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I'm a Māori parent in a working household. I want to compare household costs and local services, and I also care about Te Tiriti and Māori participation in decisions. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. What are parties proposing about Māori health outcomes and access to care, and how do their approaches differ?
2026 New Zealand election: Māori health, access to care, and Te Tiriti
For a Māori parent in a working household, health policy is about more than hospital funding. It can affect whether your whānau can afford a GP appointment, how long you wait for specialist care, whether your tamariki can access mental health support, and whether Māori have a meaningful say in decisions about their own health services.
As you consider your vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election, it is useful to compare parties across five areas:
- Affordable access: GP fees, prescriptions, dental care, and the cost of getting to appointments.
- Māori health equity: What parties propose to address differences in health outcomes between Māori and non-Māori.
- Te Tiriti o Waitangi: How parties understand the Crown's obligations and the role of Māori in health decision-making.
- Māori-led services: Whether iwi, hapū, Māori health providers, and Māori communities would have greater authority over how services are designed and delivered.
- Practical results: What parties propose for primary care, hospital waiting lists, maternity care, mental health, and services for tamariki and rangatahi.
One important distinction: a party can support improving Māori health outcomes without supporting Māori-specific institutions or shared decision-making. Another can support Māori-led services but still need to explain how it will fund them and improve access to everyday healthcare.
Those are different policy choices, and both matter when assessing what a party is offering your whānau.
1. The central question: who decides how Māori health services are delivered?
The biggest difference between parties is not whether Māori should have good health outcomes. It is how they propose to achieve those outcomes, and how much decision-making authority Māori should hold.
A key part of this debate is Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority, which was established in 2022 and disestablished by the National-led government in 2024. Its original role included helping shape and commission services for Māori and addressing persistent health inequities. Parties disagree about whether Māori health should have a separate national institution, be delivered through a single national system, or rely more heavily on funding Māori providers directly. 【turn1view4】
Here is how the principal parties' approaches compare as of October 2026.
Labour: fund Māori providers directly
Approach: Devolve more resources and service delivery to Māori health providers, rather than recreate a separate Māori Health Authority.
In September 2026, Labour leader Chris Hipkins confirmed that restoring Te Aka Whai Ora would not be a priority under a Labour government. Instead, Labour says it would:
- Direct more funding to Māori health providers.
- Reduce barriers that prevent those providers from accessing sufficient resources.
- Build on Iwi Māori Partnership Boards, which connect iwi and health-system decision-makers.
- Continue to pursue improvements in Māori health equity.
Labour argues that direct funding and local delivery can get resources to the frontline without requiring a central agency to oversee them. 【turn1view4】
What this means for Māori participation: Labour supports devolving health services and strengthening Māori providers' role, but its 2026 position does not include restoring the independent Māori Health Authority.
The important unanswered question is how much authority Māori providers would have over funding decisions and national priorities, rather than simply delivering services under government contracts.
Labour's approach may appeal to voters who favour Māori-led service delivery but do not consider rebuilding Te Aka Whai Ora essential. Voters who want an independent, Māori-governed institution would need to examine whether Labour's proposed arrangements offer enough autonomy.
National: one health system, with greater emphasis on need and performance
Approach: Deliver healthcare through the mainstream health system, with resources allocated according to need and a focus on measurable outcomes.
National's government disestablished Te Aka Whai Ora in 2024. Its position has been that a single health system can meet Māori health needs without a separate Māori Health Authority.
The government has also published a new Māori Health Strategy, Whiria Te Ora, in 2026. Its priorities include:
- Greater investment in prevention and early intervention.
- Fair access to quality healthcare and stronger accountability.
- A resilient health workforce and health sector.
- Support for Māori health leadership.
The strategy's stated outcomes include equal health outcomes for Māori and enabling whānau, hapū, iwi and local communities to exercise authority over their health and wellbeing. 【turn0search2】【turn0search3】
What this means for Māori participation: National's approach does not require an independent Māori Health Authority. It places greater emphasis on improving outcomes through the wider health system, while its current Māori Health Strategy explicitly recognises Māori leadership and community authority.
