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Nau mai, haere mai.
Read the headlines and it’s virtually impossible not to think New Zealand’s public health system is in crisis. Staff shortages and burnout, endless waiting times, a “post code lottery” for vital services – try not to get sick is one logical response to it all.
To listen to the government, however, much of the blame can be sheeted home to its predecessor’s attempts at reform. Reconstituting the old system under Te Whatu Ora’s centralised umbrella has supposedly caused such a bad case of bureaucratic bloat only radical surgery can fix it.
Cue the sacking of Te Whatu Ora’s board and the appointment of a commissioner to stop the whole edifice going broke. But as a team of health experts writes today, “overspending” is not to blame – historical and current underfunding lies at the heart of the crisis.
“Throughout the 2010s,” they explain, “just over 9% of the country’s GDP was spent on health, when most comparable countries were spending between 10% and 12%. According to OECD data, in 2020 New Zealand spent the equivalent of US$3,929 per capita on health – far less than Canada (US$6,215) and Australia (US$5,802).”
Will the present mess end with more belt-tightening and budget restraint? Or will other potential funding models now be proposed to fill the gaps in the public system? Will today’s crisis be the stalking horse for further “reform”?
As our authors warn, research shows a greater role for private or “social” insurance in the health system generally raises costs and worsens outcomes. “Put simply, market-based healthcare doesn’t deliver the expected benefits of markets, but does generate the expected downsides.”
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Finlay Macdonald
New Zealand Editor
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Esther Willing, University of Otago; Jaime King, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Paula Lorgelly, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Peter Crampton, University of Otago; Robin Gauld, University of Otago; Tim Tenbensel, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
New Zealand is not unique – health systems in most high-income countries are under stress. But that’s no reason to question the viability of the publicly-funded system in general.
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Dylan Gaffney, University of Oxford; Daud Aris Tanudirjo, Universitas Gadjah Mada
New research provides direct evidence that seafarers travelled along the equator to reach islands off the coast of West Papua more than 50 millennia ago.
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David Dempsey, University of Canterbury; Jannik Haas, University of Canterbury; Rebecca Peer, University of Canterbury
New Zealand’s natural gas supply is forecast to drop by half within six years. The flow-on effects of scarcity will include rising costs, but this could shift demand to other energy sources.
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Marnie Lloydd, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
On the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, the world still witnesses brutal and illegal violations of the rules of war. Only greater collective responsibility will improve the situation.
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Hilary A Smith, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
New Zealand’s bilingual children often lose their mother tongue by the time they leave school. But there are fears that use of English-based decoding in structured literacy will hasten this decline.
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Louise Phillips, The University of Queensland; Francisco Perales, The University of Queensland; Jenny Ritchie, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Young Australians and New Zealanders have been campaigning for better climate action for years. It seems their message might be getting through, according to new research.
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Cristian Damir Martinez Vega, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
The Auckland Philharmonia’s performance of the opera Tristan und Isolde raises the inevitable ‘Wagner question’. But cancel culture is not the answer.
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Myra Williamson, Auckland University of Technology
If New Zealand supports a ‘rules-based international order’ its response to the International Court of Justice’s findings on the Occupied Palestinian Territories should involve deeds more than words.
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David Pomeroy, University of Canterbury; Lisa Darragh, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Structured maths has been put forward as the answer to New Zealand’s mathematics test results. But the government’s rationale for sweeping changes are based on numbers that don’t tell the full story.
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Marnie Lloydd, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
New Zealand has been quick to voluntarily report on its compliance with international humanitarian law. Turning those words into deeds remains the challenge in a violent and insecure world.
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David Menkes, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Barbara Mintzes, University of Sydney; Joel Lexchin, York University, Canada
Direct advertising of branded prescription drugs can lead patients to seek unnecessary medicines and treatments. Repealing the current law could help prevent this, and reduce health spending.
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Sally Casswell, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
New Zealand’s long history with heavy drinking has taken a toll on generations of children. Government policy needs to target fetal alcohol spectrum disorder before it happens.
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From our foreign editions
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Yvonne Su, York University, Canada; Tegan Hadisi, University of Oxford
While Kamala Harris’s ‘brat summer’ and its TikTok enthusiasts seemingly took flight overnight, the real question is whether young voters show up to cast their ballots in November.
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Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne, University of Bristol
The Geneva Conventions, are supposed to protect civilians in war. Israel and Hamas appear to have forgotten this.
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Mariko Takedomi Karlsson, Lund University
Fashion can be a useful vehicle for political messages – until someone asks who makes the clothing.
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Wändi Bruine de Bruin, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences; Gale Sinatra, University of Southern California
Phrases like ‘climate crisis,’ ‘climate emergency’ or ‘climate justice’ might seem to escalate the urgency, but a large survey shows they don’t help and may actually hurt.
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Benjamin Y. Fong, Arizona State University
The FDA’s decision shines a light on some of the unique obstacles that psychedelic drugs may face on the path to approval.
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Bill Hare, Murdoch University
A new report reveals Australia’s fossil fuel exports threaten the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5°C
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Ian A. Wright, Western Sydney University
New research underscores the need to counter the effects of urban growth on drought by ensuring cities have enough green spaces to keep them liveable.
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Ausma Bernot, Griffith University; Joel Scanlan, University of Tasmania
The online games platform has nearly 80 million daily users and primarily targets children. However, like many large platforms, it has trouble moderating harmful content.
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