18 Comments

Keep up the great work Craig. I feel your despair too. Exposing the inaccuracies and obfuscation is essential. Our public health system and the people who work in it are worth fighting for.

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Thanks for sharing your detailed knowledge and holding this government to account for the damage they have done to our health service. So appreciative of your work. 🙏

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Thanks Craig. Just sounds like more rearranging of deck chairs on the Titanic. Simeon Brown is a scary individual and I'm trying not to get personal here. He has already demonstrated that he listens to no one and does exactly as he pleases, or maybe as he's instructed 🤔

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This is excellent thank you Craig.

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Appreciate your articles Craig, they affirm how a lot of us Kiwis feel.

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Thank you for this comprehensive analysis Craig. It’s all such a worry. Another step towards privatisation.

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I truly appreciate the work you do, Craig. And feel your frustration.

Simeon Brown doesn't understand how the health system works and it shows.

He didn't understand transport and look at the mess he left behind him. Why anyone would give him a portfolio that is so much more complicated?

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🤷Thanks for explaining so we have a record of the reality rather than the spin 👍 My worry of course is with those affected NOW by this debacle of lies & mismanagement, but even moreso with the future 🥹 If Aotearoa does the sensible thing & makes this a one term govt, it is going to be sooooo hard to undo the damage & even get back to "normal" let alone make improvements into the future. I certainly hope Chippy et al are getting ready to borrow big & move fast - we have learned that govt borrowing is much cheaper than anything else & the return on investment is lives saved, kids out of poverty & at least one good meal a day, ferries that aren't past their use-by dates, schools that aren't falling down, etc etc

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Brilliant, thanks Craig. Unfortunately, all roads lead to Rome, and Rome equals Luxon. That’s where the buck stops, including the bucks for health.

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Another great piece, Craig. I hope this is widely disseminated so the public gains a greater understanding of the smoke and mirrors nature of our new Minister of Health’s announcements.

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Thank you Craig - I’m not great with ‘figures’ so was not able to drill down to the actual amounts you have documented. I knew we were getting ‘spin’ but those figures are appalling.

Hubby & I worked within the health system all our lives & are watching these bully tactics with growing horror. How can people not see that privatisation is a slippery slope for the vast majority of us.

A number of my ‘boomer’ friends have been referred privately for cataract surgery - it is certainly a very slick, clean, money making process! The private sector specialises in fast clean & quick follow up - sad to watch our health service being hollowed out & the disrespectful arrogance being shown to the medical/nursing/allied staff who are telling us it’s falling apart.

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Excellent article- and right on the button. I have friends and former colleagues working in health and bracing themselves for yet another "consultation" round. It's soul destroying for people working in a sector that makes such a difference to communities.

And, as for cutting targeted funding for Māori and Pacific bowel screening...no words.

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Craig, thank you for your analysis. Has someone who works in the sector I appreciate a political economist who speaks the truth on our behalf.

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Unions, colleges and health professional lobby groups are advocating for "patients" - the people of Aotearoa New Zealand who desperately want a functioning health service

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Go Craig

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I am paying to get a scan - and still there's a three-week wait.

I am not sure where Minister Brown intends to get the extra capacity in the private sector.

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