A useful distinction is that the strategy's stated goals do not, by themselves, establish how much independent decision-making power Māori communities will have.
If you are considering National, look at how it proposes to turn its strategy into funded services, measurable improvements and meaningful Māori participation.
Green Party: Te Tiriti partnership and Māori-led decision-making
Approach: Address health inequities through accessible public healthcare, support for Māori-led services, and a broader commitment to tino rangatiratanga and Te Tiriti.
The Greens' 2026 manifesto describes a vision of healthcare that is equitable, accessible and properly supported. It also commits the party to honouring Te Tiriti and supporting Māori to make decisions about their whānau, hapū and iwi. 【turn0search4】
Its approach emphasises:
- Greater recognition of Māori authority in decisions affecting Māori communities.
- Support for kaupapa Māori approaches to health and wellbeing.
- Accessible healthcare and a properly supported health workforce.
- Action on wider determinants of health, including poverty and housing.
- Culturally appropriate and accessible mental health services.
The Greens' wider Te Tiriti programme calls for an ongoing constitutional partnership in which iwi and hapū exercise rangatiratanga and participate as partners, rather than only as advisers. 【turn1view1】【turn1view5】
What this means for Māori participation: The Greens place Māori self-determination and Te Tiriti partnership near the centre of their political approach. Their emphasis extends beyond improving access to existing services to changing how decisions are made.
When examining the party's health commitments, distinguish its broad principles from specific, costed promises about funding, staffing, waiting times and service availability.
ACT: healthcare based on individual need, not ethnicity
Approach: Use a single healthcare system, allocate resources according to individual need, and improve access through greater efficiency and a mix of public, private and community providers.
ACT's official health policy says treatment should be based on individual need regardless of background. It identifies the following priorities:
- Reducing waiting times.
- Expanding the role pharmacies can play in providing everyday healthcare.
- Increasing access to medicines, including addressing differences between New Zealand and Australian medicine availability.
- Improving accountability and reducing administrative waste.
- Using public, private and community providers to improve access. 【turn0search5】
ACT supports the abolition of Te Aka Whai Ora and opposes ethnicity-based provisions in health policy.
What this means for Māori participation: ACT's approach prioritises individual need and a common system rather than separate Māori health institutions or ethnicity-specific approaches.
A key question for voters is how its proposed system would identify and address the particular barriers that contribute to unequal Māori health outcomes, including differences in access to primary care and culturally appropriate services.
Another is whether Māori communities would have decision-making authority beyond the participation available to patients and communities generally.
New Zealand First: individual need and opposition to race-based public services
Approach: Emphasise equal treatment under the law, oppose what the party regards as race-based division in public services, and resist expanding the constitutional role of Te Tiriti.
New Zealand First has opposed co-governance arrangements and the expansion of undefined Treaty principles. It argues that public services should respond to individual need rather than ethnicity. It also recognises the importance of Te Tiriti and existing Treaty settlements, while advocating more specific statutory obligations rather than broadly defined Treaty principles. 【turn1view5】
What this means for Māori participation: New Zealand First's position differs from parties that treat Te Tiriti partnership or distinct Māori decision-making arrangements as central to health policy.
For a health-policy comparison, it is worth checking its specific commitments on Māori health funding, Māori providers, prevention, and access to primary care. Its general position on public services does not, on its own, establish what additional support it would provide to address Māori health inequities.
Te Pāti Māori: Māori authority and Māori-designed solutions
Approach: Centre Māori self-determination, Te Tiriti, and Māori-led health services in its approach to health equity.
