This morning’s announcement by the Health Minister regarding a major overhaul of the public health sector levels yet another blow to the country’s essential services.
“Our health system is falling victim to a slow death by a thousand cuts,” says Green Party Health spokesperson Hūhana Lyndon.
“All New Zealanders deserve a strong, robust public health system that is funded to spec, and able to provide high-quality, timely health services to all who need it.
“This Government has shown nothing but disdain for public health workers, dismissing their concerns, undermining unions, and outright stating that their pay equity is ‘not his job’.
“This is not about fixing a broken system. It’s about starving it of resources until privatisation looks like the only answer.
“The refusal of this Government to acknowledge public health as an imperative service, and to fund it in kind, has created an artificial crisis, and while Lester Levy has fallen victim to it today, ultimately, the New Zealand public will pay the price.
“This so-called ‘deficit’ was never a deficit; it was a direct result of underfunding. And now, instead of addressing the root cause, the Minister is turning to private care to plug the holes in a leaking system.
“Bringing in more private providers might sound like a quick fix, but it’s little more than an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. A cliff Simeon Brown is pushing our healthcare system over. Ultimately, funding for the private sector is funding that our public services desperately need. It will cost more, create more strain on public providers, and deepen the already existing inequities within our healthcare system.
“This is a clear step in the direction of ACT’s disgraceful vision of a fully privatised healthcare system, which we cannot, and will not, stand for.
“The Green Party campaigned on delivering a fully-funded, well resourced public health system with decent wages and conditions. All New Zealanders should be able to access timely and accessible diagnosis and treatment.
“Our plan will put New Zealanders' health and wellbeing at the centre of decision-making and policy, where it should have been all along,” says Hūhana Lyndon.
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