The New Zealand general election is just two months away, and conversations with key candidates are now beginning, led by Tu Te Akaaka Roa Chair, Dr Hiran Thabrew.

Our ask of the incoming Government is focused on three key areas – addressing the psychiatry workforce shortage, taking greater care of the most vulnerable 5% of the population, and creating and maintaining robust data sets which will provide the necessary evidence for appropriately planning ahead.

Specific investment asks are:

• $60 million investment over six years to support 60 new psychiatry trainees through the system and into practice
• Increase future mental health budgets by $7.7 million per year, equating to $25m over three years, to meet the population growth and rising costs of existing services
• $27 million over three years to provide a comprehensive survey, aimed at understanding the mental health and wellbeing of New Zealanders

You can read more about this in the election platform document, Creating Pathways for Impactful Mental Health Care.

An election platform is a key advocacy technique to grab attention ahead of a general election. It should be seen as a ‘sales pitch’ as opposed to the much more detailed and nuanced pre-Budget submissions that are developed ahead of every annual state, territory and national Budget across Australia and New Zealand.

The aim of the election platform is to highlight key areas of need in a way which may fit with a prospective Government’s own policy development. We want to encourage candidates to endorse RANZCP’s calls – and ideally promise to deliver what we are asking, or part there-of, should they become Government.

The election platform document is public-facing, and we encourage members to share it with their New Zealand colleagues, and to use it to speak to a candidate ahead of the election, if the opportunity arises.

New Zealand goes to the polls on 14 October and it is shaping up to be a very tight contest, quite the opposite of the landslide Labour victory under Jacinda Ardern in 2020.