Media Release

10 July 2003

Political Correctness Will Not Solve Health Disparity

New Zealand First has called on the Government to dump its agenda of political correctness and spend extra money on adequate healthcare for all New Zealanders – especially those at the bottom of the heap.

Health spokesperson Pita Paraone says the recent study Decades of Disparity produced by Otago University’s Medical School and the Health Ministry highlight the extent of health inequities between Maori, Pacific Island, and European New Zealanders in this country.

“It is audacious to blame this sad state of affairs on doctors instead of facing up to the reality, that it was Labour’s ruthless restructuring in the 1980s that really hurt Maori and Pacific Health in New Zealand, said Mr Paraone.

“This Government can spend all the money it likes on fancy bureaucratic health structures in an attempt to improve the health status of high-need/morbidity groups, but this is all in vain if people don’t have sufficient money to pay for a doctor.

“When will this government realise that as soon as it stops throwing money away to support its politically correct agenda and make health more affordable for those who need it, we will all be far better off,” said Mr Paraone

ENDS

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