ACT unveils plan for New Zealand’s first dedicated Cancer centre - Beyond Tomorrow

“ACT will build New Zealand’s Starship for Cancer, the country’s first purpose-built comprehensive cancer centre, with two campuses in Auckland and Christchurch,” says ACT List Candidate Paul Henry.

“Cancer is New Zealand’s biggest killer. More than 30,000 New Zealanders are diagnosed each year, by 2044 that number is expected to exceed 45,000. 

“I’ve joined politics because I am ambitious for New Zealand and think it has endless potential. We should not accept being second-rate at treating a disease that touches almost every family.

“Starship showed what New Zealand can achieve when we concentrate talent, technology, generosity and national ambition around a single mission. ACT wants to do the same for cancer.

“This is an aspirational policy, but it is realistic and practical. Comprehensive cancer centres are the gold standard internationally because they bring researchers, clinicians, universities, private providers and philanthropists together with world-class treatment, technology and clinical trials. They also help attract and retain the best oncologists, surgeons and scientists. If New Zealand cannot offer that environment, Australia and other countries will.

“The centres will be developed using a combination of public-private partnership financing, charitable donations, existing Crown health investment, and other private capital where appropriate. The indicative capital requirement is around $2 billion, with the final cost determined through the detailed business-case process.

“By partnering with New Zealand’s leading philanthropists, families, businesses, charitable trusts, community organisations and successful Kiwis, we can build something extraordinary.

“ACT will establish an independent philanthropic foundation from the beginning of the project to unlock extraordinary generosity, with major donors recognised through naming rights for appropriate parts of the Centres, including, for a transformational contribution, potentially a hospital itself.

“The recently introduced $33,333 cap on the tax benefits available for charitable donations will be removed for all charitable giving. If New Zealanders want to give $1 million, $10 million or more to cancer care, medical research or other causes, the tax system should encourage that generosity, not impose an arbitrary ceiling on it.

“This is an investment in New Zealand’s future. It is the type of project that makes New Zealand the envy of the world and attracts private healthcare investment, new technologies and therapies, teaching, medical research, and international clinical trials.

“New Zealand can build one of the world’s great cancer institutions. ACT will make it happen.”

Editor's note: ACT's full policy, Beyond Tomorrow – A Starship for Cancer, can be found here.