Kidney failure has forced ACT Party MP Mark Cameron to step away from the role he took on six years ago, with the Northland farmer announcing his departure from politics.
Cameron has announced he will not seek re-election in November, citing declining health and the personal impact of losing his son.
He was first elected to Parliament in 2020.
“I genuinely love the place and I thoroughly enjoy working with a group of Kiwis that have put their hand up to represent what they believe in,” he said.
“And, after six years and battling kidney disease and the loss of my son, I’ve had a bloody tough time of it, and I just know the dear old taxpayers’ paying my wages, and I cannot do the job that I once did with the kidney disease that I have.
Cameron said he now undergoes dialysis three times a week because his kidneys have completely failed, making it difficult for him to continue serving effectively. He said it would not be fair to the people he represents or to taxpayers for him to remain in the role under those circumstances.
Cameron had hoped to continue his parliamentary career after securing a kidney donor for a transplant planned earlier this year. He had expected to return to work by March or April, but just two days before Christmas he suffered heart failure, which ultimately made him ineligible for a kidney transplant.
“It’s a real ‘bugger me’ moment where you swear at the sky and consternation and don’t get any answers back,” he said.
He said he has been focused on recovery and rest ever since, leaving him unable to return to his parliamentary duties in Wellington.
“I want to do best by Kiwi folk, and the people I certainly love, which are rural people, and I simply can’t do it.”
Cameron described his experience with the health system as a mix of “incredible gratitude and immense disappointment.”
While expressing appreciation for frontline healthcare workers, he questioned how the country’s $33 billion health budget is being spent, pointing to long waiting times for treatment and overcrowded emergency departments as signs of a system under strain.
“Certainly in my case… I rang my specialist and didn’t get a reply for five days. One would argue at that point, with all the money being spent, that that professionalism is being lost, and maybe in that instance it was.”
Cameron’s son, Brody, died by suicide in 2024. Throughout his time in Parliament, the Northland farmer became a strong advocate for rural communities and mental health awareness.
He said more work is needed to ensure rural men struggling with mental health challenges can access the support they need, adding that there is still a “long way to go” in improving assistance and outcomes for those seeking help.
“We still have a long way to go, and the $2 billion we spend on mental health in part should be spent in rural New Zealand,” he said.