It was an unequivocal promise: so keep it
A succession of hospital-related headlines in the ODT in recent months reflects a deep local concern that central government is seeking to backtrack upon promises.
National had proclaimed, before the election last year "National will reverse the cuts to the new Dunedin hospital".
They would “ensure that, when the hospital opens, it will have those 421 beds [that Labour had somewhat reduced] ready to go. There will be 13 functioning main operating theatres ... and the vital PET scanner will be installed and operational from day one . . . National knows how to get things done, and we will accelerate progress on this painfully slow-moving project”.
Immediately after the election, Dr Reti, in confirmation of this, emailed me that “We have been clear what we would put back in the fit-out from what was removed, for example the PET scanner, beds and operating theatres”.
These statements were unequivocal, admitting of no misinterpretation.
And yet we now have the need to march in protest (I want to see tens of thousands!); a protest that the government do a simple thing, which is to keep a promise.
There’s an unsettling contrast here with another government-supported project, the new Christchurch stadium. At least $200 million of taxpayer money has been promised; to my knowledge, no plans in government to resile from that commitment. It seems that the need to keep Cantabrian rugby players dry on rainy days matters more than the need to keep we southerners healthy.
DCC fritters
How is it possible the sale of Aurora is being left to a Dunedin City Council decision? Over the decades various councils and mayors have made vacuous catastrophic economic decisions which have left a legacy of debt, while they disappear into the anonymity of denied responsibility. Aurora supplies energy to the whole of Otago. This is not a decision that should be made by this council.
New Zealand now has some of the dearest electricity in the Western world as a result of the original privatisation of our electricity supply and distribution network. On a daily basis we are informed of factories and job losses caused by the price of our electricity.
The Australian firm bidding for Aurora is extremely happy to ensure its shareholders of a potential economic bonanza. Of course they are.
And what will happen to this cash bonanza? On DCC history, it will be frittered away.
Open letter backed
We write to add our support to the Dunedin citizens who signed the open letter to the mayor, councillors and community published in the Otago Daily Times (19.8.24).
History shows that selling key strategic public assets has only been a short-term strategy that has not resulted in positive long-term social and economic gains for New Zealand and the communities within it.
There is huge risk in selling Aurora Energy, an asset we would never get back and the results of the sale are dubious in how they would be managed for the future of our city and its residents.
Our council needs to show economic leadership and a long-term vision for our city.
As the letter says, the selling of Aurora was not an election issue in 2022. The outcome of this decision will certainly be one in 2025.
Fishing a big threat to the endangered hoiho
While applauding the yellow-eyed penguin becoming Bird of the Year, the publicity generated has not faced the fact that if this bird is not going to become extinct on our watch we need to stop fishermen competing with it for food.
Already the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, Forest and Bird, numerous tourism operations and the Wildlife Hospitals are proving effective in their efforts to control land-based predators, the diseases that would otherwise kill penguin chicks and to feed malnourished and starving birds on land. But if the penguins starve at sea and are caught by fishermen as bycatch so that they cannot return to breed, they are doomed.
Those damn theatricals
Philip Temple wondered who the mystery man was in the Cambridge Circus photo which accompanied Jim Sullivan's article (ODT 17.9.24). According to Google it was Jonathan Lynn who later enjoyed success as a movie director and also co-wrote the acclaimed TV series Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.
The company performed at His Majesty’s Theatre and stayed at the Leviathan Hotel. I was also a guest at the hotel and remember seeing John Cleese and others in the cast standing in the lounge drinking coffee. It was a wet Sunday afternoon.
As they left the room an elderly lady who lived permanently at the hotel hissed "Theatricals!"
I enjoyed that almost as much as the show, which was wonderfully funny.
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
