Broadcaster Paul Henry wants New Zealand to build a world class cancer hospital, unveiling the idea as he announced he will stand for ACT at this year’s general election.

Henry said the hospital would cost multiple billions of dollars and could be funded through a combination of private wealth and government borrowing.

“One of the things I’d love to do is build a cancer hospital here, a world class cancer hospital. It’ll cost multiple billions of dollars. I think you could easily get a group of wealthy New Zealanders to stump up with about 10 billion. The rest of it we would borrow, but that would be an investment in New Zealand’s future,” Henry said.

“I’m not talking about a cancer hospital just for those in New Zealand, although it would hugely benefit New Zealanders, but a world class hospital that people will travel here for. That’s the kind of investment that we should be making. That’s the kind of thing that makes us one of the most envied countries of the world.”

Henry said the idea dated back to the Covid pandemic, when he suggested it during his programme Rebuilding Paradise.

“The Labour government had this extraordinary opportunity during Covid where no one was questioning their need to borrow money. What mattered was were they investing it or throwing it away, and as it turns out they threw it away.”

He drew a distinction between borrowing for spending and borrowing for investment. “If you borrow money, you’ve got to borrow money to invest. You’ve got to borrow money that’s not only going to pay for itself but it’s going to make New Zealand a better place and it’s going to make money for New Zealand. That’s not really borrowing, that’s investing.”

Henry acknowledged he had not costed the proposal, describing it as “top of the head stuff”. “You know me, I’m a big picture man. I haven’t worked on the detail for that. We’ll employ 50 people to work that out, which of course we won’t do.”

ACT leader David Seymour, hearing the idea for the first time, endorsed the concept and pointed to the party’s record on cancer funding.

“We’ve spent a huge amount of money and don’t have anything to show for it. We’re short of infrastructure, we’ve got hospitals that are falling apart and yet there’s also a huge amount of debt.”

“It’s also true that ACT has driven the initiative to spend more money on cancer. $604 million, about 360,000 people getting extra treatments since I’ve been in charge of Pharmac.”

Seymour said the plan would require public and private cooperation.

“You can often substantially raise money from the private sector if you don’t have an allergy to private sector involvement.”

“Imagine a New Zealand where people around the world say if you’ve got cancer and it’s really bad, New Zealand’s the place you need to be. Isn’t that a great dream for our country?”

The pitch came as Henry, 65, confirmed he will stand for ACT on the party list at this year’s election. He resigned from the Television New Zealand board hours before making the decision public. The ACT board ratified his candidacy last night and he said he signed the paperwork about a minute before phoning the TVNZ chairman.

“I resigned this morning because it is untenable for me to stand for any political party and be on the Television New Zealand board.”

He described the resignation as one of the hardest parts of the decision.

“I am very proud of what I achieved, what the board’s achieved, what the executives achieved and what many of the staff at TVNZ are achieving. We’re turning the organisation around so it can face the future.”

Henry said his grandchildren prompted the move into politics.

“My wife and I have 10 grandchildren between us. As I looked at them, as someone who cares very much about this country and has always been interested in politics, I thought what is the chance that as you grow a little older you will have the same opportunities that your grandfather had when he was growing up in paradise.”

“What are the chances that you will be growing up in a country that champions success, that champions individual responsibility, that has prepared a platform on which you can easily succeed? What are the odds versus what are the odds you’ll be brought up in a country with a ballooning debt that has missed its opportunities to sort that debt out and sort itself out?”

He said a recent poll suggesting Labour could form the next government was a catalyst.

“Last month I was in the United States and when I’m there I always have time to think. I was becoming slightly more concerned about this next election, which is pivotal. I was thinking, should I do something about it personally? Should I put myself on the line?”

“If they do that it will be a complete disaster, not because Labour is always a complete disaster, which they are, but because this is a particularly vital election. In the last three years the country has been nudged in the right direction, but only nudged. It needs a huge lurch in the right direction.”

