Families in Dunedin are stuck on surgery lists for months, while rural communities from Balclutha to Lawrence struggle to even see a doctor.
Instead of fixing these problems, Christopher Luxon’s government is making things worse.
This week, we learned from the media via leaked data from Health NZ the government is not reaching its emergency department target wait times — despite saying it is. That's not the only time we have been gaslit regarding the facts.
Health New Zealand has been told to sign 10-year contracts with private hospitals for routine operations like cataracts and knee replacements. Yet the government won’t tell taxpayers how much these contracts cost, or whether they deliver better outcomes.
At the same time, Christopher Luxon has signed off Tend Healthcare as the first for-profit primary health organisation, paving the way for health to become a business, not a right.
The evidence here and overseas is damning. Private hospitals cherry-pick easy, profitable cases while leaving the complex and costly patients to the public system. When complications arise, they’re pushed back on to Dunedin Hospital — sometimes late on a Friday — so the taxpayer foots the bill.
Meanwhile, our already stretched workforce is hollowed out. Nurses and doctors are lured from the public system into private contracts. That means longer waits in Dunedin, fewer specialists in Southland, and fewer training opportunities for the next generation of health workers.
The United States shows where this road leads. Americans spend nearly five times as much per person on healthcare as we do, yet they have shorter life expectancy and higher infant mortality. Public systems like ours are more efficient and more equitable because they treat everyone, not just those who are profitable.
Instead of strengthening the public system, Luxon is draining it. Public hospitals are where health equity is addressed—yet inequities for Māori alone already cost this country over $800 million a year.
Shifting money into private hands will only deepen those gaps.
Good health is not a commodity; it’s a public good. Luxon’s agenda for southern health is making things worse — more expensive, less fair, and less sustainable.
That’s why we must demand transparency. Southern families have a right to know exactly how much of their money is going to private hospitals, and whether it’s improving outcomes. Until then, every secret contract signed under Luxon’s watch should be viewed with suspicion. Our health is not for sale.