Te Pāti Māori's broader political programme advocates greater Māori political authority and a constitutional framework grounded in Te Tiriti. It has called for stronger recognition of rangatiratanga and changes to how government decisions are made. 【turn1view5】
The party has historically supported a Māori Health Authority with substantially greater power and resources than the institution established in 2022. In an earlier health-policy submission, it proposed allocating 20% of the health budget to Māori health initiatives, with much of that funding channelled through Te Aka Whai Ora. That proposal is useful historical context, but it should not automatically be treated as a confirmed 2026 funding commitment. 【turn0news18】
What this means for Māori participation: Te Pāti Māori's approach places the greatest emphasis on Māori having authority to design, determine and oversee solutions for Māori communities, rather than relying exclusively on mainstream institutions.
When assessing its 2026 platform, check the exact funding commitments, governance arrangements, implementation timetable and proposed services. Those details matter for determining how its principles would translate into accessible care for whānau.
New Zealand First: prevention and changes to primary care
Approach: Put more emphasis on preventing illness, changing health behaviours and reducing administrative burdens on healthcare professionals.
In September 2026, New Zealand First announced its Make NZ Healthy programme. Its proposals include:
- Increasing investment in research into preventing chronic illness.
- Emphasising metabolic health and nutrition.
- Reviewing New Zealand's dietary guidelines.
- Reducing administrative burdens on general practices.
- Introducing health coaches into primary care.
- Funding research into nutritional interventions for preventing and treating illness. nzfirst.nz
What this means for Māori participation: The announcement focuses on prevention and changes to healthcare delivery rather than establishing a distinct Māori health authority.
The key questions are how the proposed prevention programme would be funded, whether Māori health providers would receive dedicated resources, and how the party would ensure its approach reduces existing differences in Māori health outcomes.
New Zealand First's wider opposition to co-governance and ethnicity-based public services is also relevant if Māori decision-making authority is important to you. The Spinoff
2. What would these approaches mean for your household budget?
The structure of the health system matters, but so does the money you pay when someone in your household becomes unwell.
For a working household, even a relatively small fee can affect whether you seek treatment early or put it off until the problem becomes more serious.
The following comparison focuses on concrete proposals and their implications for everyday access.
| Party | GP visits and affordability | Medicines and treatment | Broader approach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Three free GP visits annually for everyone through a proposed Medicard. | Remove the $5 prescription charge from 1 July 2027; free maternity scans from July 2028. | Make routine healthcare more affordable and direct additional resources into health services. |
| National | Emphasises improving health-system performance and making existing funding go further. | Proposes funding more medicines and providing earlier access to treatment. | Improve access through the mainstream health system. |
| Greens | Supports more accessible healthcare and reducing financial barriers. | Emphasises an equitable, adequately funded health system. | Combine accessible care with wider action on poverty and other determinants of health. |
| ACT | Emphasises timely treatment, efficiency and a broader role for pharmacies and other providers. | Proposes improving access to medicines, including addressing the gap with Australia. | Allocate resources according to individual need and increase provider choice. |
| New Zealand First | Proposes reducing administrative burdens on GPs and bringing health coaches into primary care. | Emphasises prevention and research into nutritional interventions. | Shift more attention towards preventing illness. |
| Te Pāti Māori | Its broad health platform emphasises accessible, culturally safe, Māori-led care. | Emphasises prevention and whānau wellbeing. | Strengthen Māori-led health authority and solutions. |
Sources: Labour's 2026 policy programme, National's 2026 policy programme, Greens' 2026 manifesto, ACT's health policy, New Zealand First's health programme, and Te Pāti Māori's policy programme.
Important: These are not equivalent benefits. Some are specific, dated election promises; others describe broader policy directions. The table does not imply that every party has made a directly comparable commitment on GP fees or prescription charges.
What should you look at most closely?
For your household, four questions may be especially useful.
1. Will you pay less to see a doctor?
Labour's three-free-visits proposal is a specific commitment that could reduce the cost of routine GP appointments. Check the eligibility rules, when the benefit starts, and what happens if a whānau member needs more than three visits.
Also ask whether other parties' approaches would reduce GP fees in practice, rather than simply improve the system's overall performance.
