In 2017, the National Hauora Coalition, a Māori-led Primary Health Organisation (PHO), was awarded a Long-Term Conditions Partnership Research grant to test the effectiveness of Mana Tū: a whānau ora approach to type 2 diabetes. With moves to replicate aspects of it in programmes around New Zealand, it is timely to describe the rationale for Mana Tū and the key components of its unique model of care. Mana Tū was developed in response to current ethnic and social inequities in type 2 diabetes rates, outcomes and wider determinants. It attempts to address various system, service and patient factors that impact on the whānau's ability to 'mana tū' or 'stand with authority' when living with a long-term condition. Results, including clinical, implementation and cost-effectiveness data, will be collected and analysed over the next two years.