Please Contribute Here to help us Grow!
With 35,000 people protesting in Dunedin last weekend, the outrage New Zealanders feel over the Government stalling the new hospital build is very clear to see. This is just another example of broken promises from a government that has its priorities all wrong.
Dunedin was promised a new hospital. Not only has National backtracked on that promise, but they are also downgrading the hospital build and throwing the people of Dunedin under the bus.
Pitting one region against another for hospital funding is heartless and divisive – the Government must prioritise building hospitals so that all Kiwis in all regions can access the healthcare they need.
The National Government is insisting on stories of a cost blow out and a mismanaged project to justify breaking its own promise to New Zealanders. The Dunedin Hospital rebuild was a fully costed project, planned and funded under Labour. It had the budget allocated to pay for it and had additional capacity for mental health and MRI facilities. Now, it seems National is content with simply giving the old building a facelift rather than planning for the future.
Minister of Health Shane Reti continues to waste time and money, announcing yet another review into the project which has already undergone several, while the costs only go up. Another review will not mean any more hospital beds.
This is a manufactured crisis. Dunedin Hospital is just the latest casualty of a government that has chosen not to fund the health system properly.
There was no funding put aside in Budget 2024 for desperately needed upgrades to Nelson or Whangārei hospitals. And with 20 projects on a national red list which are without adequate funding, communities, cities and towns nationwide could go without healthcare facilities.
National claim they don’t have the money for Dunedin Hospital, but they’ve spent $2.9 billion on a tax break for landlords, and $216 million subsidising tobacco companies.
This money could also help boost staffing in rural communities like Buller, keep after-hours clinics like Kenepuru open, help people access GP visits or keeping prescriptions free so people get the medication they need to stay well.
Our regions shouldn’t have to march in the streets to get adequate health care. Our regions shouldn’t have to compete for decent health services because of this Government’s bad choices.
It was all very well to make promises to the people of New Zealand to get into Government, but risking Kiwi’s health is careless and cruel. National should drop the façade, fund the health system properly and stop taking New Zealand backwards.
-Labour MP for Taieri and Spokesperson for Seniors and Mental Health