Money going where it should: family

Ottley family members Morgie (9), Jen, Sam (11), Lilly (8), Garreth, Lori (12) and Soraya (7) sit...
Ottley family members Morgie (9), Jen, Sam (11), Lilly (8), Garreth, Lori (12) and Soraya (7) sit on the trampoline at their Calton Hill home. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH
For one Dunedin family, the latest Budget has "money going where it should", but for them the devil will be in the details.

From their Calton Hill home yesterday, Jen and Garreth Ottley said, at a glance, the Budget seemed to "all sound good".

The couple have six children. Mrs Ottley works in administration and publishing and Mr Ottley was made redundant late last year.

Mrs Ottley said she welcomed increased health spending, especially on extending the free GP visits scheme by a year to under-14s, as well as cheaper GP visits for community services card holders.

"I have some health conditions that have me at the doctor every fortnight. Cheaper doctor's visits - I'm all for that.

"And, of course, having so many kids, having the age go up at the doctor's is really good as well."

She hoped money directed at health would go to support for mental health services.

"Trying to get on a waiting list is so hard, and once you're on it you're waiting a year or more."

Mr Ottley said certain housing initiatives were also money well spent.

As for a rollout of a new home insulation programme, it would have been great to have a year ago before they paid for theirs, he said.

"It's good that there are initiatives, because there are lots of cold houses around."

A $180million boost for the Department of Conservation was important, especially considering Dunedin's biodiversity, he said.

"New Zealand runs on tourism and agriculture."

He had heard of long waits for the police in Dunedin and so $300million over four years for police staff also sounded promising, he said.

"In Dunedin you can get anywhere in 15 minutes, so you'd hope it'll be less than 15 minutes for anything like that."

Mr Ottley said he was glad National was not in charge of this year's Budget.

"It all sounds good, but we'll see how it's spent. The devil's always in the details."

Add a Comment

 

Advertisement