The National Party has a pattern of broken election promises

Written By: - Date published: 6:02 pm, June 3rd, 2024 - 9 comments
Categories: budget 2024, election 2023, same old national - Tags: , ,

In an extended state of cynical arrogance the National Party thought it could dash the hope of cancer sufferers and dump its election promise to fund 13 new cancer treatments and get away with it. As it turns out, National also broke its election promise to fund 13 new psychiatry registrar places at an estimated cost of, wait for it, $26 million over four years.

Undoubtedly, the PR wiz doctors of National are franticly preparing to create a ‘political miracle’ and the coalition government will announce that it will actually fund those cancer treatments soon-ish. However, don’t expect the same from Matt Doocey announcing that he, as Minister for Mental Health, will now also make good on his commitment and his Party’s election promise.

Shrouded in the typical obfuscation, National’s election promise confused even the people who should be in the know, as this Briefing to the Incoming Minister for Mental Health shows:

We note that the initial National Party manifesto proposed to increase the number of psychiatric registrar places to 50 a year on average (up from about 37) and double the number of clinical psychologists being trained each year from 40 to 80 over the next four years. It is not clear whether this commitment continues to be included within the Coalition agreements under the agreement to the National Party priority to ’cut health waiting times by training more doctors, nurses, and midwives…’

We would welcome a discussion to clarify the status of this commitment, but note that final year internship Clinical Psychology number across all universities is more than the 40 places cited, with approximately 80 in 2024.

National’s numbers are notoriously unreliable, and in typical fashion. When it first announced its cancer treatment promise with a lot of furore it also demonstrated its wishful incompetence.

At a time when politicians are picking apart figures – and those sent to journalists – it is worth noting National had an absolute humdinger in the policy it announced at 1pm.

In a PR sent at 1.13pm, National Party leader Christopher Luxon was quoted as saying 25,000 New Zealanders die from cancer each year. At 1.39pm, his team sent a corrected version saying 25,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year, and about 10,000 die.

The National Party and this coalition government are playing games with vulnerable people and gullible voters and making promises that they don’t intend to keep. The damage done to overall trust in government and democracy in the longer term doesn’t bother this Randian rabble. In fact, it should be seen as one of the intended outcomes of its neo-authoritarian reign – après moi, le deluge.

9 comments on “The National Party has a pattern of broken election promises ”

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  1. PsyclingLeft.Always 1
    3 June 2024 at 9:51 pm

    Playing games with vulnerable people

    This is the cynical, mean and nasty essence of Luxon and his cronies.

    Would any of them know the true reality of life for people who are vulnerable ?

    They probably think it's being weak and a means for their kind to gain power.

    Let's help our vulnerable and…fight back !

  2. Adrian 2
    4 June 2024 at 8:49 am

    The Luxon cohort and particularly Luxon himself appears to not have the faintest idea what it means to be a Government. Government’s primary role is for the care of ALL the people that it governs, not just those it favours.

    • roblogic 2.1
      4 June 2024 at 8:54 am

      Governing has never been a strong point for the Right. They fundamentally don't care

      • tc 2.1.1
        4 June 2024 at 7:58 pm

        They got heavily backed to plunder and have not disappointed on that front.

        Any governing will be consequential, minimal and as you rightly state done with the usual dont give a toss vibe.

  3. PsyclingLeft.Always 3
    4 June 2024 at 8:57 am

    Slimy Luxon ….apparently, he knows ?

    "I know how people are feeling, I know how frustrated they feel about it, I know what cancer sufferers are going through. Even this weekend, I was talking to a young man who had just been diagnosed with brain cancer and we talked a lot about it.

    his equally slimy crony Willis

    Willis told First Up the government would honour its campaign promise.

    "We understand the urgency and our message to them [advocates] is we're working on it with the urgency it deserves."

    Patient Voice Aotearoa chairperson Dr Malcolm Mullholland calls it..

    "I think the government didn't expect there to be as much backlash about the lack of funding as there has been. This is one of the worst things they can do – we're talking about people with terminal cancer.

    "Patients had been waiting for July 1, when they believed funding would begin and now they've gone back on their word."

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/518573/new-cancer-drug-funding-to-be-announced-this-year-christopher-luxon

    As Incognito said…they are "playing games with vulnerable people" However the arrogant, cynical creeps havent read the situation correctly..this will not go well for them. Backlash big time !

  4. Macro 4
    4 June 2024 at 9:31 am

    Stop waving goodbye to your loved ones

    Remember that one? I do. No sooner elected to govt in 2008 they started the "rationalization of the public service" that they are repeating now. So as many of those who are now out of work head off shore, my family did in 2009. They are now Australian citizens running a health care organization. Bloody National.

  5. Westykev 5
    4 June 2024 at 10:38 am

    Was definitely poor of National but maybe they were just being aspirational.

  6. SPC 6
    5 June 2024 at 8:37 am

    There is sometimes a lack of intelligence in design

    1.ACC is able to invest in treatment, including operations to get people back to work. They do this because otherwise they pay out money to those not working.

    2.Pharmac has a fixed fund, some of the drugs that are unfunded here are funded offshore because the people then remain working and it prevents dependency on things like dialysis

    We are penny wise and pound foolish – the cost falls on welfare and or the health system (and families).

    Imagine if ACC covered sickness, would people not then get drugs so they could stay in work,

    Imagine if the health system saw a way to reduce future liability by investing in drug treatments not funded by Pharmac.

  7. sad 7
    6 June 2024 at 11:39 am

    All patients paying for the listed drugs should, from the date of election results should send all bills to the finance and health ministers for reimbursement.

    After all Luxon is a man of delivery