The human impact of Coalition games

Open to all

New Zealand should be a place of safety and hospitality for those that visit. It’s a beautiful country and many people around the world think highly of Aotearoa and its people.

And so it is with great sadness that I learned that members of South Korea’s national ski team may have died yesterday near Geraldine in a car accident. They were here before the Winter games in Queenstown.

It was on a patch of road that is considered one of the most dangerous in the district, with multiple fatalities and accidents. Timaru mayor Nigel Bowen has been pleading for reduced speed limits since August, but that’s fallen on deaf ears, and NZTA said it would have to wait until new Government speed rules are introduced.

For those of you who aren’t aware, Simeon Brown plans to introduce blanket speed increases. So this news reminded me of the people & impacts behind any policy.

In my mind, I imagined a happy group, relatively young people, excited and energised by their trip. Their coach was in the van too. Would have been a good trip. And they, happy to be amidst the beautiful vistas of New Zealand’s South Island. And then just like that.

Simeon’s being met with a lot of opposition around his speed limit increases, including from Auckland Council, road safety experts, and schools, but I’m not sure if he will back down.

I saw Simeon during a Parliamentary session last month. He got up to speak multiple times and each time, ended his response with gusto stating something like “And our Government is going to get NZers to where they want to go faster!”

He had this incredulously triumphant look on his face too, as if he was sticking it to the opposition or something.

I’m surprised that he’s not touched by stories like this - because they’re not just stories really, they’re peoples’ lives, and the lives of those who love them. Is the supposed economic growth and productivity they claim even worth it, let alone how mythical that even sounds.

The dignity we afford people, local or visitors from abroad, should not only be in the words we speak or what we can extract from them, but also in how we do our best to take care of them - especially in areas that they would not know the risks of.

This reminds me of other human stories - the impact of government policies - which is really the only reason I suspect any of us care.

Here are some of these stories

DISABILITY AND MENTAL HEALTH - sapphi’s story

• In May 2023, I sought an Autism diagnosis in order to access to therapy because the mental health system was totally unable to provide me with counselling or psychology…It took so long to go through the process that I only received my funding in July this year, well after National had excluded therapy from disability purchasing guidelines.

• Through OIA I had learned how Penny Symonds made the decision to exclude psychological services, speech-language services, services that work with young people who have both intellectual disability and mental illness, and the purchases of items that support disabled children to self-regulate from disability funding.

• But I still need this support, I’m still not able to access it via the mental health system, and I still have the funding I am allowed to use for other things e.g. headphones. I just now cannot spend it on the support that would most help me because National thought it would save money.

• Ironically, I most need this therapy support so that I can return to work, revealing another lie about this scheme “saving money” for the government: if you cut supports from disabled people, the money still has to come from other places. If it doesn’t, you lose our tax money, because we can no longer work the jobs that we were using to live off.

Link: Sapphia’s full story including the OIA process

OTHER

• In 2015, MSD threatened to cut me off because I "missed a seminar". I'm still impacted now

• Awhi Ngā Mātua - a community for parents of disabled, neurodivergent and medically fragile tamariki

Addendum

A quick addendum to yesterday’s post.

1. Apparently David Seymour’s Ministry of Regulation has 3 Deputy CEOs, each earning up to $348K - more than Ministers. Brooke Van Velden, standing in for her boss, said it was worth it because they’d find more savings (3News)

2. Someone emailed me yesterday to tell me my political views were too extreme. I was surprised but accepted it, but it turns out the subscriber is a fan of David Farrar

3. Nicola Willis stood with women yesterday saying she tells trolls to get stuffed. No-one should be subject to abuse, and it’s true women cop a lot more of it and that’s unacceptable. But I hope Willis spoke up for Ardern because the level of hate she received was unprecedented, driven by local and international press from Murdochs and the like. Also Claire Curran - who National had put a mark on the back of her, wanting to destroy her, according to a whistleblower. I hope Willis spoke up for those women. Anyone who wants to protest Willis and her awful policies and double speak can use this example.

4. USA: Democrat VP Tim Walz’s family - This has already done the rounds but in case you haven’t seen it, it’s a 1 minute video that might just make you cry or smile. The US has great people and some not so great. I know people are energised and hopeful with the candidates, but I personally won’t be celebrating until the results are in, and there is a peaceful transfer of power. Real lives matter and that’s what this video showed me. It’s the only reason politics even matters.

Have a great weekend, folks, and thanks for sharing this space.