ACT MP Mark Cameron delivers valedictory from dialysis chair via video link

ACT list MP Mark Cameron delivered his farewell speech to Parliament this week by video link, appearing on large screens in the debating chamber while he undergoes dialysis treatment.

Cameron, a Northland dairy farmer from Ruawai, has spent six years in Parliament and is retiring for health reasons despite wanting to stay. "Dialysis is a hell of a thing," he told the chamber from his remote location.

The farewell brings to a close a parliamentary career focused on rural advocacy and, in its final months, marked by serious health challenges and personal hardship. Cameron served as ACT's Rural Communities spokesperson and kept working in his parliamentary role while his health deteriorated.

His departure has been gradual rather than sudden. On 7 June, Cameron said publicly he would not seek a place on the ACT party list — the ranked list of candidates a party puts forward under MMP, where seats are filled based on the share of the party vote. ACT shared the decision across its social media channels at the time, noting he had continued serving through serious health challenges and personal hardship. Around 25 August, Cameron publicly confirmed he was stepping down from Parliament due to health issues, with the valedictory following in the final weeks of the 54th Parliament.

The farewell itself was unusual. Valedictory statements are normally delivered in person from the floor of the House, with the departing member standing at their usual desk. Cameron's speech was delivered via video link and shown across several large screens in the chamber — a break from standard practice that reflected how serious his condition had become.

In his remarks, Cameron thanked colleagues he named as David, Nicole, Jodie and Simon, and used phrasing drawn from rural New Zealand. ACT's official Facebook page streamed the valedictory live on 26 August.

Six years in Parliament is a fairly typical span for a list MP who has served more than one term. Cameron entered Parliament as a list member rather than winning an electorate seat, which is consistent with ACT's electoral strategy of building representation through the party vote. His portfolio as Rural Communities spokesperson sat within ACT's broader focus on regional and primary-sector issues.

The broader context here is that Cameron's departure removes one of Parliament's fewer voices with direct, lived experience of primary-sector work. Whatever one's view of ACT's policy positions, MPs from farming backgrounds who hold a rural portfolio bring a practical familiarity with the sector that is relatively scarce across the House. Cameron's valedictory, delivered from a dialysis chair rather than the debating chamber floor, was a reminder that health can cut short a parliamentary career regardless of a member's intentions or where the electoral cycle sits.

The 54th Parliament is now in its final weeks, with the general election approaching. Cameron's seat will not require a by-election given the timing, and ACT's list arrangements for the next Parliament were already settled before his valedictory, following his June announcement that he would not seek re-listing. The party will head into the election without its Rural Communities spokesperson in the House.

For those in the Press Gallery and around the building, the image of large screens carrying a colleague's farewell in place of a member standing at their desk is likely to be what lingers from the closing days of this Parliament. Cameron himself put it plainly. Dialysis, he said, is a hell of a thing.