Newsletter

"Exposing the Neoliberal Assault on Our Health System” - 28 July 2025

When Nurses Strike, the System Lies

Ivor Jones The Māori Green Ltn

28 Jul 2025 — 17 min read

Kia ora whānau - Te Whakamoemiti o te Kaitiaki Kākāriki o Aotearoa

When 36,000 health workers walk off the job, the colonial health system shows its true face - prioritizing profit over patients and corporate interests over care for tangata whenua. This latest nurses' strike reveals the devastating consequences of decades of neoliberal policies 1 that have systematically underfunded healthcare while enriching private contractors and maintaining white supremacist structures that harm Māori most of all.

https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360767645/your-surgery-may-be-36000-health-staff-striking-week

Understanding the Colonial Context

The current health crisis cannot be understood without acknowledging how neoliberalism has systematically dismantled New Zealand's public health system since the 1980s2. This economic ideology, characterized by privatization, deregulation, and reduced public spending, has created what researchers identify as a tiered healthcare system where access to quality care becomes increasingly dependent on socioeconomic status 3.

For Māori, this colonial assault on healthcare represents a continuation of the same structures that have oppressed tangata whenua since 1840. Research consistently shows that neoliberal reforms in New Zealand led to income inequality and an unequal distribution of health determinants, with the burden borne disproportionately by children, the poor, and by Māori and Pacific people4.

The establishment of Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand in 2022 was supposed to address these inequities, but under the current National-led coalition government, it has become another vehicle for austerity and cuts rather than genuine transformation.

The Strike: What the Government Claims vs Reality

Government Spin: "Generous Offers and Improved Conditions"

Health Minister Simeon Brown and Te Whatu Ora officials are peddling several deceptive narratives about this strike that deserve thorough debunking:

Claim 1: Nurses Are Getting Generous Pay Increases

The government boasts that their offer would see a new graduate nurse receive a total increase of $8,337 by June 20265. Health NZ Chief Executive Dr Dale Bramley claims the average salary for nurses is $125,662 including overtime and penalties6.

Reality Check: This is mathematical manipulation designed to obscure poverty wages. The government's offer amounts to just 2% in the first year and 1% in the second year - well below inflation and cost of living increases. The union has rejected this as failing to meet cost-of-living increases7. When inflation is running higher than these increases, nurses are effectively taking a pay cut while working in increasingly dangerous conditions.

Government wage offers versus union demands for New Zealand health workers show the gap between what nurses need and what the government is offering

Claim 2: Nursing Workforce Has Improved Significantly

Bramley proudly states that nurse turnover decreased from 14% in December 2022 to 8.6% in December 20246, suggesting the workforce is stable and growing.

Reality Check: This statistic is meaningless when 50% of all day shifts were understaffed across hospital wards in 16 health districts between January and November 20248. The reason turnover is down isn't because conditions have improved - it's because 55% of graduate nurses received rejection letters for hospital roles they applied for9 due to budget constraints. People can't leave jobs that don't exist for them elsewhere.

Claim 3: The Strike Will Harm Patients

Brown sanctimoniously declared that striking nurses should "put patients first" and that "walking off the job won't solve anything"5.

Reality Check: This is classic victim-blaming rhetoric that ignores the government's role in creating this crisis. NZNO Chief Executive Paul Goulter correctly identifies that understaffing is putting patients at risk and stretching workers "too thin"7. The strike is happening precisely because nurses ARE putting patients first - they're fighting for safe staffing levels that protect both patients and workers.

The Austerity Agenda: Neoliberalism in Action

Manufacturing Crisis Through Underfunding

The current "crisis" in health funding is entirely manufactured by the coalition government's ideological commitment to austerity. Finance Minister Nicola Willis directed ministries to slash expenditure by 6.5% or 7.5% to reduce annual public service spending by $1.5 billion10.

This follows a clear pattern identified by researchers: austerity policies focus on cost cutting rather than patient safety, with hegemonic discourses of neoliberalism and new public management subordinating nursing knowledge11.

The Privatization Playbook

The government's approach follows what critics identify as the austerity playbook: defund public services to failure, watch them fail, then privatise12. Already we see this through:

The Devastating Impact on Māori Health

Structural Racism in Healthcare Delivery

The current crisis particularly harms Māori, who already face systemic discrimination within the health system. Research consistently shows Māori experience poorer health outcomes across multiple indicators due to structural inequities14.

Māori health disparities reveal the devastating impact of colonial healthcare systems, with Māori facing up to 5 times higher mortality rates in some conditions

Neoliberalism as Colonial Violence

The dismantling of public healthcare represents a continuation of colonial violence against tangata whenua. Studies show that health inequities between Māori and non-Māori adults cost more than $860 million annually, with the primary health care system actually saving money by under-serving Māori15.

