MEDIA RELEASE

Monday 15 September 2014

Kiwi voters urged to heed warnings

Kiwi voters would do well to note the advice given this week to Queensland people by retired judge and renowned corruption fighter Tony Fitzgerald, according to Democrats for Social Credit health spokesman David Tranter.

Mr. Fitzgerald suggested that voters should shun the two major Queensland parties because, “....neither major party wants political standards to be a significant electoral issue and neither will willingly reform the flawed political process which they control and from which they each benefit".

Add the other parties to the two major ones currently in the Kiwi parliament and Mr. Fitzgerald's words perfectly describe the political scene in New Zealand with self-seeking agendas and ignorance and/or avoidance of the important issues being, yet again, the order of the day, Mr. Tranter said.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the election campaigning on the West Coast where a recent article in the Greymouth Star asked candidates for their views on services to be provided in the proposed re-build of Greymouth Hospital.

Despite extensive coverage given by DSC over the past year to the fact that the health minister could, if he so chose, arrange minimal cost re-building loans through the Reserve Bank instead of more than doubling the re-build cost under the government's loan agenda, not one candidate even mentioned this fact, Mr. Tranter said.
National's Maureen Pugh said little other than boasting that the proposed loan was the largest per-person loan to a DHB.

Labour's Damien O’Çonnor criticised National (how original is that!) while ignoring that it was his own government which set up DHBs to operate in secrecy while perpetuating the on-going dinosaur-like funding system.

And the Green's Kevin Hague bemoaned the lack of planning - having himself as WCDHB CEO presided over several years of a management which treated the views of Greymouth health professionals with contempt when their knowledge could have led to a better-functioning hospital and an environment where the health professionals' input would have paved the way for a better planning process.

After two decades of campaigning on health issues from the public's point of view I continue to wonder at the narrow, blinkered outlook of politicians who, despite all the resources they have to help them grasp the wider issues involved, seem quite unable to comprehend that there are often better ways to use the precious resources available, Mr. Tranter said.

Voting for the same tired old dogma-spouting party hacks will change nothing; it is time for Kiwis to look for - and vote for - better alternatives.

ENDS

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