Eileen Goodwin

A possible Labour-led Government was characterised as a ''Frankenstein'' monster in a colourful campaign launch speech by Act New Zealand leader Jamie Whyte in Auckland yesterday.

The Green Party's warrant of fitness scheme for rental houses will discourage unprofessional landlords from being in the market, Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei says.

Health reporter Eileen Goodwin looks at some of the health promises in this election, and issues facing the sector.

The polling booth at the University of Otago was buzzing yesterday on the first day of voting for the 2014 general election.

Te Tai Tonga Mana Movement candidate Georgina Beyer says she ''absconded'' from the Internet Mana roadshow last month, having formed negative views of party backer Kim Dotcom after getting to know him on the road.

Labour leader David Cunliffe is not holding Prime Minister John Key to account for turning New Zealand into a ''wealth generating machine for the wealthiest'', Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei says.

It could have been a hair-raising experience, but blind man Simon Fogarty's colleagues were in safe hands yesterday.

Satisfaction among nurses at Dunedin Hospital's emergency department is evidence the department is in a ''critical state'', North Dunedin MP Dr David Clark says.

Money spent on health boosts the economy because it ends up in the pockets of the lower paid, says Prof Martin McKee, a specialist in European public health.

The secret of a long life is ''being pleasant to everybody'', says May Cuthbertson, who turned 100 on Saturday.

More than half of the nurses in the Dunedin Hospital emergency department have been actively looking for a new job, a staff survey released to the Otago Daily Times reveals.

Fitting 100 individually cut pieces of French-made glass into the four sides of the Iona Church clock face was a nerve-racking job, says the ''elated'' specialist glazier who carried out the task.

Dunedin is becoming a city of ''middle-aged, middle-class'' workers with a dearth of entry-level roles, Methodist Mission chief executive Laura Black says.

The launch 40 years ago was more than the start of Mosgiel Health Centre. It was the beginning of life-long friendships.

An innovative concept when it opened, the Mosgiel Health Centre celebrates its 40th birthday this month.

Paying to publish blog posts to attack public health advocates is to be expected, given the industries involved, says Prof Boyd Swinburn, an obesity authority who will speak in Dunedin today.

Labour will halt a controversial hospital meal plan if elected next month, the party's health spokeswoman says.

The cash-strapped Southern District Health Board is defending the cost of its physio pool in Invercargill, when it says it cannot afford to keep Dunedin's physio pool open.

Church representatives were questioned about gay rights at a forum in Dunedin last night marking a year this month since marriage equality law passed.