Mike's Minute: Medicine for foreign aid money is a no-brainer

From our “he would say that, wouldn’t he” file, comes the predictable Winston Peters response to the National Party's medicine for aid deal.

National are reading the room. If you have no money and you need to trade one thing for another, does medicine beat aid?

Yes, hands down.

Kerre Woodham: How can we justify sending money overseas when our own infrastructure is failing?

Yesterday, I was talking about the amount of aid we're sending to places like Vietnam and Indonesia. Places I would venture to suggest that are showing more go ahead, more investment in infrastructure than we are. When you're looking at Vietnam, they're building one of the largest stadiums in the world, they've got fast rail underway, they're building a huge city to house much of its population – they're spending billions. It's also a place where New Zealanders travel to get first class healthcare that we can't access here.

Clive Bibby: Somebody else’s problem

Recent commentaries from experienced international observers have been as you might expect, focused on foreign wars and particularly the plight of innocents caught up in the mayhem.

On a daily basis, the foreign correspondent reports occupy the headlines in MSM coverage of these horrific events and government responses to them - and perhaps unsurprisingly the viewing public appear comfortable that this is so.

I suppose it provides us with a cathartic outlet for our sense of guilt that we should be doing more in a situation where we are far removed from the front lines.

Point of Order: The latest $314.4m. of spending announcements.....

...... include goodies to recognise tourist-sector bosses who are kindly to staff

Point of Order tallied $314.4 million of spending in the latest ministerial statements posted on the government’s official website.

This includes a lump of money to – yes, really – help identify businesses in tourism and hospitality which treat their staffs well and to fund the social engineers who will enhance the industry’s “cultural competency”.