Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 12/7/23

Verrall reckons she is delivering a fair deal in new health vision – but blokes (the non-Maori ones) have cause to quibble

The only new statement on the government’s official website, when Point of Order checked this afternoon, came from the office of Health Minister Ayesha Verrall and three ministerial colleagues.

They were announcing the release of the government’s long-term vision for health “where all New Zealanders can live long, healthy lives and unfair differences in outcomes are a thing of the past”.

Unfair differences in outcomes a thing of the past?

Let’s see.

The statement says:

The Pae Ora | Healthy Futures Strategies set the direction for the health sector over the next decade. They were released today by Ayesha Verrall, along with Associate Health Ministers Peeni Henare, Barbara Edmonds and Willow-Jean Prime, during a visit to Kenepuru Hospital in Porirua.

Other ministers no doubt were deeply engaged in developing a Health Political Futures Strategy in response to the latest political poll, which would have induced severe tummy troubles.

There was one other big announcement, from the PM, no less.

But it came via the Labour Party rather than via the Beehive, to announce that Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins has ruled out a wealth tax and capital gains tax.

“I’m confirming today that under a Government I lead there will be no wealth or capital gains tax after the election. End of story,” Chris Hipkins said.

“With many Kiwi households struggling, now is simply not the time for a big shake-up of our tax system.

“New Zealanders I talk to want certainty and continuity right now, and that’s what I’m delivering with this policy.”

But this is the one bit of fresh news on the Beehive website –

Latest from the Beehive

Achieving longer, healthier lives for all New Zealanders

The Government is today releasing its long-term vision for health where all New Zealanders can live long, healthy lives and unfair differences in outcomes are a thing of the past.

Your elderly non-Māori all-male team at Point of Order – heavily influenced by self-interest – did wonder what’s going on with fairness.

Here’s what the statement says.

The New Zealand Health Strategy addresses the health of all New Zealanders and sits alongside five population-specific strategies:

• Pae Tū: Hauora Māori Strategy
• Te Mana Ola: The Pacific Health Strategy
• Health of Disabled People Strategy
• Women’s Health Strategy, and
• Rural Health Strategy

But hey – there’s no population-specific strategy for the category which would cover the Point of Order team.

“This is the first time Pacific peoples, women and rural communities have had their own health strategies,” Ayesha Verrall said.

The publication follows extensive engagement by Manatū Hauora – the Ministry of Health, Te Aka Whai Ora and Ministry for Ethnic Communities through face-to-face meetings, wānanga, fono, focus groups, online discussions, written submissions and in-depth workshops.

But no-one has engaged with us.

If they had done so, we would have pointed out that …

In 2021, life expectancy at birth for women in New Zealand was about 84 years, while life expectancy at birth for men was about 80.5 years on average.

So what’s fair about a strategy which provides special treatment for a group that lives longer than a group that has been overlooked?

Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton