1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: So there are some dumb games, dumb games being played 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:05,360 Speaker 1: at the moment in the very serious business of health. 3 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Health New Zealand is in the red to the tune 4 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:10,080 Speaker 1: of about one point seven billion dollars. That's for the year. 5 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: They're over budget by one point seven billion dollars. That's 6 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:15,360 Speaker 1: why Lester Leeve he got to be Commissioner and all 7 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: the others will let go. Game one is the Labor Party, 8 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:21,600 Speaker 1: who have of course zero credibility when it comes to money, 9 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: acclaiming the one point seven is because Health New Zealand 10 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: is underfunded. Now I have seen the budget on budget comparisons. 11 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: They are not aischeverel is playing with numbers in a 12 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: Ginny Anderson. Have you seen how many cops are on 13 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:34,600 Speaker 1: the beat kind of way. Dumb Game number two comes 14 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: from the unions, also with zero credibility around economics. They 15 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: argue their equity pay claim this was when we gave 16 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: nurses a massive pay rise. I ee, about four hundred 17 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 1: million dollars worth should not be part of the one 18 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 1: point seven billion because they were told it was coming 19 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:53,240 Speaker 1: from quote unquote another pot. Sadly, other pots aren't real. 20 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: What's real is what it costs to run the health system, 21 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: and what it costs is more than they have. Hence 22 00:00:58,000 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 1: they're in the red to the tune of one point 23 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: seven billion, and part of the cost is what we 24 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: pay nurses. The culmination of the labor union dumb game 25 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: is that allegedly the government manufacturing a crisis. Now, the 26 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: trouble with numbers, generally speaking, is they are what they are. 27 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: We deal with this daily with our bank balances, don't 28 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: we If we are overdrawn, we are generally not manufacturing 29 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 1: a crisis. Or generally we haven't been underfunded. We're just 30 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 1: overdrawn and we need to live within our means. The 31 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:27,039 Speaker 1: unions and the Labour Party have never really had any 32 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: trouble living beyond their means, of course, and this is 33 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 1: why more broadly speaking, economically we've had three recessions in 34 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:35,760 Speaker 1: two years. We have not and still don't pay our way. 35 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,000 Speaker 1: So the good news, if there is any, is that 36 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: at one point seven billion a year, surely, surely there's 37 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: a lot of waste in there somewhere. Mean of Erica 38 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: Stanford can find one hundred million on a Mari language 39 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: course that was producing little of anything. Law only knows 40 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 1: what you can find in the thirty odd billion of 41 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: health money. So the most valuable skill we can bring 42 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: to such matters at the moment is realism, economic realism. 43 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 1: We are broke, we are over spending and froudging numbers, 44 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: and playing dumb games doesn't help. For more from The 45 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:09,519 Speaker 1: Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to News Talks at B 46 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 1: from six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.