Health bottom lines
Doom and disaster is predicted by Treasury and the money people about what Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora’s budget is likely to look like by the end of the year (Weekend Herald, November 2).
But hey, let’s get this in perspective. Despite the dichotomy of the Government claiming it is putting megabucks more into health and Treasury saying time to pull in the purse strings, it is also telling us we have way too many nurses for the money available to pay them.
But, actually, that doesn’t mean we have way too many nurses; in fact all the evidence from the front lines is we need bucket loads more of them to have an efficient health service.
What it does mean though is that the Government is spending our tax dollars on other stuff and not on essentials like our health service. If we need more tax dollars for health and we don’t have them, then time to start thinking about how we get a more equitable tax system that means we can fund the number of nurses the health system needs.
Tell the bean counters at Treasury to stop just looking at bottom lines and spreadsheets and start looking at what is needed to make our health system work and how we can fund it. For example, how do we get enough money to invest in healthy infrastructure, such as a new, fit-for-purpose Dunedin Hospital with its full complement of nurses!
Neil Anderson, Algies Bay.
Sail away
The cruise ship industry is stamping its foot, demanding that tax dollars be spent urgently on facilities so a few large ships can berth in Auckland and Lyttleton a few times a year.
The good citizens who live throughout New Zealand and who must contribute such tax dollars would probably vote for a safe, fast and efficient Interisland ferry service instead.
Barb Callaghan, Kohimarama.
Swing low
What is worse: having to watch endless haka, or listening to the dismal refrains of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot?
Jock Mac Vicar, Hauraki.
Summer loving
The first pōhutukawa blossoms of summer have been sighted. This iconic flowering conjures up visions of great family times to be had on our beaches, lounging on the sand, sizzling a sausage and sipping a cold lager.
Our beloved Auckland is fortunate to have Brown’s Bay and so many similar seaside reserves where our summers can be enjoyed and that will long be fondly remembered.
Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.
Labour pains
It’s pathetic that Ginny Andersen felt the need to share a post mocking King Charles. She acted like a teenager in the locker room.
For how long did she stare at that photo of the King before coming to that conclusion? Did she cross-check it with other anatomical photos to make sure she got it right?
Surely this actual observation of hers smacks of some sort of obsessive compulsion, because who in their right mind would think this way and share this observation on social media?
She says she wasn’t thinking, almost as if this lack of thought somehow mitigates the stupidity of what she did. She is a senior Labour MP and former minister of the Crown who has been and is currently paid a lot of money to think properly for the benefit of this country.
No matter what you might think of King Charles and what he represents, he is an old man who has taken on an arduous tour after being diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing ongoing chemotherapy treatment.
Perhaps Andersen should show greater contrition by showing up at a cancer remission centre full of old people and demonstrate care and respect by telling them how sorry she was. That would show true remorse.
Bernard Walker, Mount Maunganui.
World Series curve ball
Let us explain the error in the letter from Glen Stanton regarding US baseball’s World Series (Weekend Herald, November 2).
This was originally set up and sponsored by the newspaper based in San Francisco called The World. Hence the World Series. It has nothing to do with it going around the world. The newspaper ceased in the early 1900s, but the name World Series continues to date.
David Penny, Albany.
