Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 24/10/24

Nicola Willis talks about targets to a public service audience – then explains what the Social Investment Agency will do

Andrew Bayly (it is far to suppose) awoke this morning and braced to face further questions about how much liquor he consumed, when he consumed it, and other matters on the day he blundered into calling a worker a loser. How many interactions he had with the complainant in this political drama is among the further questions being pursued by Opposition politicians and the media.

Point of Order: Govt moves to modernise control of our meds......

.......but wait: Māori healers can bring the Treaty (signed in 1840) into the mix

Conflicts between Treaty of Waitangi demands to protect Māori healing methods and the influence of medical science on health regulators have been anticipated, as the Government introduces the Therapeutic Products Bill in Parliament.

The Bill, aimed at modernising the way medicines, medical devices and natural health products are regulated, replaces the Medicines Act 1981 and Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985 with a comprehensive regulatory regime “that is fit for the future”.

But the Treaty-twitchy government is eager to avoid the conflict that seems inevitable when modernising the regulatory regime – to provide all New Zealanders with health products and services that are safe, high-quality, and effective – rubs up against obligations to preserve the Maori way of doing things.

Point of Order: Too much fun is coming out of Otago....

.....so the govt has put $2.25m into a trough for other regions to have a lick

It’s a toss-up to decide which is more unnecessary – the investment of $2.25 million of public money in an industry which has almost doubled its revenue over the past year or the drafting and legislating of a bill to have things done that could be done without a statute.

The investment is in the rapidly growing game development sector. The latest data from the New Zealand Game Developers Association shows the total revenue for the industry is $407 million, compared to $276 million a year ago.