Jules Radich: Dunedin Mayor talks mass protest against proposed cutbacks to new hospital

The Dunedin Mayor says he is expecting thousands of people to protest tomorrow over a proposed downgrade for the city's new hospital. 

The Government has asked Health New Zealand to cut costs - after an independent review found it's hurtling toward an overspend. 

Mayor Jules Radich says he is urging the community to march against what amounts to clinical cuts for the critically needed facility. 

He told Heather du Plessis-Allan the Government must re-engage in contract negotiations. 

Radich says he believes the project can be completed if prices are brought back within reason, as the piles and plans are all done. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Heather do for sel.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
It doesn't look like Dunedin is going to take lying
down that decision to downscale the new hospital. Yesterday the
government announced the hospital's budget has blown out from one
point nine to three billion and it's unaffordable. There is
a protest planned tomorrow and the mayor Jewels radit is
with us.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Hey, Jules, Hey, how are you?

Speaker 2 (00:18):
I'm very well, thank you. How big is that protest
going to be?

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Well, we don't know yet. We don't have any indication
of numbers, but I expect to be thousands of people.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
What do you think the government should do if they
don't go? If they I mean they've proposed that they
may just you know, downscale the new one or they
may add to the existing one. You don't like either
of those options.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Well, in the first instance, I think they should undergo
a process or go through a process of I suppose
contract management. You know they've taken the initial contract. There
was a multinational with lots of layers of profitability in
at high level, so let's have a look. I mean,
our patients is going really well. It's under budget and

(01:05):
on time, so it's going really well. And so by
dealing with different contractors. I think we can get the
price back down to the one point eight eight billion
and get the hospital built with all its clinical services,
services and facilities.

Speaker 2 (01:21):
I think the contractor is the problem here, juels I do.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
Why they're contract Well, they've been very good at escalating
the price of various contracts that have done for New
Zealand government, like a transmission gully, the new christ Church Hospital.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
A bit of a pattern of behavior here from these guys.
You think, yes, interesting, okay, do you reckon the government's
movable on this?

Speaker 1 (01:48):
Well? Absolutely, if they engage in that contract negotiations and
you know they are looking and talking about that, and
if they can get pricing than the realms of reasonable,
then I think they can do it. Because we've got
we've got all the designs done. I mean the piles.
From from my office window, I can see all the

(02:09):
piles are done. They're in the ground and finished. That
was finished this week, would you believe. And the plans
are all done. So there's two and a half thousand
pages of plans that were received on site or to
the side office a month or two ago. So there's
been a heap of a lot of money spent on
this design, and it's just a matter of getting on

(02:31):
and building it. And we can see what good quality
contractors can do because we can see it right next
door and the outpatients building.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Good luck with it, Im, and good luck with the
protest tomorrow. Appreciate you time. It's Jules Radditch Deneden's me.
He may have a point there, a contractors three times
budget blow out, blow out the budget, you got to
start getting a little bit suspicious.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
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