Another Lifeline cut

Anthony R0bins
8 years ago
Categories: accountability, human rights, national, quality of life
Tags: brighter future, cuts, death of 1000 cuts, Lifeline, social contract, suicide

Of the 2015 budget Deborah Russell wrote:

Very quietly, a cut here and a decrease there, a failure to keep up with inflation in one place, and ignoring increasing population in another place, the Government is walking away from New Zealand’s longstanding social compact.

It’s a perfect description of what is going on – NZ as an egalitarian, caring and responsible country is dying a death of 1000 cuts, to be replaced by Key’s “Brighter Future”. Case in point yesterday:

Lifeline Aotearoa faces closure because of lack of funds

Counselling service Lifeline Aotearoa is searching for a lifeline of its own after announcing it only has enough money to run for one more year.

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Established in 1964, Lifeline provides several counselling and suicide prevention services including 24-hour help lines for people in crisis. By June 30, 2017, all the company’s reserves and funds from a new mortgage on its Auckland property will be exhausted.

Lifeline board chairman Ben Palmer said appeals for Government help were rejected and they are appealing to the public for help.

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Mr Palmer said New Zealand’s suicide rate, which continued to reach “epidemic proportions” meant services provided by organisations such as Lifeline were vital for the community.

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Green Party health spokesman Kevin Hague said if Lifeline’s help lines were axed, so too would a significant safety net for many New Zealanders. “When a service that receives 15,000 calls from New Zealanders in distress and needing mental health assistance is threatened with closure, there are serious questions about the viability of the entire mental health system,” he said. …

Cutting Lifeline is yet another erosion of our threadbare social fabric. How many deaths will this one cost?

You can donate to Lifeline on their site, and sign a petition here.