New Zealand's Housing Problems

During the support negotiations of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) the Green party was able to secure a $1b fund to insulate homes around the country. During the election campaign National announced that they would scrap this fund citing lack of money in the budget to do so. I would argue that this is something that they can't afford not to do. Having lived in a cold damp flat last year I have experienced firsthand how your home can affect your health. I thought that I would share my story as an example but I am confident that my experience is not unique and I consider myself lucky to have had the option of shifting house.

I have always had mild asthma symptoms which have come and gone over the years but it has never been a major issue for me, until last year. As soon as I moved into the flat I began coughing at night and wheezing a lot during the day. This was largely controllable by inhalers until early in the winter when I got the flu which was going around Christchurch at the time. Every night for nearly two months I struggled to sleep because I couldn't stop coughing at night and I coughed during much of the day as well. It was only when I went to stay at my parents that I got a decent night's sleep. It took me nearly four months to fully recover from it. In the meantime it took its toll on me physically and mentally. I was tired and run down all the time and I struggled to keep up with assignments at uni.

It is no coincidence that when I moved into my flat my asthma symptoms flared up or that I coughed every night. The house that made me sick had no insulation and no heating and what was worse was that when I moved out and pulled the bed right out I found mould growing along the wall - it was that damp in my bedroom. It is because of my experience that I feel so strongly about this issue. It is also an issue that affects the population disproportionately, creating distinct inequalities between groups of people. The people that are forced to live in houses such as this are unable to afford an alternative. There are also many children suffering ill health as a result of poor quality housing. Is it any wonder that New Zealand has one of the highest child asthma rates in the world?

Insulating and heating homes are such simple solutions to a whole range of health issues. It also makes life that little bit better for people if they know that they are going home to a warm house that isn't going to make them sick. National's proposal to bring forward their $15million spending project just doesn't go far enough and will barely scratch the surface of the housing issues we have in New Zealand.

Barack Obama

I was one of many New Zealanders who got up early Wednesday morning to watch Barack Obama being sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. To me Obama's inauguration speech can be compared to Martin Luther King Jr.'s I have a dream speech. While many journalists have analysed what his speech means in terms of policy, I thought a good idea would be to get everyone to leave a comment on what Obama's election means to them. To get the ball rolling I have included a paragraph on my thoughts on Obama's speech.

Firstly what his speech signalled was the end of an era and a new beginning. We all know what the US has been in the past, but I can't see how it can possibly carry on down that path, and fortunately this was a key theme of Obama's speech. I was impressed by his commitments to the environment, reforming the education system, and of course making progress towards a universal health care system. These of course are policies that America has long needed but what excited me the most was his commitment to being a responsible world leader by dealing with poverty issues in the world, and also his wish for peace in the Middle East. I'm excited about Obama's election and I can't wait to see what his next move is and how he will go about achieving these amazing goals.

Pharmac Undermined

National is setting a dangerous precedent by forcing Pharmac to fund 12 months of Herceptin, rather than the three months that Pharmac currently funds. The reason Pharmac was set up as an independent body (by National itself!) was to ensure that funding for pharmaceuticals would be done in the fairest way possible. Pharmac is not made up of elective representatives and is therefore able to consider the science and the best way in which funding can be allocated to give the most benefit to New Zealand. Thus placing drug funding considerations in the hands of a body of experts rather than Joe politician with no medical training. Under this model every drug gets equal consideration but the precedent that National is setting shows that the person or people that shout the loudest get the drugs they want. 

Cartoon Comment from today's Press.

-Amelia

90 Days No Rights

It was with no surprise that National placed the 90 Day Bill on its agenda during the election. What has been surprising though is the speed at which they are planning to push this piece of legislation through parliament. John Key has announced that this Bill will be in place by Christmas, which is only three weeks away. This rush through parliament leaves no time for the bill to be debated properly or for the public to be given the opportunity to make submissions on the bill.

This bill has huge implications for people looking for employment as it strips workers in small businesses of their rights as an employee. For many students this is for their entire summer employment. It places students in a rather difficult position as it can be hard to find work for short periods of time. It is easy to see how many students may not feel comfortable speaking up about unsafe work practices, work place harassment or other incidents at work for fear of being fired.

It now seems that the National Government are making noises about extending this bill to not only those in small work places but to all workers. This was not part of their election campaign and it is worrying to see them introducing a highly controversial piece of legislation in a watered down form and then eventually extending it. Maybe they are hoping that if they only make small changes at a time we won't notice what they are doing.

-Amelia