ACT has adopted as official policy a plan to build a dedicated national cancer centre with two campuses, one in Auckland and one in Christchurch, at an estimated $2 billion in capital cost. The proposal came from ACT list candidate Paul Henry, who first raised it off the cuff in July 2026 with a much larger $10 billion figure attached, and the party confirmed it as a campaign policy at its South Island launch in Christchurch on 21 August 2026. ACT has described the idea as a Starship for cancer, a reference to the children's hospital built with substantial philanthropic support.

What it does

Existing cancer services in both cities would be relocated to the new campuses. The Christchurch campus would serve the South Island and lower North Island, which ACT puts at roughly 40 percent of the population, with the Auckland campus covering the remainder. Funding would combine existing Crown health investment, public-private partnership financing, private capital and charitable donations, with Health New Zealand as the major customer buying clinical services and using the facilities. ACT would establish an independent not-for-profit National Cancer Centre Foundation to lead fundraising from businesses, charitable trusts, community organisations and wealthy individuals, and said major donors could receive naming rights over parts of the centres or an entire hospital. The party wants the centre built by 2035, and would remove the $33,000 annual cap on tax credits for charitable donations to encourage giving. Henry said that rather than patching together a dispersed system needing piece-by-piece upgrades, the country could create something genuinely world-class that would save more lives.

Where it sits

The donation tax credit change ACT is relying on is not settled government policy. RNZ reported that Revenue Minister Simon Watts has said no changes to the cap are planned, and that National MP Greg Fleming has separately criticised the cap. The costing has also moved a long way from the figure first floated in July, and the plan depends on philanthropic and private money that has not yet been raised. No costed response from other parties had been reported at the time of writing.