MEDIA RELEASE, 18 August 2025
Submissions closed today on the Government’s Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill and OraTaiao, the Aotearoa NZ Health and Climate Council, is warning the Bill proposes to profoundly damage an already weakened health system.
OraTaiao, representing more than 1000 health professionals, workers and researchers, says the Bill proposes to restrict the work of our health system to the provision of services to those who are already sick rather than continue vital work that aims to keep the public healthy and well.
“The Bill proposes to rip the guts out of our health system, which is already suffering under the Government’s harmful cuts,” says OraTaiao convener Dr Summer Wright.
“A responsible Government would support a health system that aims to first keep people well and second provide quality health care if they need it. This Bill, coupled with previous policy changes and cuts, means our health system will struggle to perform either of these functions and the health of our people will suffer.”
The Bill proposes to remove the obligation of the health sector to be equitable and achieve equitable health outcomes.
“This is a highly regressive piece of legislation, which takes particular aim at weakening provisions for Māori health improvement. The single most consistent thread throughout government decisions over the last two years has been to take any opportunity to remove Māori rights and undo real or potential progress in closing equity and health equity gaps,” says OraTaiao Board Member and GP Dr Dermot Coffey.
“Repealing the requirement to improve Māori health outcomes is unacceptable. It also risks worsening health outcomes for everyone due to increased pressure on health and social services,” says Dr Coffey.
The Bill also proposes to remove the health sector’s responsibility to address upstream determinants of health, including climate change.
“Climate change is globally recognised as one of the greatest threats to people’s health,” says Dr Wright.
“If the Government prevents our health system from engaging with efforts to address climate change, it will mean more severe impacts from climate change on our communities.”
OraTaiao says it is also concerned about ongoing “double-speak” from the Government on climate and health issues, where the Government says it is aiming for one thing while in practice doing the opposite.
“The Healthy Futures Amendment Bill is yet another example of the tendency of this Government to say one thing and do another. The Bill states they intend to “increase focus on infrastructure”, while they are actually stripping away the physical and relational infrastructure needed to deliver high quality healthcare,” says Dr Wright.
“This kind of disingenuous approach to language is disrespectful to the public, and erodes the good faith and meaningful debate needed to develop lasting legislation that supports our communities’ health.”
OraTaiao’s full submission has been published on its website.