Dear Daniel,

Yesterday the Government moved a step closer to bringing co-governance into our health system and dividing us based on race rather than need.

ACT has stood against the Government’s obsession with co-governance and brought the debate into the public because we know it’s a debate worth having.

I drafted an amendment to the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill that would have disestablished the Māori Health Authority. Unfortunately, the Government chose to vote this down. You can watch my speech on this below.

The intention of any health reform should be to deliver better treatment, faster, for more patients. Co-governance doesn’t address any of those issues. Worse, it risks being divisive and ineffective. It represents a serious departure from the idea that all New Zealanders have equal rights.

The status quo isn’t acceptable. We do need change. Hospitals are understaffed, overworked, and under-equipped. People languish on waiting lists to get elective surgeries. Mental healthcare continues to worsen.

Kiwis also continue to struggle to access publicly funded medicines. This week we finally read the independent review of Pharmac that showed an organisation with major issues, including decision-making on life-saving medicine coming from Pharmac staff rather than clinical experts. Amazingly, the Government’s response was still focused on ideological reform and divvying up the health system based on race.

The Kiwi identity is based on equal rights and equal opportunity. That is at risk because of a silent ideological experiment in every area from healthcare to three waters to the education curriculum.

What New Zealand needs is a modern healthcare system that empowers people to get the healthcare that they truly need and deserve, not a system that increases bureaucracy, red tape and division. ACT will continue to advocate for a system which prioritises quality and accessible healthcare for all New Zealanders regardless of heritage and ethnicity.

Yours sincerely,

Brooke van Velden
ACT Party Deputy Leader and Health Spokesperson

ACT New Zealand · 27 Gillies Ave, Suite 2.5, Auckland 1021, New Zealand
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