very different upbringings and we’re coming at this event from different perspectives, our kaupapa is aligned.
“We hope this event will uplift our community and encourage our rangatahi to use their gifts and live their own glorious lives.”
She emphasises the significance of the event being free, council-funded, and held locally, making it more accessible.
“I might never have learned about him or read his book if not for this free event being held in our community,” she says. “It is so important for our people to see someone like us, who comes from where we come from, living his best life. His is a story worth celebrating.”
Local board support for visible role models
Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board chair Apulu Reece Autagavaia underscores the powerful symbolism of Te Moke’s choice to wear scrubs in public.
“We’re fully supportive of having Māori and Pacific excellence displayed in our public spaces,” he says. “Just like Dr Timoti wears his scrubs to normalise brown excellence, I wear my ’ie faitaga in the boardroom to show that we can be proud of who we are in any space.”
Funding, visibility, and grassroots action
Community advocate and founder of The BBM Program, Dave Letele, says it is “very important” for rangatahi to regularly see role models who look like them and come from similar backgrounds.
“You can have nice stuff without being a drug dealer or bank robber,” Letele says. “That’s why it’s very important that those who make it out come back to help others.”
When discussing whether council-funded community events and programmes can make a tangible difference in shaping youth aspirations, Letele is cautious.
“I don’t think so. I would rather see this funding go to community groups working with youth in need. Support their events. Support their mahi.”
He believes that more grassroots support is needed. “Invest in highlighting the work being done and those doing well.”
From his work with whānau, Letele observes the same links Te Moke identifies between housing, food insecurity, and poor health outcomes.
“One thousand per cent,” he says. “Look at the Māori or Pacific health models, Te Whare Tapa Whā or Fonofale. Health is having all the pillars standing strong. Too often, we don’t have access to warm housing, and food insecurity is very real for Pasifika families. It’s no surprise we are overrepresented in almost all the bad stats.”
On how local government can help prevent young people from aspiring to negative role models, he is direct.
“It all comes down to supporting the groups that are doing the mahi with next to no resources. Help them to do the mahi, and don’t make them fit into the system that works for the council. What they do works, just support them and get out of the way.”
Auckland Council approach
Auckland Council reading engagement specialist, Ineka Vogels, says We Read Auckland is designed to celebrate local talent and make literature accessible to all.
“The purpose of We Read Auckland is to foster a shared love of reading and writing across the diverse communities of Tāmaki Makaurau,” she says.
“Representation and lived experience are top priority in our hyper-local programming model.”
She says libraries strive for a good regional spread of events to ensure communities can access workshops and author talks nearby, with all events being free.
“We look for stories that are uniquely ‘Auckland’ and offer fresh voices and perspectives,” she says.
“It’s about creating opportunities, whether it’s a budding writer attending a workshop or a long-time fan seeing one of their favourite authors speak. Our libraries bring literature to life in new ways.”
Call to action for change
Te Moke believes the next step involves turning personal empowerment into influence at the ballot box.
“What’s preventing me from realising that potential are the barriers that are put in front of me, and the barriers are being put in front of me by these people that are in power,” he says.
“The way to start getting rid of those barriers right at the beginning is getting them out of power. The way I do that is utilising my vote.”
He says everyone in South Auckland has potential, but that potential cannot be realised until those barriers are removed.
“Everyone has the potential in South Auckland,” Te Moke says, “but people are prevented from realising our potential because of the negative social determinants we are born into.”
