Analysis - On election night 2020 the sense of triumph around Labour was palpable, the grins as wide as the Waikato. Today s Budget is why. After years of compromise, contradiction and incompetence, this is the sort of Budget Labour party MPs and members have wanted to deliver. Labour s majority win in last year s election that allowed it to govern alone means Budget 2021 is dyed the deepest red.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Deputy Prime Minister - and Minister of Finance - Grant Robertson.
Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas
The headline announcement of benefit increases is, for once, a genuinely once-in-a-generation move. On top of the $25/week increases under National and then the previous Labour-led government, this increase of main benefit rates of between $32 and $55 by April 2022 is a significant reset of what New Zealanders can expect from the welfare state.
Resident, retired surgeon and member of the Waikato DHB’s Community and Public Health Advisory Committee, Paul Malpass, said while he was anticipating the changes, he still had concerns. “There was talk about reducing the number of DHBs and creating a Maori Health authority … and a lot of care nearer to home, community care and bringing care to the people.
Christel Yardley/Stuff
Taumarunui Community Kokiri Trust CEO Christine Brears: “Let us strengthen and develop, so our communities are being delivered a service that is equal to that of an urban centre.” “I have to say we have been saying that for some time in Taumarunui. I am a bit concerned for the rural community in the sense Taumarunui township is 160km from Waikato (Hospital), so secondary services, tertiary services, are that far away and for some people even further … by and large it’s a poor community and access is a major issue for us.”
Matthew Hooton on health reforms: Andrew Little s bold plan shows the way
22 Apr, 2021 05:00 PM
6 minutes to read
Andrew Little - with Associate Health Ministers (from left) Aupito William Sio, Pene Henare and Dr Ayesha Verrall - announces his health shake-up this week. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Andrew Little - with Associate Health Ministers (from left) Aupito William Sio, Pene Henare and Dr Ayesha Verrall - announces his health shake-up this week. Photo / Mark Mitchell
NZ Herald
OPINION:
Andrew Little s health reforms represent a return to when political leaders were prepared to act boldly in the public interest rather than cower behind vested interests.
Column – Peter Dunne Since the early 1980s successive National- and Labour-led governments have struggled to find the best way of funding and delivering effective public health services. In 1983 the then 29 hospital boards administering the countrys health system were …
Since the early 1980s successive National- and Labour-led governments have struggled to find the best way of funding and delivering effective public health services. In 1983 the then 29 hospital boards administering the country’s health system were replaced by 14 area health boards. The hospital boards were considered too narrowly focused on hospital-based services, at a time when there was a growing emphasis on wider public health services beyond hospitals, hence the move to area health boards.