The Act Party is promising to allow over-the-counter sales of pseudoephedrine again, reversing a near-decade ban on the cold and flu medication.
It is one of a number of policies aimed at seniors, including reforming the Retirement Commission, tasking it with creating new regulations to enable individual funding of in-homecare and ensuring proper planning and forecasting to meet the needs of an ageing population.
Party leader David Seymour said they would also require pharmacist-only and prescription-only classifications of other medication for “common ailments” to be evaluated.
“Older New Zealanders have noticed that being able to find an over-the-counter cold and flu medication that actually helps is getting harder,” Seymour said.
The government banned over-the-counter sales of pseudoephedrine in 2011, with then-prime minister Sir John Key touting it as a way to combat methamphetamine production. Photo / NZME
The Government banned over-the-counter sales of pseudoephedrine in 2011, with then-prime minister Sir John Key touting it as a way to combat methamphetamine production. Pseudoephedrine is an ingredient of meth.
Seymour said the ban hadn’t worked. “Instead, the evidence shows that gangs continue to produce P, and there are no viable alternatives for people who are unwell.”
“We will reverse the ban,” he said.
He also promised to “turn around the poor state of this country’s public services so New Zealand’s seniors are looked after and proud of the way this country treats them”.
Seymour criticised the Retirement Commission, claiming it couldn’t fix anything for seniors.
Act’s reform of the Retirement Commission would make it responsible for giving advice on changing retirement village legislation.
Proposed changes to the Retirement Villages Act 2003 would aim “to improve ... the effectiveness of disclosure statements, occupation right agreements, maintenance and repair of operator-owned chattels and fixtures, complains and disputes regime and obligations when a resident moves out”.
“We would also require the Retirement Commission to develop a policy framework that would enable greater autonomy over how in-home care funding is spent,” Seymour said.
“Individualised funding of in-home care would enable older people and their families to organise and manage their care in a way that most appropriately suits their needs, fitting with their lifestyle and empowering them to make their own choices about service providers.”
Seymour reiterated other policies focusing on law and order and healthcare, saying “New Zealand’s seniors haven’t worked hard and paid taxes their whole lives to live in a country where crime is out of control [and] the health system is in crisis.
“Those who hope that at least the future might be brighter for their grandchildren are frustrated by the failures of the education system and welfare state,” he said.
“Older people are worried about the direction the country is going as a whole,” he said.
“Will New Zealand still be a good place for their grandchildren to grow up and build a life that is even better than the generations that came before them?
“Act will restore the values and aspiration that made New Zealand the plucky nation that it once was, where everyone has the opportunity for a proper education and a chance to get ahead.”
