Eileen Goodwin

Housing New Zealand is selling 30 state houses in Mosgiel because of "low ongoing demand'' for them.

Copper head chef Scotty Low (left) received a Smokefree Otago Award from Heart Foundation heart health advocate Jo Arthur (centre) and Cancer Society health promotion officer Penelope Scott yesterday to recognise the Dunedin eatery's smoke-free outdoor area.

Pact Group has been gagged from speaking openly about the Invercargill state house sell-off, but says more than one bank had been happy to finance the deal.

Warmer weather in recent months means the salmon smolt released to Otago Harbour at the weekend are in especially good condition, Salmon Anglers Otago Association committee member Wayne Olsen says.

In a blow for the Government's state house sell-off, the Invercargill state house sale process has effectively collapsed because the Dunedin-based sole prospective bidder has pulled out.

The Southern District Health Board lost $5 million in "real terms'' in Budget 2016, the Labour Party says.

A bowel cancer screening campaigner was "beaming'' after the Budget announcement of a nationwide programme, but is disappointed Otago and Southland have not been prioritised. 

The shape of the new child protection service and other social sector reforms is still largely unknown after a "low key'' Budget, a social sector leader says.

The Government's attempt to deal with the growing pressure in health still leaves district health boards short by $131million, Council of Trade Unions economist Bill Rosenberg says.

COMMENT: It has been nearly a year since a public committee meeting was held at Southern District Health Board. Health reporter Eileen Goodwin went along and found little by way of debate or questioning.

Having rain-proof jackets for every pupil has been the best thing about the assistance provided by children's charity KidsCan, Brockville School office manager Kim Dougherty says.

People do not go to hospital to eat, they go there to be treated, Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean said during a debate in Parliament about scrapping this year's election at the Southern District Health Board.

About 300 people carrying signs with slogans including 'Stop the slop' staged a protest today about the quality of Dunedin Hospital food.

The chant was loud and clear: "Kick Compass out''.

Critics of the ‘‘secretive'' manner in which the Southern District Health Board has operated since a commissioner was installed have welcomed a decision to re-establish committees and open them to the public.

A protest will be held in Dunedin next week to call on the Southern District Health Board to pull out of its 15-year contract with the Compass Group for food services after a problem-plagued start to the controversial outsourcing.

About 40,000 people in the Southern District Health Board area may require elective surgery, a survey released yesterday suggests.

The Compass Group has made a food manager redundant in Dunedin because of a lack of custom at hospital staff cafes.