Govt gushes about lifting our wellbeing and saving lives – but new bowel-screening campaign has only just been announced

Buzz from the Beehive

The latest news from the Beehive features announcements of initiatives introduced to make us so much better off along with self-congratulations for initiatives that – the ministers insist – already are making us so much better off.

Then there are statements to tell us –

• Who has been appointed to which jobs (Bede Corry will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States and Ainsley Walter Chair of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra);
• Where our Ministers can be found (the PM will lead New Zealand’s Ministerial delegation to the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum in Sydney today while Associate Foreign Minister Aupito William Sio will travel to Fiji this week to represent New Zealand at the Pacific Islands Forum Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Suva).

The self-congratulatory category “includes announcements that:

• The Ministry for Ethnic Communities marked its first anniversary on 1 July 2022 and celebrated “a successful 12 months of influencing government policy and lifting wellbeing outcomes for ethnic communities”.
• A new report on the health effects of air pollution shows “the Government’s focus on reducing emissions will save lives”.

The headline on another statement suggests it belongs in the self-congratulatory category, too.  It brays: National bowel screening campaign a lifesaver

Let’s wait and see, because Associate Ministers of Health Peeni Henare and Aupito William Sio have only just launched this one – it’s a national multimedia campaign encouraging people to take part in the Government’s lifesaving bowel screening programme.