The National Party says it will make women pay a fee for their contraception prescriptions if it wins the election.
The Government this month moved to scrap $5 prescription fees, costing about $154 million a year. It was the centerpiece in the Budget and free prescriptions will kick in from July 1.
National has said it would reinstate the co-payment fees but would look at carve-outs for Gold Card holders, and low-income earners with Community Services cards.
Leader Christopher Luxon told Newshub on Wednesday people needing regular contraception prescriptions would return to paying the $5 fee.
“We don’t want to see any change … We are making sure we can help with people who desperately need help with their prescription charges. We want a targeted approach.”
He did not consider people needing regular contraception prescriptions filled as having “high medical needs”.
“What we’re trying to say is we’re targeting it really clearly to people who are in desperate need. And if people are in that criteria and they actually need help and support to do that then we should definitely support them doing that.”
When Newshub asked Luxon why people needing contraception every month wasn’t a high medical need, he said: “I’m just trying to say from a prescriptions point of view we’re taking a very simple policy and say ‘let’s target it to people who most need help getting support in actually paying for these bills’.
“We don’t want people not able to take medicine, take the drugs that they actually desperately need to get hold of.”
Luxon said it was a “different issue” when asked whether it was fair people needing contraception had to pay prescription fees.
Newshub
Good grief, contraception issues are a third rail issue you don’t touch, but there is Luxon soaking himself in petrol and strapping on his dancing shoes for a tap dance extravaganza on the third rail.
Luxon just keeps stuffing up. He has no idea how to play media gotcha games. They are running rings around him. It is his inexperience that is killing National. Compare that to Winston’s statement after Stuff tried to fact-check him yesterday. Now wait for the predictable flip-flop.
Everyone was cock-a-hoop about the last poll, huzzahing and harrumping that National had turned a corner. Well, they just turned another corner and are heading right back to second place.
Luxon is fast running out of time and feet to shoot at.
Cam Slater is a New Zealand-based blogger, best known for his role in Dirty Politics and publishing the Whale Oil Beef Hooked blog, which operated from 2005 until it closed in 2019. This article was first published HERE
3 comments:
I hope he is keeping his powder dry (although I doubt he has the imagination resolve or nerve for a hard hitting campaign). Use of AI should be able to adapt the Cossacks tv advert to hakaing maori ushering in co governance. Many of the Billy T interactions between Colonisers and maori would also seem to offer great scope.
Good on you Cam for reminding readers of the "keeping the powder dry" argument that was trotted out so much last year, in particular.
Well past the time for the powder to be bought out. So in reality there never was any powder or if there was Luxon/Willis/Bishop do not know what it is for.
Barry Brill had a great article on this site last week explaining how the methane issue used in the Climate Change argument is wrong. They got all the numbers wrong so NZ farmers do not have a problem, as even the IPCC agree it is an error. Why isn't Luxon running with it to support the farmers?
Amy Brooke has a great piece in the Spectator outlining a long list of disastrous moves the Government has made in recent years. All gift wrapped for Luxon, but I doubt he would think of using the facts in the piece.
https://www.spectator.com.au/2023/06/political-and-cultural-corruption-have-wrecked-new-zealand/
If anything should be without charge, it should be contraception, and making prescriptions free to Gold Card holders is hardly targeting those that can least afford it. Woke and fence sitting when it comes to divisive race issues and now can't even make sensible calls on this simple prescription policy charge matter. Luxon is a liability, pure and simple.
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