Progress without consensus: Tracey Martin’s playbook for aged-care reform

Tracey Martin, Chief Executive of Aged Care Associated NZ, for hello leaders print, read the full version of this article in the sixth print edition here.

Aged care reform rarely arrives through neat consensus. More often, it advances through persistence, persuasion and a willingness to work with people who fundamentally disagree with you. Few understand this better than Tracey Martin.

After nine years in New Zealand’s Parliament and now as Chief Executive of Aged Care Associated NZ, Martin has learned that progress depends less on universal agreement and more on clarity of purpose.

Know who you are really speaking to

Martin recalls an early parliamentary lesson.

“The first time I stood up in the house to take my five minute call on a bill and the members from the other side of the house began shouting at me – what I could not tell you – I realised that their intent was to make me doubt myself.”

The turning point came when she reframed her audience.

“I realised then that I was not speaking to them or for them, I was speaking to the New Zealanders beyond the cameras on the wall of the parliament”.

For aged care leaders navigating reform, the message is blunt. You are not there to win approval in the room. You are there to represent those who are not in it.

Purpose steadies the ground

Martin’s confidence comes from cause, not consensus.
“I found myself elected to parliament by accident because I believed there was an unfairness that took place.”

That belief reinforced something essential.
“Not everyone will agree with me, but my view is valid”.

For leaders pushing change in aged care, conviction must come before compromise. Without it, persuasion collapses at the first sign of resistance.

Disagreement is not failure

Calls for bipartisan unity sound attractive, but Martin is pragmatic.

“Political parties will never create a cross-party consensus on any issue that they will have to campaign on and the general public doesn’t really want them to either.”

Instead of chasing unanimity, she focuses on relationships.
“From the opposition benches, I created relationships across all political parties and passed a member’s bill with unanimous support.”

The lesson is not in agreement. It is trust.

Aligning outcomes, not arguments

Today, Martin works party by party to embed aged care reform.
“I am working with the majority of political parties in the New Zealand parliament to entrench the required solutions to our aged care challenges in all of their manifestos.”

The approach is deliberate.
“Each [solution] with the required perspective to appeal to their individual voting bases – this is as close as we will get to cross-party consensus on this issue.”

Disagreeing well

For Martin, the ability to disagree respectfully is non-negotiable.

“Being able to disagree with people without hate or violence, that it is not necessary for one of us to change our mind, for us to both feel fulfilled post an intense conversation.”

When consensus stalls, she adapts.
“I was calling for a cross-party taskforce on our aged care issues, it became increasingly obvious that this was not going to happen… therefore I needed to change tack.”

Finding the doorway

Martin’s leadership philosophy is direct.

“If I had to pinpoint an ingredient in my leadership style that fuels it, it would be my belief that when faced with a wall, I don’t stop — I look for the doorway that others have missed.”

For aged care leaders, the takeaway is clear. Reform will not wait for comfort or consensus. Progress comes from understanding the system, tailoring the case, disagreeing well, and staying fixed on the outcome that matters most. Dignified, properly funded care for older people who still deserve full citizenship, representation and respect.