John MacDonald: What spending should the Government prioritise?

Where do you think government spending should be prioritised?

According to new survey findings, a third of us reckon health funding and access to medicines is most important and must be given top priority.

And I find it hard to argue with that, because we’re all involved in the health system in some way, shape or form, aren’t we?

This is at the same time as we have the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister saying there’s more belt tightening on the way, with a $300 million cut in the amount of new spending in this year’s Budget, which Nicola Willis will deliver in two weeks.

And it will be the third year in a row that there’s been a cut in new spending, or the operating allowance, as it’s officially known.

So, instead of $2.4 billion in new spending in this year’s Budget, there’ll be $2.1 billion.

That was the heads-up we got from the Prime Minister yesterday in his pre-Budget speech.

But just as he was doing that, the findings of a new survey emerged which show how or where people think government spending should be prioritised.

It’s a survey done for pharmaceutical lobby group Medicines NZ, and it shows that a third of the people spoken to say their vote in this year’s election will be strongly influenced by policies which improve healthcare.

When people were asked which area of government spending was most important, 55 percent said health, 15 percent said economic development, 8 percent said infrastructure, and 7 percent said education.

And of the people who said health was their main priority, 37 percent said hospital and specialist services were most important to them; 23 percent said GP services; and 16 percent said better access to medicines was their health priority.

Which rings true to me, especially access to specialist services, because unless you have medical insurance, you can wait ages to see a specialist, can’t you?

Access to a specialist can, for some people, be the difference between life and death, so that’s an area of the public health system I want to see more investment in.

What about you?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Morning's podcast where John mc
donald from NEWSTALKSB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Get a question for you, where do you think government
spending should be prioritized. What's your answers to that? Well,
according to new survey findings, a third of US reckon
health funding and access to medicines is most important and
must be given top priority. And I find it hard

(00:34):
to argue with that because we're all involved in the
health system in some way, shape or form, aren't we
at various times of our lives. This is at the
same time, though, as we have the Prime Minister and
the Finance Minister saying that there's more belt tightening on
the way with a three hundred million dollar cut in
the amount of new spending in this year's budget, which
Nichola Willis will deliver in two weeks two weeks to day,

(00:58):
and it'll be the third year in a row that's
been a cut in new spending or the operating allowance
as it's officially known, which is no surprise really given
the roasting Nikola would escape Grant Robertson for his spending
when he was Finance Minister in De Sindra Durn's government. Government.
So instead of two point four billion and new spending

(01:18):
in this years budget, there will be two point one billion.
That was the heads up we got yesterday from the
Prime Minister in his pre budget speech. But just as
he was doing that, as he was standing up to
you know, give us the warning or the heads up,
a new survey emerged, or the findings of a new
survey emerged which show how or where people think government

(01:42):
spending should be prioritized. Now, this is a survey done
for pharmaceutical lobby group Medicines n Z and it shows
that a third of the people spoken to say their
vote in this years election will be strongly influenced by
policies which improve healthcare. Now, before you start going on, yes,
I know, given the outfit this research was done for,

(02:04):
maybe the findings aren't totally surprising. But get this. When
people were asked which area of government spending was most important,
fifty five percent said health, fifteen percent said economic development,
eight percent said infrastructure, and seven percent said education. So

(02:29):
fifty five percent said health. So we've got the primeters
to say and the government needs to stick to its
fiscal plan. And there were all these people in the
survey saying health must be given top priority for funding.
And of the people who said health was their main priority,
thirty seven percent said hospital and specialist services were most

(02:50):
important to them, twenty three percent said GP services, sixteen
percent said better access to medicines that was their health priority.
Now that rings true to me. Put me with the
thirty seven percent who were saying we need to do
better with hospital and specialist services. List services. Especially I
reckon access to specialists because unless you have medical insurance,

(03:13):
you can find yourself waiting ages to see a specialist,
can't you. And when you think about it, access to
a specialist can well, for some people be the difference
between life and death. So that's an area of the
public health system I want to see more investment in.
But all up, the health system should be a number

(03:33):
one priority, should be number one. That's the message to
the government from this survey of two thousand people around
the country. Now this is where I get to the
questions I've got for you this morning, and light of
the cut in new spending in this year's budget, You've
got to choose winners, don't you. What is the most

(03:54):
important area of government funding as far as you're concerned.
Is it health or is it something else? And if
it is health, what part of the health system do
you think needs attention. I say better access to SIS specialists,
but what about you?

Speaker 1 (04:08):
For more from Category Mornings with John McDonald, listen live
to news talks a'd be Christchurch from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.