When does something free cost someone $5?
When is free not free? I have a Gold Card. I am older and this has benefits, but not on the bus
I have to attend an appointment at the hospital which will result in me being unable to drive myself home. So the solution to me was to get the bus. I have a Gold Card, it will be free.
I had to go to the Otago Regional Council to make inquiries, and lo and behold I need to purchase a Bee Card to ride the bus. Explaining that I have a Gold Card, the helpful assistant said you need a Bee Card to ride the bus, and she loaded my Gold Card on to my Bee Card, for the total sum of $5.
So how is it that a free ride on a bus costs $5?
Otago Regional Council transport manager Lorraine Cheyne replies. Mr Henderson has asked a good question. We are still working through how the Government’s fare changes will be applied. We would be interested to know if Mr Anderson has access to Community Connect concession. He may qualify and can contact Otago Regional Council on 0800 474 082, to discuss this. A Bee Card (used to pay for public transport) can be obtained free of charge for Community Connect.
Meekly rolling over
The undermining and degradation of our new hospital continues apace, now with the Interprofessional Learning Centre canned. You have quoted (21.6.23) Mr Pete Hodgson, leading the new hospital project, as saying "The inpatients building simply cannot open without a functional professional development unit for clinicians". Yes indeed, agreed.
But now he, and our local MPs, have meekly rolled over in the face of instruction from bean-counters in Wellington. This, piled upon losses of beds, loss of the PET scanner, loss of a bridge connecting the two buildings. Many are in despair at what they see as our new hospital, which was going to be "state of the art", as Dr David Clark had grandly promised, now becoming a state of the least we can get away with.
Have we been brow-beaten into acceptance? Are the local campaigns fizzling out?
We deserve the best
Lois Galer wrote "Christchurch whistles for a covered stadium" and has also been "granted $78 million for electric buses" while learned Otago professors and many others "lament the loss of hospital training centre" (ODT, 21.6.23).
With elections looming and some seats marginal — especially those in Christchurch and Auckland — the government of the day will usually find hard-earned taxes to throw out as bait to the voters. Some politicians may think that Dunedin’s Labour seats are always safe and that there is no real compulsion for this government to build a fit-for-purpose hospital or assist the university or polytechnic.
Finances are depleted, excellent staff are being lost and students will continue to suffer while finance goes north. This is so unfair.
Future local politicians know what is required for our area, but talking is not enough. We need action and we need politicians with real financial, business and various work experience to support our area.
Everyone should research and vote carefully to ensure that we get the best possible people as our leaders. Dunedin people deserve the best.
The solution to the new hospital funding query
The government can rest easy because I have found the money to finish the hospital. They can start work now. And I did it for free.
Start with the $30 million the Inland Revenue Department is using to renovate their offices, to make them a nice happy place to work. Add on the $24 million Kāinga Ora is spending on its office renovation. Top it off with the $12 million the government is spending on consultants to work out how to save money on the hospital, and we suddenly have $66 million. $66 million of taxpayer money derived from your taxes.
And the Labour government thinks the best use for your money is office redecorating, while denying Otago people access to a new hospital to care for the sick and injured. Where should the priority be, new office chairs and desks or a hospital for the sick? The council can put parking meters on the concrete slab to earn some more money. Labour never intended to build our hospital.
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
