The Coalition Government has shown repeatedly it’s no defender of workers’ rights and its latest proposed changes are a blatant attack on the regulation of our traditionally independent workforce. Introduced to Parliament in May, the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Amendment (HPCAA) Bill will fundamentally change the regulation of nursing and could have a profoundly negative impact on our already troubled health system.
In fact, the example of the car accident demonstrates the multiplication of roles that are eroding the role of the Nurse Practitioner, Registered and Enrolled nurses.
The Nursing Council has over a century of working to regulate the nursing workforce in Aotearoa, ensuring that nurses are competent and fit to practice. We were the first country in the world to legally require nurses to be registered – that’s something we can be proud of.
But the Minister of Health, Simeon Brown isn’t waiting for his legislation to be passed. He is already stepping into the regulation of nursing by gutting the Nursing Council. Since last September he has reduced the number of nurses on the board from seven to four.
That was despite the chair and three board members wanting to stay on. Two members did not seek re-appointment, and we are aware that two internationally qualified nurses have resigned in protest.
Simeon Brown's constant claim that he wants to put patients first rings hollow. He has made no attempts to ensure patient needs are the focus of a nurse-strong Council board.
This is a concerning overreach of ministerial powers, before the changes have even been debated in Parliament, let alone adopted. But anyone who noticed the Minister’s blatant politicking through cherrypicked fake scenarios in the 2025 Ministry of Health consultation document ahead of the legislation being drafted will not be surprised.
The Bill would also give the Minister new powers to direct regulators to carry out Government policy. This is a shift from the traditionally independent model of health workforce regulation we’ve had in Aotearoa. It would allow a health minister to create new scopes of practice and registration processes.
The Bill would also establish a Health Practitioners’ Review Committee – with panel experts appointed by the Minister of Health, which will have the power to review and overturn decisions by workforce regulators including the Nursing Council.
The changes would also remove explicit reference to Māori cultural competence from the authorities’ functions. Simeon Brown has dismissed kawa whakaruruhau (Māori cultural safety) as political ideology but the groundbreaking work of Irihapeti Ramsden demonstrated how it can remove the barriers to access and lead to better health outcomes.
There is little evidence of a problem needing to be solved here. The removal of references to Māori culture from the cultural competency requirements is a continuation of this Collation Government’s ongoing mission to delete Te Tiriti o Waitangi references from all our laws. Cultural safety is not only about Māori, yet the label is weaponised against Māori and a dog whistle designed to whip up racism.
The HPCAA Bill should be focused on fixing the crisis in the health system and reducing the pressure on an overburdened workforce. It is this proposed new law, not the health regulators – which is unbridled politics.