Henry said he settled on ACT as the vehicle for that change.

“The only way we can truly achieve that, I determined, was with ACT having a big say in the next coalition.”

He repeatedly returned to government debt, telling reporters the country was paying $24.5 million a day in interest.

“We have to find today $24.5 million to pay the interest on the debt that we were left by the last Labour government. The problem with that is we don’t have $24.5 million a day to pay it, which means we are borrowing money to pay interest on money we already owe.”

“If this was the way you were running your own houses and your mortgages, you would literally put the keys to the door in the envelope, send them to the bank and run to the airport.”

“You can’t borrow your way to prosperity. You cannot tax your way to prosperity. And you cannot achieve prosperity with separatism and internal fighting, and that is what a left coalition government has to offer.”

Henry was direct when asked about his ambitions in Parliament.

“I’m painfully honest. Yes, I want to be a minister. I’m 65 years old. I’m not doing this to waste my time or anyone else’s. I want the opportunity to make as much of a difference personally as I can.”

He admitted he had reservations about entering politics, recounting a chance encounter with former Labour leader David Shearer while anchored off a small island in Fiji in September 2023.

“I spent probably an hour having a wine with him, congratulating him on throwing politics in, buying a small yacht and sailing around the world. So what did I learn from that? Nothing. I’ve done exactly the opposite.”

“Yes, I have had reservations, but you know what, I absolutely love this country. There is no excuse for us being in the situation we’re in now. No excuse at all.”

Seymour said Henry would be placed high on the party list.

“I expect that the board will put Paul in an electable and respectable position. We expect to see him in Parliament in about 116 days. He’s not only going to give ACT a real boost in getting there, he’s going to ensure we keep winning the argument with his communication skills and his infectious enthusiasm.”

Seymour, who is acting Prime Minister, confirmed Christopher Luxon was not told about the announcement beforehand.

“You’ve got to respect that these are party matters. I would never expect to know who the National Party was putting up as candidates. I wish for their sake they had some candidates as exciting as Paul.”

Henry stood for National in 1999 but said both he and the country had changed since then.

“I’ve changed. I know a great deal more about life. I know a great deal more about what we need to do. But also New Zealand’s changed a huge amount.”

“When I was growing up in this country we had ludicrous expectations. Every boy in my class, including me, wanted to be an astronaut. We dreamed big because we were living in a country that dreamed big and supported that. There is no reason at all why this country shouldn’t be the most envied place on earth to live. No reason at all. But it isn’t.”

Asked about the Prime Minister’s performance, Henry said he was “enormously disappointed with National” but described Luxon as “the great uniter” who had held together the first three party coalition in history.

He was blunt about the risks of National’s approach.

“The nature of being a centre right party is you have to be a little bit populist. What happens if you run a party that wants everyone to vote for them is you end up doing nothing that encourages anyone to vote for you. Someone needs to hold National to the oven.”

On New Zealand First, Henry offered a barbed assessment.

“I used to host Traitors, so I know a little bit more about Winston and New Zealand First than anyone else. I look at some of the policies that New Zealand First sprinkles, sugar hits basically. All it is is a policy. It’s not a direction for the country.”

The latest poll has ACT on 7.8 percent. Seymour said the party was up while National was down, and the coalition remained ahead.

“I hear from people they feel that they must vote National to keep Labour out. The ACT party is just as effective at locking Labour out, with the added bonus that we lock their policies out of any coalition government too,” Seymour said.

Seymour also dismissed The Opportunities Party as a potential partner.

“Their basic premise is to solve the welfare problem by putting everyone on welfare and then pay for that by taxing your property. That is to the left of the Greens. The Greens must be envious that they haven’t thought of something that left wing.”

Henry said his media career may not be over entirely.

“I posted the definitive end of my media career a long time ago. It would be a mistake to do it again. I would love to host The Chase again. That may well not be possible.”