New polling commissioned by major health lobby group, Kaitiaki Hauora involving Iwi Māori Partnership Board representatives shows overwhelming public support for increased investment in our public health system.
The research found that 85 per cent of those surveyed support increasing health funding at least in line with rising costs, wages, and population growth. Four in ten go further, saying funding should increase above inflation to improve services and reduce pressure on the system. Only a small minority support cuts.
The results signal a broad public expectation that the health system must be properly resourced to meet need. Rob Campbell, Chair of Kaitiaki Hauora, says the findings send a clear message that New Zealanders understand the system is under strain and requires urgent and sustained investment.
Alongside this, strong voices from Iwi Māori Partnership Boards are reinforcing that funding alone is not enough without a clear commitment to equity and to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in how the system is designed and delivered.
Louisa Wall, Chair of the Tūwharetoa Iwi Māori Partnership Board, says Aotearoa is being tested against its global commitment to Universal Health Coverage, advocated by members of the World Health Organisation and United Nations which requires not only access to services, but measurable and equitable outcomes.
She says health is a fundamental human right and warns that focusing only on “equal opportunity” without equal outcomes allows inequity to persist.
Māori, Pacific peoples, disabled people, rural whānau, and low-income families continue to experience higher barriers to care and poorer health outcomes. She says these are not individual failures, but the result of structural design decisions within the health system.
Wall says Te Tiriti o Waitangi must be central to rebuilding accountability in health, with outcomes measured and inequities actively reduced rather than accepted.
She also warns that weakening equity frameworks and underinvestment in public health infrastructure risks deepening long-standing gaps and shifting the system toward greater inequality over time.
The polling and wider commentary together highlight a growing alignment between public expectation and iwi Māori leadership: that Aotearoa’s health system must be properly funded, Te Tiriti-led, and accountable for delivering equitable outcomes in practice, not just in principle.
World Health Day is being marked by Kaitiaki Hauora to highlight the gap between current health funding and what is needed to sustain a fair, accessible, and effective public health system.
Kaitiaki Hauora brings together health workers, patients, unions, and communities with a shared commitment to a publicly funded health system that delivers for all people in Aotearoa, grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi and focused on equity of outcomes.