Broken promises and accusations of a government backtrack have fuelled a protest that is expected to draw thousands in defence of Dunedin’s new hospital project.
Video / NZ Herald
Opinion by Claire Trevett
Claire Trevett is the New Zealand Herald’s Political Editor, based at Parliament in Wellington.
An Ipsos NZ Issue Monitor Survey shows healthcare and hospitals were the second most important issue for voters: up from 27% in February to 41% in October
Treasury documents on the state of Health NZ’s books were released on Friday, raising concerns about the financial position
The Government is reviewing the Dunedin Hospital rebuild after a cost blowout, promising to build something for less than $1.9 billion
Claire Trevett is the NZ Herald’s political editor, based at Parliament in Wellington. She started at the NZ Herald in 2003 and joined the Press Gallery team in 2007.
OPINION
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon might want to take a leaf out of NZ First MP Shane Jones’handbook when it comes to protesters, especially on issues where political leadership is becoming crucial.
And for Luxon right now, that is in the area of health.
Jones’ encounters with protesters against mining and the fast-track law are an entertaining part of the theatre of politics — from the West Coast, where he went prepared with a megaphone (as if he needed one) to Lambton Quay.
He shouts at them, then listens while they shout back, and then scoffs at their arguments.
He then posts it all on social media, as do the protesters.
By contrast on Thursday, Luxon paid what he clearly hoped would be a quiet visit to Dunedin.
He attempted to get in and out of the city quietly — no media opportunities or programme was released.
Protesters upset by the Government’s decision to down-size the Dunedin Hospital rebuild (and a few pro-Palestine protesters) nonetheless turned up with placards, just as they had on his last visit to the city.
Luxon was taken in and out a back door rather than have to walk past them, tossing a wave in their general direction.
Illustration / Rod Emmerson
There was more than a slight hue of attempts to protect Luxon’s delicate eyes and ears from the discord of a protest about his Government’s actions.
Luxon got headlines for sneaking in the back door, just as Jones did for his megaphone approach — but at least Jones’ headlines did not include the word “cowardly”.
Nobody would expect a Prime Minister to engage with protesters to quite the same degree Jones does. However, sneaking around the country in an apparent bid to avoid them altogether is not an ideal look.
The Dunedin hospital-related protest was a legitimate protest about a legitimate problem which the Government was in charge of. The protest at least deserved to be seen.
For all Luxon’s now repeated assurances the re-scoped Dunedin Hospital will still be a quality offering and that front-line services will not be hit by Government cuts to the bureaucracy, it seems not everybody believes him.
About 35,000 people gathered in Dunedin to protest cuts to the new hospital. Photo / Ben Tomsett
Perception is everything in politics, and the recent Ipsos NZ Issues Monitor should be setting off alarm bells for National.
That survey — which regularly surveys Kiwis on the issues that concern them most — showed concern about the cost of living and inflation was still high, but had eased as inflation and interest rates dropped.
However, concern about health and hospitals had spiked from 27% in February to 41% in October — higher than during the winter of discontent in 2022, when Covid and the flu were overloading hospitals.
Even worse, despite National’s attempts to blame the former Labour Government for the problems, Labour had convincingly re-taken the lead as the party deemed most capable of handling health.
Thirty-six per cent thought Labour was most capable of dealing with it, compared to 27% for National.
In the Ipsos survey from February, National had been ahead by five points.
Concern was particularly high among right-leaning voters and older voters — National’s target demographics.
How has the Government lost the room on health — and lost it so quickly?
That Ipsos survey followed headlines about run-down hospitals and rebuilds being at risk in several regions, about staffing problems — especially in the regions — and difficulties people were having getting into a GP. Then there is the never-ending saga of the dire state of the books at Te Whatu Ora - Health NZ.
Health NZ Commissioner Lester Levy. Photo / Mark Mitchell
A dump of Treasury documents about Health NZ on Friday included some horror-story summaries of the state of affairs including the line “No one inside HNZ appears to have a clear picture of what is going on”.
In the Cabinet paper seeking approval to replace the board with a commissioner, Lester Levy, Treasury warned ministers not to underestimate the challenge that lay ahead: “The entity’s internal controls are weak, morale is low, clinicians’ expectations of autonomy are high, and the relationship between national office and the frontline is generally bad”.
None of this helps engender confidence in the health system — and the bits of it the public cares about most.
Health is a renowned bottomless pit when it comes to spending — no matter how much money there is, it’s hard to keep pace with cost increases and there is always something more that could be offered.
However, the Ipsos survey indicates a perception that the basics are at risk: GPs visits, decent hospitals, and timely access to treatment.
Treasury also warned there was now a lot of responsibility on one man: Levy.
What it also takes is strong political leadership.
National does not believe it has a bad story to tell in health. It increased the health budget significantly and carved out a big chunk from next year’s Budget, too.
It has boosted Pharmac’s budget and forked out for more drugs –— 14 new ones came out this week.
However, it has been very easy for the Opposition to seed the narrative that the Government’s public service cuts are hurting health services.
Decisions to downgrade hospital upgrades only go to reinforce that.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Health Minister Shane Reti. Photo / Ben Dickens
There is also the question of how much focus the Government’s senior figures are seen to put into it. It should not be up to Levy alone.
Luxon, for example, has put a lot of personal attention into education, yet education is rarely among the top five issues chosen by voters in surveys. Health is always a top issue. On health, he has had to front on the state of the books — but a fair bit of his attention has gone into what might be deemed distractions rather than the bread and butter, such as defending minster Casey Costello and Government moves on tobacco control, and enforcing the edict to remove race-based criteria from health services.
Health Minister Shane Reti has not quite been missing in action — but he has been far less visible than Levy.
Reti might be a good doctor who knows the health system, but a good health minister also has to be a very good politician.
It is a notoriously fraught portfolio, in which the money and resources thrown into it will never be enough to meet public expectations. It takes a robust and clever politician to be able to steer it into a political success — or even a neutral topic.
That takes more than just talking about the dollars being put in or targets to be met at some point in the future.
And when it becomes an issue that could damage you at the next election, it also takes a Prime Minister to front up.
