Blog Bits
December 29th, 2008 at 4:20 pm by David FarrarPoneke is in Brisbane and has discovered it has the buzz of prosperity:
On the surface, the prosperity can be seen in the world-class infrastructure of roads and electric rail lines that Auckland in particular has not been able to achieve despite decades of talk; the very high standard of housing, commercial buildings and public facilities; the wages that really are stunningly higher than at home; the many job vacancies in the papers even on the Saturday after Boxing Day. Australia has not had a single quarter of negative growth this year while we have had three (though the Aussies fret about it and fear recession might still happen). I could go on.
MacDoctor shares some first hand experience of emergency clinics:
An article in the Weekend Herald (not yet online) entitled “High cost stopping Kiwis visiting the doctor” tells us that over two thirds of New Zealanders over 20 have avoided visiting a doctor because of the cost. I didn’t need any research to tell me this is true, because these people pitch up to emergency departments throughout the country with the line, “I couldn’t afford to go to my GP” or it’s alternative “I owe my GP too much money”. …
I view these two excuses with a great deal of cynicism. Many who use these lines are drunk or have nicotine stains on their fingers (or both). They drive up in expensive cars and sport MP3 players (many are genuine iPods). They typically arrive not long after the GPs have all closed for the evening, or over the weekend. These are the “milkers of the system” - They know how to work the health system to their advantage and they use Emergency Departments like a GP clinic. …
I suspect most of the two thirds of New Zealanders who said that they do not go to a doctor because of cost, are really saying that they would rather spend their time and money on something other than their health. It has nothing to to with lack of access and much to do with lack of interest. Until we, as a society, start to see that health is important and worthy of investment, this problem will not go away, regardless of the amount of money governments may throw at it.
Hear hear. I think all bar the very poorest should pay something towards their healthcare.
Bernard Hickey recommends a Kim Hill interview with JJ Joseph – a man who used to beat his wife. It’s a very moving interview that shows people can turn their lives about.
And finally Lynn Prentice at The Standard manages to link Bernie Madoff’s ponzi scheme to National’s planned repeal of the EFA. The hilarious part is:
based on recent experience of their autocratic, arrogant, and undemocratic behavior in the house, we will probably see some opaque, badly written, and badly thought through legislation pushed through under urgency.
What does he call the EFA if not badly written and badly thought through? And he ignores of course that unlike Labour, National has said it will consult all parties over the replacement legislation. It was Labour that tried to use bipartisan electoral law to screw over its enemies.
Tags: Australia, Bernard Hickey, Blog Bits, domestic violence, Electoral Finance Act, Health, Kim Hill, Lynn Prentice, MacDoctor, Poneke, Radio NZ, The Standard
December 29th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
DPF Please enlighten us as to who are ‘the very poorest’ when it comes to healthcare.
Would it encompass those who drink, jab, or smoke their way to ‘poverty’?
Or maybe it those who help ‘lighten’ the health budget in any way they can!?
[DPF: Nope it would be those who can not afford healthcare after paying for the basics such as food, shelter, clothing]
Vote:December 29th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
It is annoying visiting the doctor with gummed up ear nose and throat knowing that you will be given antibiotics – and paying 60 bucks for the privilege.
I certainly avoid weekend doctor visits, where the price jumps to stupid levels.
Vote:December 29th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Lynn Prent.
The commentator with a girls name, has a very sick mind indeed.
His Niece got ‘jumped’ by an informer. Quelle Horreur!
Like we care, after the smug bitch pulled the ‘innocent user’ Google Bomb for non-political reasons. Yeah Right!
EFA/EFB was the biggest boomerang ever to be launched. I spoke to Jenny Shipley about the consequences on a trip overseas. Her forecast was entirely correct.
The Phil Inn also announces it was a poor piece of legislation. Yet how it relates to a Ponzi Scheme, and attempting to actually link the two takes an amazing amount of neck.
More neck than a bag of Giraffes in fact. What a plonker.
No wonder my head hurts whenever I try to read and digest the sad and trite rambling of the ijuts who post there!
Obfusacation is the watchword for the Commies!
Vote:December 29th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
[ lprent: Basically you are wrong in the Len Richards incident. What I saw when I looked at the footage was a tight crowded situation and someone getting knocked by a megaphone when Len moved. ]
[ lprent: *Insert sysop jargon and buzzwords here in the hope it may impress someone* ]
Vote:December 29th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Please note that no-one except a complete knobjockey refers to themselves as a sysop. And on that point I rest M’Lud.
Vote:December 30th, 2008 at 7:49 am
The Standard outline Labour’s entire strategy for the 2005 – 2008 period.
[Iprent: I've warned you before about suggesting impropriety in The Labour Party. The Standard is a machine, none of the opinions written here can be attributed to any one person, even the one who wrote them, and certainly not to our Labour Party masters. It simply doesn't exist. You have been banned.]
Vote:December 30th, 2008 at 7:56 am
He should go on. Right up to the point where he finds out how the prosperity was built. Then quickly turn away in classic NZ journalist style and squeak out the anthem of the socialists.
Vote: