Quote of the day:
“Our primary duty, I believe, is to maintain our water, our lakes, our rivers in a form in nature that supports life, ecosystems, communities, and, indeed, it would extend to economic interests, but in a way that is sustainable beyond current generations.”
Edward Ellison, Upoko of Ōtākou hapū (sub-tribe)
This morning, there’s a suite of different news.
CRITICAL HEALTH NEWS THAT IS NOT IN PROMOTED NEWS CONTENT
To start with, this week, Dr Ayesha Verrall highlights the case of a Nelson patient, Daniel Walker, who had a high risk, aggressive cancer but had treatment delayed due to “under resourcing” at the hospital - putting his life at risk.
The government apparently refused to allow Nelson hospital to fill a vacant surgeon’s role that could have worked on Mr Walker sooner. That’s not a surprise.
Last year, doctors around the country spoke out about hiring freezes as Health NZ denied it. The one I remember most is Dr Ang, a Northland oncologist who told RNZ that the government’s budget cuts, refusal to hire previously agreed and much needed cancer specialists - plus short sighted KPIs - was going to kill Kiwis: “They see numbers, we see faces,” Dr Ang agonized.
Interestingly, and once again, only one of Stuff’s masthead “The Press” is following the case. Crickets elsewhere across NZ Media.
Simeon Brown was on his best behaviour for this question in Parliament - pushing aside his usual childish, sniding and populist performance, that even Brownlee considers tiresome, avoiding questions and hiding behind “ongoing investigations”
Stuff and NZME also didn’t cover the government’s fast track corruption or the lack of repercussion for Destiny Church or new revelations about the school lunches.
For the most part, Stuff and NZME (NZ Herald, Newstalk etc) are unreliable media organisations - and we shouldn’t forget it.
A MISOGYNISTIC SLANT
Mark Mitchell’s misogyny - In Parliament the Police Minister said he didn't know "if a gang member wants to deal with a perimenopausal woman" . Judith Collins valiantly defended him.
Nothing of course compared to last week, when ACT’s Simon Court (who could easily win Creep Of the Year Award) told a woman that females - especially beneficiary ones - should buy “menstrual cups” for menstruation to save money.
It shouldn’t have to be said anymore, [Tim Jago, 13-14 year olds’ snapchatter Seymour, Young ACT rape claims, and as an aside Chris Bishop too] - but I’m not sure letting the ACT Party near any of our kids is a good idea
THE ANTI-LGBTQ TREND CONTINUES
Naturally, Mark Mitchell still hasn’t found time to comment on Destiny Church because violent protest, concussions and all, appear to be all part of the repetoire, if you’re on the right side of this government. More on this later
Atlas Network affiliated NZME outlets also took time to deeply humanise Tamaki yesterday.
To be clear, family passing is sad for all involved, but in the context of what’s occurred, and NMZE’s apparent friendly relationship with Tamaki and the government, eyebrows are being raised.
Meanwhile, our anti-LGBTQ Health Minister, Simeon Brown was on his best behaviour, defending a Health NZ leader who joined court action to remove Wellington’s rainbow crossing.
That court action was jointly made with a candidate from Destiny Church’s political party.
Apparently, Brown said, it was fine for this Director of Pacific Health Dr Avataeao Junior Ulu, to do so because he was doing it in a “personal capacity,” was only concerned about “safety,” and anyway, Ulu had voluntarily withdrawn from the suit after 1News questioned them about it.
That’s bullshit of course, senior public officials don’t get to commit their own bigotry on supposed personal time, or get to put farcical storylines forward, or withdraw only when journalists hone in - but under this anti-LGBTQ government, it’s all standard practice. Credit to 1News and Benedict Collins for another breaking story.
GENTAILERS CONTINUE TO SMASH IT - FOR SHAREHOLDERS
Genesis sees an 84% increase in profits. Apparently, Genesis managed to increase its revenue and its margins, partly through lifting lines and metering charges. Rob Stock reports “The core of Genesis’ power generation comes from hydro power schemes, including the Tekapo and Waikaremoana power schemes, but it has been expanding its solar and wind generation assets.”
For those of us who don’t remember, John Key privatised Genesis in 2014 - despite the unpopularity of doing so - ostensibly to pay off government debt!
The excellent Newsroom reported last year that after NZ’s major gentailers listing,s their investment in renewables “fell off a cliff”.
In addition, they are “destroying” our manufacturing sector (think Winstone Pulp, Oji’s Penrose pulp mill etc) as they prioritise profits above all else.
A recent CTU report found that privatisation of the sector led to “excessive dividends” above people and planet.
Labour’s Finace Spokesperson, Barbara Edmonds, has floated the idea of requiring gentailers to reinvest dividends in new generation to reduce prices.
YOUR MUST READ THS WEEK:
Links are in the article: Please read and consider sharing that one.
Thank you !
Thanks for reading and supporting Mountain Tui.
And affording me the space to devote time to this type of work.
Please continue to share posts so we can improve transparency and awareness in this small country - our size is ironically one of our strengths in the current environment.
And have a great weekend, folks!
Gracias,
Tūī
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