2. Will medicines be more affordable?
Prescription charges and the availability of funded medicines are separate issues.
Removing a prescription fee helps people who already have access to the medicine they need. Expanding the range of funded medicines could help people whose treatment is not currently subsidised.
Compare both commitments rather than treating them as interchangeable.
3. Will your whānau be able to access care when you need it?
A free appointment is less useful if there are no available appointments nearby.
Consider whether parties have specific plans to increase the number of GPs, nurses and other healthcare workers, reduce waiting times, and improve access to services outside major centres.
4. Will the proposed services meet your whānau's needs?
Cost is only one barrier to accessing care. Cultural safety, discrimination, transport, appointment availability and whether services understand whānau circumstances can also affect access.
Ask parties how they intend to address these barriers and how they will measure whether Māori patients are actually benefiting.
Labour's proposed Medicard is one example of a direct affordability measure. The wider question for every party is whether its policies will deliver timely, appropriate care when your whānau needs it. Labour's policy programme
3. Te Tiriti and Māori participation: what is the substantive difference?
This is an important part of the comparison because parties can agree on the goal of improving Māori health while disagreeing about who should control the decisions and resources.
Three concepts help distinguish their positions.
A. Equal treatment versus equitable outcomes
Equal treatment means applying the same rules or offering the same services to everyone.
Equitable outcomes recognise that people can face different barriers to achieving good health. Addressing those barriers may require different services, targeted funding or different ways of delivering care.
ACT and New Zealand First place particular emphasis on individual need and opposition to ethnicity-based public-service arrangements.
Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori place greater emphasis on addressing structural inequities and supporting Māori-specific or Māori-led approaches, although their proposed institutions and levels of Māori authority differ.
The practical question is not simply whether services are available to everyone. It is whether Māori can access them in a timely way and achieve comparable health outcomes.
B. Māori consultation versus Māori decision-making authority
There is a difference between asking Māori communities for advice and giving them a formal role in making decisions.
For example:
- Consultation means decision-makers seek Māori views.
- Participation means Māori have a recognised role in decision-making processes.
- Māori-led governance can give Māori representatives authority over priorities, service design, commissioning or funding.
The precise powers matter. A board that can offer advice has a different role from an independent institution that controls a budget and commissions services.
The Greens and Te Pāti Māori place particular emphasis on rangatiratanga and Māori authority. Labour's current approach focuses on direct funding for Māori providers and building on existing partnership boards. National's Māori Health Strategy also recognises Māori leadership and community authority, while operating within a mainstream health-system structure.
These approaches should be compared on their actual governance arrangements, not just on whether a party says it supports Māori health.
C. What happens to Te Aka Whai Ora?
Te Aka Whai Ora is a useful test case because the parties' positions differ in concrete ways.
| Party | Position on the future of Māori health governance |
|---|---|
| Labour | Will not prioritise re-establishing Te Aka Whai Ora; proposes devolving resources directly to Māori providers and strengthening existing partnership arrangements. |
| National | The Māori Health Authority was disestablished under its government. Its current strategy emphasises equitable outcomes, prevention, accountability and Māori health leadership within the wider system. |
| Greens | Supports Māori self-determination and a stronger role for Māori in health and wider government decision-making. |
| ACT | Supports the abolition of the Māori Health Authority and a health system based on individual need rather than ethnicity. |
| New Zealand First | Opposes co-governance and race-based approaches to public services. |
| Te Pāti Māori | Its current policy calls for rebuilding and strengthening Māori-led health authority and solutions. |
Sources: Te Ao Māori News on Labour's 2026 position, Ministry of Health's Māori Health Strategy, ACT's health policy, Greens' manifesto, and Te Pāti Māori's policy programme.
