Terminally ill Southland man Blair Vining's petition of 140,000 signatures calling for a national cancer agency has been presented to Parliament today.
Mr Vining has terminal bowel cancer and sought life-lengthening private treatment. Many New Zealanders had been following his journey as he ticked off 10 bucket list items.
Blair is in a hurry to tick off projects on his list because time is short.
Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker said the creation of a national cancer agency was part of Mr Vining's bucket list.
"This is an incredible guy, Southland's very proud of him. This is his 10th item on that bucket list, the ninth was to have a final farewell, which is a bit like a living funeral.
"Blair's a character, at that living farewell MP Michael Woodhouse and I accepted that petition, which was a really moving night."
Blair Vining’s an ordinary Kiwi bloke with an extraordinary story
National Party leader Simon Bridges, who wheeled out the petition in a blue suitcase, said it was a "massive day" for Mr Vining, who could not attend the petition delivery.
"What Blair and his family have done is a remarkable achievement. We're out here in solidarity with him because of effort, because of his passion and what he is trying to achieve."
Mr Bridges said a national cancer agency was "something the Government promised and they are not delivering".
"I'm not here to say National will certainly do it, we are thinking those things through. If we promised it prior to the election we would keep that promise."
"In Blair's view, creating that national cancer agency would provide the better treatment, the consistency, so it doesn't matter what post code you're in in New Zealand, whether you're at the bottom of the Bluff of the top of the North Island you would get that faster, better, more consistent treatment.
"It really is a massive effort by Blair, we are in solidarity with him today and we are accepting this petition."
Health Minister David Clark told 1 NEWS he met Mr Vining earlier this month "to listen to their story directly and thank them for their campaign to improve cancer care".
He acknowledged "at times Blair's treatment had fallen well short of the standard of care he deserved".
"The Interim Cancer Action Plan is being designed to make a positive difference in future to people in Blair's situation.
"The Plan’s focus is on prevention and delivering consistent, equitable and modern cancer care nationwide. A key part of that will be strong central leadership, governance and accountability measures."
He said it was being finalised and would be released in the coming weeks.
He told RNZ's Nine to Noon, when Labour was in Opposition it had a policy to create a cancer agency.
"That was born out of a deep concern for the state the Ministry of Health was in because there was a lack of confidence that it could deliver strategic direction and strong oversight.
"Since I've been the Minister of Health, the Ministry is in a rebuilding phase and really is stepping up and delivering on leadership, on relating better to the system, building on the expertise that's in the system," he told RNZ.
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