This is not accidental but systemic. Research identifies that universal Western approaches to healthcare have failed rangatahi Māori, with policies that focus on Indigenous communities requiring Māori leadership and sustained political will16.

Removing Māori Rights from Healthcare

Particularly insidious is the government's removal of Tikanga Māori allowances and Kaupapa Māori dispute resolution processes from their latest offer 1. This represents a direct attack on Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations and Māori tino rangatiratanga in healthcare.

The Broader Pattern of Austerity Violence

Public Service Destruction

This health crisis is part of a broader assault on public services. Already more than 5,000 public sector jobs have been cut or are proposed to be cut10, with health redundancies costing $33 million at Health NZ alone17.

The government's rhetoric about "fiscal responsibility" and "tight financial constraints" serves to manufacture consent for the privatization agenda. Finance Minister Willis, despite disliking the term "austerity," has cut government operating allowances and implemented cuts totaling around $4 billion18.

This follows documented patterns where austerity is not actually about spending less, but about who gets to decide how public money is used - shifting control from democratic institutions to corporate and bureaucratic managers18.

Debunking the False Opposition Narrative

Labour's Complicity in Neoliberalism

While the current National-led coalition bears immediate responsibility for this crisis, we must acknowledge that neoliberalism has been the dominant ideology across both major parties19. The previous Labour government initiated many of the structural changes that created today's problems.

The Bipartisan Austerity Consensus

For the 2023 election ostensibly fought over a "cost-of-living crisis," there was strong unspoken consensus between the two major parties that most people's living standards needed to reduce to thwart inflation19. This reveals how both parties serve the same corporate interests while offering only cosmetic differences to voters.

Broader Implications for Māori and Working People

Healthcare as a Site of Class Struggle

This nurses' strike represents a crucial battleground in the broader class struggle in Aotearoa. The neoliberal assault on healthcare particularly impacts working-class Māori families who cannot afford private healthcare20.

The Connection to Anti-Māori Politics

The same government implementing healthcare cuts is also pursuing broader anti-co-governance campaigns and promoting "one law for all" rhetoric that specifically targets Māori rights21. This is not coincidental but represents a coordinated attack on both public services and Indigenous rights.

Corporate Welfare vs Public Austerity

While nurses are told there's no money for fair wages or safe staffing, the same government provides tax cuts for landlords, multinationals and tobacco companies22. This reveals the true priorities of neoliberal governance - socializing costs while privatizing profits.

Moving Forward: Resistance and Solutions

Supporting the Strike

The nursing strike deserves the full support of all working people and particularly Māori communities who are disproportionately harmed by healthcare underfunding. The union's demands for safe staffing levels and cost-of-living wage increases are reasonable and necessary7.

Building Alternative Models

The crisis also highlights the need for genuinely transformative approaches to healthcare that center Māori tino rangatiratanga and collective wellbeing over corporate profits. Research shows that strategies which narrow health inequities for rangatahi Māori require specific policies, Māori leadership, sustained funding, and political will to address inequity16.

Exposing the Lies

We must continue exposing how government rhetoric about "fiscal responsibility" and "putting patients first" serves to obscure their ideological commitment to dismantling public services. The voice of nursing has struggled to be heard in matters relating to patient safety precisely because neoliberal discourses subordinate nursing knowledge to serve corporate interests11.

He Whakatōhea

This health crisis exposes the fundamental contradictions of neoliberal capitalism and its particular violence against tangata whenua. When nurses strike for safe staffing and fair wages, they fight not just for themselves but for all of us who depend on public healthcare.

The government's lies about generous offers and improved conditions cannot hide the reality of manufactured crisis designed to justify privatization. Their removal of Māori rights from healthcare agreements reveals the white supremacist agenda behind austerity politics.

As we support these striking health workers, we must also build towards systems of care that honor Te Tiriti, center collective wellbeing, and serve the people rather than corporate profits. The colonial health system is failing because it was designed to fail - now we must build something better in its place.

Mauri ora to all health workers standing strong on the picket lines. Your struggle is our struggle.

Kia kaha,
Ivor Jones The Māori Green Lantern

Readers who find value in this analysis and wish to support the cause of exposing neoliberalism and white supremacy in Aotearoa, please consider making a koha/donation to HTDM: 03-1546-0415173-000. The MGL understands these are tough economic times for whānau, so please only contribute if you have the capacity and wish to do so. Your support helps maintain this independent voice against colonial propaganda.

https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Robyn-Shearer/1417316810

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