Waikato Medical School approved with $83m from Government, but donors needed

Monday, 21 July 2025

The Government is pushing go on the Waikato Medical School as it’s satisfied Waikato University has enough philanthropic backing for the project.

The Government will fund the school $83 million, with Waikato University coming up with the rest - $150m - with support from philanthropists.

A memorandum of understanding states that the medical school should focus on training GPs and rural doctors, provide a graduate degree and aim for an initial intake of 120 students for the academic year beginning January 2028.

Health Minister Simeon Brown on Monday said Cabinet had approved the business case for the new school, “which will have a strong focus on primary care and rural health”.

“The school will offer a graduate-entry programme, providing a flexible new pathway into medicine that helps attract a broader range of students and build a stronger, more diverse workforce.”

Brown said the decision “will enable the University of Waikato to begin construction on new teaching facilities later this year and start planning for clinical placements, while giving more students the opportunity to study medicine in New Zealand”.

National’s 2023 election campaign had promised the school. The capital establishment was at the time estimated to cost about $380m, $100m of that funded by the university pending a final business case. The remainder was to be funded by the Government.

After Brown’s announcement, ACT leader David Seymour claimed credit for saving taxpayers $200m.

Brown said the Government would proactively release the business case and said the university had increased their contribution through the process of negotiating the agreement.

“They have philanthropic supporters who are backing this in the Waikato…it’s a great outcome for New Zealand. It’s a great outcome for the Waikato.”

The funding would primarily go towards the establishment of the laboratories and teaching spaces, and the spaces required in regional communities for clinical placements, said Brown.

He added that the university’s financial position was “very strong”, despite Treasury last year casting doubt on whether it could contribute $100m, and that the philanthropic component of the funding was “very strong”.

Said Luxon, “We wont regret this, when we look back on it.”

Luxon wouldn’t identify the donors.

“Suffice to say, there is some serious commitment from some very generous people across the Waikato.”

Seymour said that the university agreeing to a higher proportion of costs was down to “ACT’s rigorous questioning”.

Luxon was less fulsome.

“We go through a Government process where you had to evaluate this project, we wanted to be reassured that the Waikato University had the pledges and actually had the philanthropic support that this case relies upon,” he said at a post-Cabinet press conference on Monday.

“We wanted to make sure their own financial balance sheet was in good shape, that they could actually backstop this, and afford this…The capital cost associated with this, is only costing the Crown $80m, and that’s because we’ve reassured ourselves over the last 18 months that we don’t want to be in a white elephant situation where the philanthropy doesn’t come through, or the university hasn’t got the financial firepower to backstop this.”

Waikato University vice chancellor Neil Quigley said the go-ahead was a “landmark day for New Zealand”.

“The Government’s decision to approve the Waikato Medical School reflects an extraordinary level of planning, teamwork, professional and community support, and perseverance.

“We are delighted to have been given the opportunity to bring the graduate entry model of medical education to New Zealand. We will widen the pathway into medical education and in the process introduce a more productive and effective approach to training the medical workforce our communities need.”

Quigley is also the chairperson of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand board.