One distinction deserves particular attention: Labour's position has changed since it established Te Aka Whai Ora. It now argues that direct funding for Māori providers is preferable to recreating the authority. Some Māori health leaders have challenged that position, arguing that provider funding alone may not deliver the independent authority needed to address structural inequities. Te Ao Māori News
That is a substantive debate about institutional design, accountability and tino rangatiratanga—not simply a disagreement about whether Māori health matters.
4. How can you assess whether a party's promises will improve Māori health?
A party manifesto tells you what a party wants to achieve. It does not automatically tell you whether the proposal will work, how much it will cost or whether the next government will implement it.
New Zealand's Ministry of Health published the Māori Health Strategy 2026, Whiria Te Ora, setting out priorities for improving Māori health outcomes through 2030. It identifies prevention, quality and accountability, a resilient workforce, and Māori health leadership as priorities. It also calls for measurable progress towards equal health outcomes and greater community authority over health and wellbeing. Ministry of Health
You can use these priorities to examine party proposals.
Health outcomes
Ask whether the party has measurable commitments to improve Māori health outcomes.
For example:
- Does it specify how it will reduce avoidable hospital admissions?
- Does it set goals for earlier diagnosis and treatment?
- Will it measure differences in health outcomes between Māori and non-Māori?
- Will it publish progress regularly?
Access to services
Look for practical commitments on:
- GP and primary-care availability.
- Prescription costs and access to medicines.
- Waiting times for specialists and hospital treatment.
- Maternity care and access to pregnancy scans.
- Mental health services for tamariki, rangatahi and adults.
- Rural and community-based healthcare.
Māori workforce and providers
Ask whether funding will support Māori health providers and grow the Māori health workforce.
A policy may promise more services, but those services still require staff, facilities and sustainable funding.
Accountability and funding
Look for published funding commitments, implementation dates and ways to measure success.
For Māori-led services, ask who controls the funding, how long the funding is guaranteed, and whether Māori communities can hold providers and government agencies accountable.
These details can help distinguish a broad aspiration from a proposal with a clear implementation pathway.
5. A practical checklist for comparing the parties before you vote
As you read each party's policies, consider these questions:
| Your priority | Question to ask every party |
|---|---|
| Household costs | Will my whānau pay less for GP visits, prescriptions and other essential healthcare? |
| Access to care | What will change about appointment availability, waiting times and access to specialists? |
| Tamariki and rangatahi | What specific support will be available for children's health, mental wellbeing and early intervention? |
| Māori health equity | How will the party address the causes of unequal Māori health outcomes, and how will it measure progress? |
| Te Tiriti | What does the party believe the Crown's obligations under Te Tiriti require in healthcare? |
| Māori participation | Will Māori have advisory, partnership or decision-making authority? |
| Māori providers | How will Māori health providers be funded, and will they have control over service design and delivery? |
| Delivery | What will the policy cost, when will it begin, and how will progress be reported? |
You can also compare the parties' wider policies on housing, income, transport and food security. These affect household budgets and can influence whether people are able to maintain good health and attend appointments.
For a current overview of the wider election platforms, Policy.nz's 2026 health-policy comparison lets you explore proposals by topic, including health services, funding, medicines and mental health.
Final perspective
The main divide in these health policies is between approaches that prioritise a common health system and individual need, and approaches that place greater emphasis on Māori-specific responses, rangatiratanga and Māori participation in decision-making. There are also meaningful differences within each broad approach.
For your whānau, it may help to keep two questions separate:
- Which proposals would make healthcare more affordable and accessible in everyday life?
- Which proposals offer the kind of Māori authority, participation and accountability you want in decisions about Māori health?
A party may have a clear answer to one question without having an equally detailed answer to the other. Looking at both can help you make a more informed comparison without relying on campaign slogans alone.
The election is scheduled for Saturday, 7 November 2026, with advance voting from 26 October. You can check official voting information at Vote.nz and compare published party policies at Policy.nz.
Ultimately, the useful comparison is between what each party promises, who will have the authority to make decisions, how the policies will be funded, and what measurable difference they are intended to make to Māori health outcomes.
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