| Party | Response |
|---|---|
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Labour will offer every eligible New Zealand-trained graduate nurse a job in our health system. Jobs will be offered through the existing advanced choice of employment (ACE) and primary care employment schemes.
It will apply to graduates sitting their state final examination from July 2026 onwards. Eligible graduates will be offered a job in a hospital, primary care or community healthcare setting.  From 2027, roles will be offered on graduation rather than staggered throughout the year and will be for at least 0.8 full-time equivalent (FTE). Both registered and enrolled nurses are eligible. Job offers will depend on graduates passing their state final examination and required pre-employment checks. Graduates must also be a New Zealand citizen, permanent resident, returning resident visa holder or Australian citizen, and have completed their nursing qualification at a New Zealand tertiary institution.  We want to see more nursing graduates take up careers in primary and community care. This is why Labour will double the funding available through Health New Zealand’s current recruitment subsidy, increasing the current rate for rural nurse employers from $20,000 to $40,000 and for nurse employers in urban areas from $15,000 to $30,000. – Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall Labour’s health policies can be found in full here: https://www.labour.org.nz/our-policies/ |
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Workforce projections published under the Plan would let training and employment be planned together, so we are not training graduates with no jobs to go to.
– Health spokesperson Jessica Hammond Opportunity health policy can be found here: https://www.opportunity.org.nz/healthy_people |
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There is no shortage of need for nurses in our health system.
Te Pāti Māori will ensure that all public health centres in need of staff have the resources to hire more nurses, and we will support nurses if they choose to relocate to rural areas and underserve communities. Te Pāti Māori’s full health policy can be found here and its education and training policy here. |
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The Green Party are supportive of giving Health NZ and community providers adequate funding to be able to guarantee employment for New Zealand-trained nursing graduates.
Employing the nurses we have invested in training is essential to rebuilding safe staffing and retaining skills in Aotearoa. – Health spokesperson Hūhana Lyndon The Green Party’s full health policy can be found here: https://www.greens.org.nz/health_policy |
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 National’s health spokesperson, current Minister of Health Simeon Brown, refused to answer any of Kaitiaki’s questions, citing NZNO’s “politicising” of health in the lead up to the General Election. |
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The ACT Party’s health spokesperson Todd Stephenson did not answer questions due to “capacity constraints”. |
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No answers were received from New Zealand First’s health spokesperson Casey Costello. |
Responses published in the order they were received.