“There is a serious question of whether New Zealand is still a first world country as increasingly tragic scenes play out in hospitals,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“There is a serious question of whether New Zealand is still a first world country as increasingly tragic scenes play out in hospitals,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“New Zealand’s healthcare system is training less, paying less and harder to access than first world comparators. Is it any wonder our health system is in crisis?
“The news is awash with stories of New Zealanders being turned away from healthcare. This collapse in standards is part of a gradual decline in New Zealand’s prosperity. In recent years New Zealand has been training 40 per cent fewer medical professionals per capita than Australia.
“The worsening system is a result of falling wages generally. Healthcare is predominantly paid for by taxes, which come from wages. Lower wages mean less healthcare. Under Labour the median wage gap has gone from Australians earning $17,400 more to $24,000 more.
“These falling wages reflect a long-term productivity decline. Lithuania, The Czech Republic, and Slovenia have all overtaken us for productivity in the past five years. Estonia looks set to overtake us next. We don’t even compare to Australia, Canada, the U.S. or Britain anymore.
“The vultures are circling as New Zealand loses its first world status. The Government of Victoria is aggressively advertising for nurses to cross the ditch, and with the higher pay available nurses will continue to leave.
“People like to think of New Zealand as a first world country but our income figures tell a different story. Until we have a government focussed on economic growth we will continue to see tragedies in our health system.
“It is now four decades since New Zealand last did any serious work on our policy settings and, for the first time since the Great Financial Crisis, the majority of New Zealanders say our country is headed in the wrong direction.
“The World Competitiveness Booklet also tracks the decline. In its 2022 publication it shows we have sunk in the global rankings. Economic performance, 33rd down to 47th. Business efficiency, 28th down to 36th, Infrastructure, 25th down to 29th. In every area we are performing worse under Labour.
“As I said when launching ACT’s alternative budget, we risk losing first world status. As we lose competitiveness, we lose skilled people and investment. As we lose skilled people and investment, we become less competitive. This is the spiral we must avoid.
“ACT’s Alternative Budget for Real Change shows a plan to arrest the decline and grow the economy. It would get the country back into surplus and allows New Zealanders to keep more of their income to invest.
“The question Kiwis must be asking themselves is do we want to carry on in comfortable decline until we slip away from first world status, or do we want real change?”