'The vultures are circling as New Zealand loses its first world status'
ACT New Zealand has vowed to establish a new immigration policy to attract more healthcare professionals amid concerns of a declining healthcare system.
The party made the declaration under its "We Hear Ya!" series, which aims to highlight the issues facing New Zealand and the solutions that ACT would provide.
In its latest publication, ACT highlighted the "increasingly tragic scenes" in hospitals because of a declining healthcare system.
One of the solutions it cited is a new immigration policy that will boost recruitment.
"Attract more doctors and primary healthcare professionals under a new immigration policy and establish better pathways for training and accreditation," the party said in a media release.
The ACT previously unveiled its plan to streamline what it called an "overly complex" set of immigration rules and regulations.
"Immigration is a make-or-break policy area for New Zealand. If the country does not have processes at least as good as those in major competitor countries like Australia and Canada, businesses will struggle to grow, social services will fail to deliver, and a spiral will take hold where it is even more difficult to attract and retain talent than in competitor countries," ACT leader David Seymour said.
Failing wages
The decline in the healthcare system is because of "failing wages," according to ACT.
“New Zealand’s healthcare system is training less, paying less and harder to access than first world comparators. Is it any wonder our health system is in crisis?”
Healthcare is predominantly paid for by taxes, which come from wages, said Seymour. “Lower wages mean less healthcare. Under Labour, the median wage gap has gone from Australians earning $17,400 more to $24,000 more.”
New Zealand has also been training 40% fewer medical professionals per capita than Australia, according to the ACT leader.
"The vultures are circling as New Zealand loses its first world status. The government of Victoria is aggressively advertising for nurses to cross the ditch, and with the higher pay, available nurses will continue to leave," he said.
It was previously announced that New Zealand nurses would receive up to 14% of pay rise in the first quarter of 2023, putting them "on par dollar for dollar with their Australian counterparts."
Last year, 10,000 workers with health administration roles were covered by a "historic" pay equity settlement that will grant some of them of up to 40% pay rise. About 20,000 frontline community health workers in aged-care facilities, hospices, and Māori and Pacific health-care organisations will also be getting a pay rise after the government invested an ongoing funding of $200 million a year.
