The Medical Council of New Zealand is consulting on new draft statements for doctors. The consultation closes 24 March 2026. You have until then to make your voice heard.
Here's how to submit:
On this page on MCNZ, there is a survey you can complete to submit to MCNZ.
However, you can also email your concerns and feedback directly to:
[email protected]
You can submit as an individual member of the public and you don't need to be a medical professional.
Why the Free Speech Union opposes these statements
These draft statements don't just ask doctors to treat patients respectfully; every doctor is already legally required to do that. They go further, requiring doctors to endorse contested political theories about colonisation, privilege, and systemic power as a condition of keeping their practising certificate. That's compelled speech.
Here are our five core objections:
· It compels belief, not just conduct. Doctors must affirm contested political theories - on colonisation, privilege, and systemic power - as a condition of practising. The New Zealand Bill of Rights protects against exactly this.
· It exceeds the law. The Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act requires cultural competence and respectful interaction with Māori. It does not require ideological agreement or activist commitments.
· It politicises the profession. Requiring doctors to "dismantle unfair systems" is the language of a political manifesto, not a medical regulator.
· It creates a chilling effect. Doctors who privately disagree will learn to say the right things - not because they're persuaded, but because their careers depend on it.
· It conflates good care with correct opinions. A doctor can treat every patient with skill, dignity, and respect while holding different views on Treaty politics. The Council's standards don't distinguish between the two.
The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act protects not only the right to speak freely, but the right not to be forced to affirm beliefs you don't hold.
A regulator's job is to ensure clinical competence and patient safety - not to impose a political worldview on the profession.
Good medicine depends on doctors who think critically and follow the evidence. These standards would replace that with ideological conformity.
Submissions close 24 March. Make yours today.
Please feel free to use our core objections above when submitting to the Council.
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