Revelations that Lifeline Aotearoa has only enough money to run for one more year are another blow to our already strained mental health system, the Green Party said today. Lifeline Aotearoa provides free 24/7 mental health assistance through phone lines 0800 Lifeline, 0508 Tautoko (specialised suicide crisis line), and 0800 Kidsline (for those aged under 18). “A strained mental health system has already been palming people off onto these 0800 numbers, and if Lifeline services go under, then New Zealanders...

The Health Minister needs to urgently undertake an inquiry into mental health services, after new figures have revealed that young people are facing unreasonably long waiting times to receive the help they need, the Green Party said today. Thirty percent of young people who seek help for mental health issues have to wait longer than three weeks to see a mental health provider, and of those, 1337 young people had to wait longer than eight weeks in 2015/2016. The figures,...

The Green Party is reiterating its call for Health Minister Jonathan Coleman to urgently undertake an inquiry into mental health services, or risk more people needlessly suffering and dying because of inadequate care and oversight. The call comes after the release of a damning ombudsman’s report into the treatment of Ashley Peacock, and after the mother of Wellington man Samuel Fischer has spoken out about issues with the care her son received from Capital and Coast District Health Board leading...

Will he now use his power under section 32 of the Public Health and Disability Act 2000 to direct Capital and Coast District Health Board to initiate the transitional support plan for Ashley Peacock, which recommends a pathway to a community placement, immediately; if not, why not?

The Green Party is calling on the Minister of Health to give an immediate Ministerial Directive to the Capital and Coast District Health Board (CCDHB) to free an autistic man who has been locked in a cell-like room for five years. The New Zealand Herald revealed today that Ashley Peacock has been kept in effectively solitary confinement in Porirua for the past five years, allowed only one and a half hours outside each day. “The Minister of Health has specific...

The Green Party is calling on ACC Minister Nikki Kaye to remove the obligation for sexual violence survivors to be diagnosed with a mental illness before being allowed additional ACC-funded counselling. Green Party MP Jan Logie and survivor advocate Louise Nicholas today launched a new campaign and petition to demand that survivors don’t need a mental illness diagnosis in order to have their sensitive claims proceed. “Being the victim of sexual violence is not a mental illness,” Ms Logie said....

National has cut home insulation funding to its lowest ever level in Budget 2016, which will leave thousands of people shivering in their houses again this winter, the Green Party said today Budget 2016 allocates just $12 million this year for the Warm Up New Zealand programme this year and $4.5 million for the Healthy Homes programme, compared to $23.9 million for Home Insulation last year. “Over 2,000 families will miss out on getting a warmer, dryer, healthier home under...

New analysis by the Council of Trade Unions (CTU) shows the National Government needs to invest massively in the health sector in the upcoming Budget, just to maintain services at current levels, the Green Party said today. The CTU and Association of Salaried Medical Specialists prepared a pre-Budget analysis showing that Vote Health’s operational expenses would need to rise by nearly $700 million to maintain the health services New Zealand currently has. Their analysis takes into account growing costs, and...

The Green Party welcomes the announcement that Pharmac will get an extra $39 million in funding, but is calling for the Government to immediately release Pharmac’s advice on how much money it actually needs. “The Government needs to immediately release Pharmac’s advice about the true level of funding it needs to meet increased cost pressures, including the TransPacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA),” Green Party health spokesperson Kevin Hague said today. “The TPPA is the elephant in the room. The Government knows...

The New Zealand Initiative’s report on a sugar tax is deeply flawed, and the fact that the junk-food lobby are members and funders of this so-called independent “think tank” highlights a credibility gap, the Green Party said. “The New Zealand Initiative cares more about junk-food barons’ bottom lines than it cares about Kiwis who are getting sick and dying because of obesity-related illnesses,” said Green Party health spokesperson Kevin Hague. “Taxing sugary drinks to help curb obesity is not some...