Willie Jackson ridiculed Shane Reti on Maori longevity gains – but guess whose numbers were right (and show great progress)?

If  Dr Shane Reti happened to insist the world is not flat, would RNZ see much merit in reporting  he had come under fire from flat earthers?

We ask because a recent RNZ report was headed Shane Reti stands firm in face of criticism of Māori health comments

Oh dear.  What did he say?

The opening paragraphs inform us:

National’s Health spokesperson Dr Shane Reti is under fire for comments he made comparing Māori life expectancy to the 1840s.

It follows his appearance on The Hui where he said the life expectancy for Māori was 30 years in the 1840s but today it is around 73.4 years.

Was Reti really obliged to defend himself, saying he was trying to argue how the life span of Māori has increased over time?

Chloe Swarbrick helps scuttle medicinal cannabis bill because it embraces a “pharmaceuticalised commercial model”

The National Party’s deputy leader and health spokesperson, Shane Reti, popped into the news yesterday because he was promoting a bill before Parliament which aimed to make medicinal cannabis more affordable and accessible.

The Greens Chloe Swarbrick was among the MPs who voted against the bill, among other reasons because …

“It represents a highly pharmaceuticalised, commercial model…” 

Does this mean she wants amateur growers to get a slice of the medicinal action? Or gang members?

Reti told RNZ the bill had three key points: cannabis with low THC could be obtained over the counter; it improved the MedSafe consenting process; and the prescribing regime would be pharmacy dispensing, such as in the US.

Moreover, the bill addressed some issues under the current regime, such as tightening up the eligibility of who can manufacture medicinal cannabis.

A key consideration was that two years after the medicinal cannabis law took effect

“ …  we have no new affordable products on the shelf and we need to change that really quickly.”

Maori can’t be found on Muller’s front-bench list but they are getting priority treatment on a revised surgery list

Claims and counter-claims about racism have been triggered by two lists in the past week.

Elective surgery was at issue with one list.  Election prospects were at issue with the other.

Let’s sharpen our scalpels and start with the surgery.

Changes are being made in the Wellington region to a system whereby people placed on a surgical waiting list are treated according to clinical urgency, firstly, and then days waiting on that list. 

Clinical urgency is determined using national scoring tools (www.health.govt.nz/nz-health-statistics/data-references/code-tables/national-booking-reporting-system-code-tables).  In general the higher the score, the greater the urgency for treatment.  

No longer, according to this press statement: 

“Capital & Coast and Hutt Valley DHBs are prioritising Maori and Pacific in our surgical scheduling processes. The patients’ ethnicity is taken into account along with their level of clinical urgency and the number of days they have been on the waiting list within a given clinical priority band.

Fees-free policy perhaps attracted more voters to the polls than students to universities

The   irony  may  have  escaped   most of those  who  voted  Labour   in 2017.

Particularly   teachers (who reckon the  government is  penny-pinching  in  limiting  a pay offer to them  to  $700m  over four years).  No generosity  there — but   back  in   the days of the  election  campaign Labour  was   very generous   in  offering  free tertiary fees  for  first year  students.

So how  has that  worked  out?

Finance  Minister  Grant Robertson  revealed this week that in  his drive to cull  $1bn of low-priority spending, $200m  allocated    to  the fees-free  policy in the education vote, but not spent,  has been  transferred — but no, not  to  meet the  teachers’ demands.  It will be devoted to  reforms in  the  vocational  education  sector.