Labour leader Chris Hipkins, questioning the PM in Parliament for the last time this year on Wednesday, raised the matter of KiwiRail’s replacement ferry or ferries for Cook Strait.
Does his definition of “delivery” include an announcement about an announcement with no budget, no build specifications, no builder, no concrete time frame, no actual ships; and if not, what exactly has Nicola Willis actually delivered when it comes to the Interislander?
The answer was enlightening:
Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Well, Nicola Willis is going to go down as the best finance Minister this country has ever seen, because by God what a mess she has picked up. She is cleaning house and she’s getting the job done. And she has delivered a value-for-money, reliable, sensible ferry solution of rail-compatible ferries. And our great Minister of rail’s got a limited window to try and improve upon it, otherwise we’re going to get new ferries in 2029. Don’t you worry about it.
Wow. The country is in a recession, the government’s books are in sad shape, the net core Crown debt is rising and further public service austerity measures are being portended.
But Hipkins, curiously, didn’t question the PM further about Willis shaping up to become the best Finance Minister the country has ever seen.
He flitted off into the matter of the FamilyBoost scheme and the costs of its administration.
Then he brought whooping cough into his concerns.
Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Why did his Government cut funding for childhood immunisation services, despite warnings that those cuts would lead to a whooping cough epidemic, and given that that whooping cough epidemic is now a reality, will he admit that that was mistake?
Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Well, I’d just reject the characterisation of that question, because we’ve had a very good uptake, having inherited very low immunisation rates from the last Labour Government. I’m proud of the work that we’ve done in partnering with iwi to drive immunisation rates with Māori under-two-year-olds. That’s great work. Actually, we have a whooping cough epidemic in this country, and the task for parents—and we’re making it as easy as possible—is to go get your kids vaccinated, and get yourself vaccinated, as well.
A whooping cough epidemic had been declared across the country late in November, when pregnant women were urged to get immunised as soon as possible.
The point of Hipkins’ question was the cut in spending for a vaccination programme.
On the same day as he put the question, RNZ reported:
Successful vax programme has funding cut amid whooping cough
A highly successful immunisation programme for pregnant Maori and Pasifika and their babies in South Auckland had its funding cut earlier this year – even as warnings sounded of the looming whooping cough epidemic.
The Counties Manukau Maternal and Immunisation programme vaccinated 2500 “hapū māmā” (does that means pregnant women?) against whooping cough in two years to the end of April, helping to nearly double coverage for local Māori mums-to-be, from 17.5 percent to 36 percent, according to the report.
But most of that work stopped abruptly at the end of June, when money from the Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund ran out.
RNZ said:
Health New Zealand knocked back a bid for slightly more than $560,000 a year to keep the programme going.
A limited service continues at three sites – including Niu Life – where public health nurses hold two clinics a week, between 9am and 2pm, by appointment only.
RNZ said last year’s Immunisation Taskforce made 54 recommendations to fix what it called the “dire” state of childhood immunisation.
A new plan calls for at-risk children to be targeted, plus growing the pool of vaccinators.
But the taskforce chair, Māori paediatrician Owen Sinclair, said that while the government regarded immunisation as “a priority”, it was not actually investing in services.
Really?
RNZ surely must have missed something important.
And when Hipkins gets to ask more questions about health services in the new year, we are confident the PM will lay claim to Shane Reti going down as the best Minister of Health the country has ever seen.
On second thoughts, maybe not.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
The answer was enlightening:
Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Well, Nicola Willis is going to go down as the best finance Minister this country has ever seen, because by God what a mess she has picked up. She is cleaning house and she’s getting the job done. And she has delivered a value-for-money, reliable, sensible ferry solution of rail-compatible ferries. And our great Minister of rail’s got a limited window to try and improve upon it, otherwise we’re going to get new ferries in 2029. Don’t you worry about it.
Wow. The country is in a recession, the government’s books are in sad shape, the net core Crown debt is rising and further public service austerity measures are being portended.
But Hipkins, curiously, didn’t question the PM further about Willis shaping up to become the best Finance Minister the country has ever seen.
He flitted off into the matter of the FamilyBoost scheme and the costs of its administration.
Then he brought whooping cough into his concerns.
Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Why did his Government cut funding for childhood immunisation services, despite warnings that those cuts would lead to a whooping cough epidemic, and given that that whooping cough epidemic is now a reality, will he admit that that was mistake?
Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Well, I’d just reject the characterisation of that question, because we’ve had a very good uptake, having inherited very low immunisation rates from the last Labour Government. I’m proud of the work that we’ve done in partnering with iwi to drive immunisation rates with Māori under-two-year-olds. That’s great work. Actually, we have a whooping cough epidemic in this country, and the task for parents—and we’re making it as easy as possible—is to go get your kids vaccinated, and get yourself vaccinated, as well.
A whooping cough epidemic had been declared across the country late in November, when pregnant women were urged to get immunised as soon as possible.
The point of Hipkins’ question was the cut in spending for a vaccination programme.
On the same day as he put the question, RNZ reported:
Successful vax programme has funding cut amid whooping cough
A highly successful immunisation programme for pregnant Maori and Pasifika and their babies in South Auckland had its funding cut earlier this year – even as warnings sounded of the looming whooping cough epidemic.
The Counties Manukau Maternal and Immunisation programme vaccinated 2500 “hapū māmā” (does that means pregnant women?) against whooping cough in two years to the end of April, helping to nearly double coverage for local Māori mums-to-be, from 17.5 percent to 36 percent, according to the report.
But most of that work stopped abruptly at the end of June, when money from the Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund ran out.
RNZ said:
Health New Zealand knocked back a bid for slightly more than $560,000 a year to keep the programme going.
A limited service continues at three sites – including Niu Life – where public health nurses hold two clinics a week, between 9am and 2pm, by appointment only.
RNZ said last year’s Immunisation Taskforce made 54 recommendations to fix what it called the “dire” state of childhood immunisation.
A new plan calls for at-risk children to be targeted, plus growing the pool of vaccinators.
But the taskforce chair, Māori paediatrician Owen Sinclair, said that while the government regarded immunisation as “a priority”, it was not actually investing in services.
Really?
RNZ surely must have missed something important.
And when Hipkins gets to ask more questions about health services in the new year, we are confident the PM will lay claim to Shane Reti going down as the best Minister of Health the country has ever seen.
On second thoughts, maybe not.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
1 comment:
After the messes left behind by Ardern, Hipkins, Robertson and the rest of the motley Labour crew on every front possible, it is indeed not difficult to describe any other ministers not in that disastrous bunch of incompetents as the best ever.
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