IT IS interesting the preservation of our culture and way of life seems to take precedence, funding-wise, to the preservation of life.
Our story today, told in harrowing form from the perspective of the first person on the scene, sets the stage for an extremely difficult rescue by the Westpac rescue helicopter, in the dark and with a storm approaching. We talk of Life Flight's helicopter "saving" people, owing to the speed with which it transports patients to hospital, but, in this instance, the helicopter's unique features of being able to hover and lower a man on a winch down to the desperate passengers, saved lives that night.
Yet it's meeting the needs of New Zealand's growing population, which takes most of the money we have. This will likely be the case in Budget 2016, on Thursday. And okay, sure, it is the essential nature of tax that it funds a civilisation and allows it to evolve. It is a basic law of mechanics that all things break down, and a civilisation requires work to survive.
But aren't we out of kilter here? We can't seem to government-fund a helicopter service in Wairarapa/Wellington that winches desperate people from submerged cars, but we have to find a way to fund the infrastructure that allows for another 66,000 migrants coming into New Zealand -- invariably Auckland -- each year.
How is it a ton of our tax dollars are being used to give Auckland's population the ability to move -- slowly -- from A to B? How is it Auckland has become one of the most expensive cities in the world for housing, and yet Auckland will need 13,000 houses built a year, for 30 years, to keep up.
There are imbalances in this country that we have to allow for, such as the bubble of elderly, costing more on the health service. That's a demographic all Western countries have. But there is something going wrong when a drowning city holds up its hand above water and gets the cash, while a drowning swimmer holds up his hand and gets saved thanks to the charitable whim of the public. And Life Flight isn't alone. Wellington Free Ambulance is free because of charity.
Charity is always needed. Schools need help. Dogs and cats need help. Christchurch needed help. But a service that regularly saves lives should be government-funded.