The Ministry of Health has unveiled a proposed restructure that would see the loss of 21 specialist roles within its Public Health Agency, including deep cuts to the Māori Public Health team and the unit responsible for emergency management and pandemic preparedness.

Health-sector unions, Māori health advocates, and public-health experts are sounding the alarm – warning the cuts could undermine efforts to reduce health inequalities for Māori, weaken pandemic and disaster readiness, and worsen existing pressures across New Zealand’s health system.

• The Emergency Management / Pandemic Preparedness unit that currently has 11 staff is proposed to shrink to just 2 roles.

• The Māori Public Health team would be reduced from 6 staff down to 2.

• Additional reductions are proposed in the unit overseeing mental health, addiction and suicide prevention – with senior roles disestablished and remaining roles reshuffled.

The Ministry says the changes form part of a broader cost-saving and efficiency exercise, with consultation on the proposals wrapping up later this month. Implementation could begin as early as April 2026.

The Public Health Agency is charged with advising government on disease prevention, public-health threats, and mental-health strategies – including issues that disproportionately affect Māori and Pacific communities.

• Loss of Māori-specific capacity: Cutting dedicated Māori public-health staff threatens culturally responsive health planning and services – risking a rollback of hard-won gains in addressing inequities.

• Weakened emergency readiness: Experts say the reduction in emergency-management roles comes at a time when climate change, pandemics, and biosecurity risks are rising – making it exactly the wrong time to shrink expertise. Professor Nick Wilson, of Otago University Public Health, described the proposal as “deeply worrying.”

• Mental health and addiction support threatened: The restructuring of suicide prevention and addiction services has raised alarms among mental-health advocates, who say continuity and specialised care are vital – particularly for whānau already facing social or economic hardship.

A spokesperson for the union Public Service Association (PSA) said these roles are not “bureaucratic fluff” – they are vital to public safety and population health. Cutting them, the PSA says, amounts to erasing decades of expertise just as demand for health services grows.

Māori health leaders warn the cuts could wipe out years of progress on equity, prevention, and culturally appropriate care.

One Māori health advocate told Radio Waatea:

“If you remove our people who understand our whānau, our tikanga, our risk – you’re removing hope. We will see the cost in worsening health, lives lost, and communities breaking down.”

Advocates also note that Māori communities already carry heavier burdens of chronic disease, mental-health challenges, and social stress – meaning losing culturally responsive public-health capacity could hit Māori disproportionately.

Public consultation closes on 22 December 2025. After that, the Ministry may proceed to implement cuts as early as April 2026.

The PSA has pledged to fight the proposal, including possibly escalating concerns to external watchdogs.

Experts and community leaders are calling for a rethink – arguing that rather than cuts, the Ministry should expand public-health capability to meet growing pressures: climate threats, ageing population, and inequities.

Meanwhile, Māori health advocates are urging the Government to reaffirm its commitment to Treaty obligations and equity under the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022.