AOTEAROA UNITE
Protect Public Healthcare

We unite to promote and protect public healthcare for all New Zealanders. Access to healthcare is a right for everyone in Aotearoa

Tiakina te hauora tūmatanui

Who are we protecting - the people

Us - the public

Health services meet the needs of your community, not the needs of government contracts.

All emergencies are treated at your public hospital. Including emergencies that happen in private care.

Specialist appointments and surgeries in your closest public hospital.

Health Workforce

We need to value health professionals in the public system if we want to keep them there. 

Our workforce needs to be properly staffed, well-paid, and have good working conditions.

Our doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and support staff need modern facilities, equipment and adequate staff levels to do their job.

Our Mission

PPH is a citizen-driven advocacy group with one priority – Protect Public Healthcare. 

Our primary objective is to protect the integrity of New Zealand’s public health system through advocacy and education.

Why NZ must protect public healthcare

Universal healthcare is a system that has all resources needed to fulfil the healthcare needs of kiwis. 

A public health system that does not have appropriate resources (buildings, equipment, staff) cannot deliver universal healthcare to kiwis in a timely and effective way. 

Private healthcare services are already a significant part of our current health system. We believe that public funding should be prioritised to the public health service first, and that additional investment of public funds into private services must never be at the detriment of the public system. 

Effective and accessible healthcare is a universal right that all Kiwis have – but we must protect that right for all, not just those who can afford private care. We must Protect Public Health.

How you can help

Keep the momentum going and make your voice heard! 

Promote our message on social media, use our resources to start conversations with people you know, email your local MP about your concerns. When protests are planned, come join us! 

We all need to work together to help Protect Public Healthcare and create better outcomes for New Zealanders into the future.

NZ Healthcare: Where is it headed?

Privatization by stealth

Focus Area

  • Financial reform
  • Infrastructure funding
  • Service outsourcing
  • Legislative change

Policy signals

  • Political claims about unaffordability and deficits, cost-cutting, and changing the way things are run.
  • PPP deals, private-funded builds

  • Increased contraction with for-profit third parties.
  • Pae Ora amendments, new health targets

Outcomes

  • Pressure to outsource = reduced public capacity 
  • Public infrastructure increasingly privately operated
  • Shift to user pays with private suppliers
  • Shift of control away from health professionals to Ministerial control & reduced Māori-led/community-led governance

100%

Privatization = DEPRIVATION

Expect longer public waitlists with private providers providing initially faster service but at a cost, widening inequality in access.

Our Goals

Hold Government and political parties to account for adequately funding and resourcing our public system so that health services remain accessible and affordable for all New Zealanders.

Support the health workforce to achieve fair pay and sustainable working conditions. 

Campaign for public investment in health facilities that are fit for purpose and meet the needs of our growing communities.

Highlight where private providers, private investment, government regulation and policy threaten the wellbeing of our public health system. 

How we work

Promoting our message with resources people can use to start conversations about threats to public health services.

Actively working with people and communities to voice concerns through media and directly to government agencies and Members of Parliament. 

Collaborating with professional organisations, unions, and other advocacy groups.

Lobbying government with policy analysis on health system settings, petitions, and submissions.

Protest and other collective actions.

Public healthcare is necessary for society to function, just like roads, safe drinking water, schools, and libraries. It isn’t supposed to make money!

Protect Public Healthcare