South Island minister a welcome first step
The appointment of James Meager as the Minister for the South Island is a step in the right direction. It will provide a voice for the South Island and will hopefully prevent further calamities such as the Dunedin Hospital drama and the kneejerk cancellation of the ferry contracts that are essential to the further prosperity of the South.
The minister will be a single point of contract for business, local government and members of the public to approach the government on issues affecting the South Island and will advocate on our behalf in Wellington.
On many occasions over the past three years, I have advocated for a Minister for the South Island in the pages of the Otago Daily Times. Whether on the subject of rail, energy, the environment and even on the very subject of governing the South Island, I strongly believe that we who live here must receive our fair share.
We are a fifth of the population and a quarter of GDP. An important quarter based entirely on exports of agricultural products, raw materials and the influx of tourists. Frankly, we work hard for the country’s prosperity and deserve our quarter of the government budget to improve our infrastructure, health, education, environment and even policing.
However, this is not a cabinet position and that is disappointing. When the equivalent positions were created for Scotland and Wales these were full cabinet-level Secretaries of State with junior ministers for areas such as health, education, planning and policing.
I hope to see the same for the South Island one day. That way we can remain an integral part of New Zealand but with the ability to forge our own destiny with the fruits of our own labour and make decisions for ourselves.
Honesty please
So Dr Shane Reti will be replaced as Minister of Health, a role which he performed abysmally, not only in regard to our hospital but as a doctor who cancelled world-leading legislation to curb smoking.
To me, he is one of a number of National MPs who seem terribly out of their depth, short on answers, short on truth and somewhat smug and dismissive of the general populace.
Problem is, there doesn't seem to be anyone qualified or capable to be his successor.
I really don't care who they are as long as honesty is their first and foremost trait.
Words matter
Christopher Luxon says the barely competent Simeon Brown will "ruthlessly execute health policy". This is a weird middle management faux pas.
In my view, Luxon has done his best to execute Dunedin and other hospitals, the health budget, Māori health, sustainable nurse and other staff ratios, and perhaps thousands of New Zealanders who will now die of lung cancer and emphysema due to his laissez faire tobacco policy.
He should choose his words more carefully, although we are collectively choosing a new career for him, anyway.
Rich rewards
A salved conscience at having submitted just in time on that divisive Bill before Parliament.
Reward one: two sunny days in a row;
Reward two: gratitude for the good service of the ODT, reliably redirecting my paper;
Reward three: Peter Matheson’s article (Opinion 7.1.25) reminding us of who we really are;
Reward four: The Summer Times with some well-researched, interesting articles.
An authorative book and its good advice within
Pete Hodgson’s series on the hospital build (Opinion ODT 16-18.1.25) put me in mind of Prof Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner’s authoritative book How Big Things Get Done. I have often wondered if our politicians and their advisors who are involved in large projects have read it, and if not why not since its lessons are so applicable?
The authors address the reasons and underlying assumptions and behaviours which result in the typically massive budget and time overruns along with their corresponding under-benefits which have applied historically to public infrastructure megaprojects globally. Their huge database of heart-stopping budget overruns suggests that humans (and not least politicians) are inherently resistant to learning from previous experience and it is unsurprising that Dunedin Hospital is not unique in this respect.
All the issues cited by Pete Hodgson have combined not only with the "Black Swan" event that was Covid but also with apparent political obfuscation and dare I say incompetence, to get to our current sorry state of affairs. (Did Jacinda really mean it when she announced in August 2017 that Labour would actually start the building in its first term?).
On the other hand there is a heartening, though small, number of big projects globally which defy the norm and in the book these are analysed and lessons articulated. I’m sure many Kiwis would in desperation like to plead for our politicians to eschew posturing and face-saving and upskill themselves on the frameworks and actions which boost the prospect of success in complex projects like Dunedin Hospital. That might just enhance both the interests of serving the country and political survival.
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
