Act ramping up pressure on National Party minister Scott Simpson over ACC ‘ethnic outcome targets’

David Seymour's Act Party is trying to put pressure on ACC Minister Scott Simpson over a disagreement about an ACC tender. Photo / Mark Mitchell

• Act MP Laura McClure sent a letter raising her concerns to the ACC minister earlier this week.
• Act contends the ACC tender contradicts a Cabinet Office circular about public service delivery.
• ACC Minister Scott Simpson disagrees and believes the tender aligns with the circular.

The Act Party is seeking to ramp up pressure on a National Party minister over a disagreement concerning ACC’s “ethnic outcome targets”.

Act today published a letter sent by MP Laura McClure to ACC Minister Scott Simpson this week that claimed a tender issued by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) was “inconsistent” with a Cabinet Office circular, which dictates public service delivery should be based on need, not race.

The tender sought a supplier that could “deliver evidence-based initiatives to reduce work-related injuries in the manufacturing sector”.

Central to Act’s concerns was the tender’s stated focus on Māori and Pasifika communities, including what McClure described in her letter as “ethnic outcome targets” of 5461 claims being saved in 10 years and of those, at least 18% must be from Māori and 11% from Pasifika.

“The circular makes clear that ethnicity should not be used as a proxy for need and that services must be justified through empirical evidence about actual disparities and why general services are insufficient to address them,” McClure said in her letter to Simpson, dated April 22.

”ACC does not appear to have made an analytical case for targeting a particular population subgroup based on empirical evidence, as required by the circular.

“Is it the view of the minister that Māori or Pasifika are inherently more susceptible to workplace accidents? If ACC has shared any data suggesting that the difference in injury rates cannot be explained by other factors such as the risks associated with a particular job, please share this with me.”

ACC Minister Scott Simpson (left) during a privileges committee hearing. Photo / Mark Mitchell

While first reported by Newsroom today, the Herald understands Act and Simpson’s office attempted to resolve the issue privately last week, but efforts to agree were unsuccessful.

In correspondence seen by the Herald, it’s understood staff from the Act’s leader’s office first contacted Simpson’s office to discuss the matter when it was raised by Newsroom.

Act’s office then received a response from Simpson’s, which argued the tender’s conditions did align with the circular.

It noted how 18% of work-related weekly compensation claims in manufacturing in 2024 affected Māori despite their being only 14% of the workforce, and 11% impacted Pacific people, who were 10% of the workforce.

Simpson’s office also highlighted the circular allowed for Crown entities such as ACC to comply “as far as possible, taking into account their legal obligations, statutory functions and duties”.

In Act’s social media post two days after the letter was sent, it claimed there was “no evidence to suggest Māori and Pasifika are inherently more injury-prone than other workers”.

“Using race as a proxy for vulnerability is lazy and unscientific,” the post read.

Simpson’s office has been contacted for comment.

In a statement, ACC deputy chief executive Andy Milne said he believed the tender “aligns with the Government’s desire for services to be based on need“.

“While there is a targeted focus on outcomes to be achieved for Māori and Pacific communities, the tender invites suppliers to lead programmes and initiatives focused on outcomes for the wider sector, including all individuals and communities within it.”

Adam Pearse is the deputy political editor and part of the NZ Herald’s press gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.