Grey Power focus on health, insulation

Grey Power today told political parties it would be focusing on their health and home insulation policies.

Grey Power health spokesman Dick Stark said in a statement the pressure group for older people would be interested in how the next government addressed care issues in health, rather than focusing on funding.

He said the District Health Board model needed to be looked at.

"At the moment there is too much bureaucratic kingdom building, too much fragmentation, too many administrators, and too much duplication, so it is time that some basic management disciplines were introduced," he said.

"Grey Power will become very vocal in pursuing the anomalies cited by our large membership in all regions of New Zealand, mindful that our generation will have to accept some change to our traditional expectations, but being always conscious that health should be a quality of living for all peoples within New Zealand communities."

Both Labour and National have said they would retain the model but wanted more consistancy across the 21 separate DHBs.

Another area of interest was home energy efficiency.

The Government has agreed to a Greens' proposed $1 billion 15-year fund to insulate homes.

The policy was due to start next year and would be paid for through profits recycled from state-owned power companies as a result of the emissions trading scheme (ETS).

National has not agreed to go ahead with the scheme and saying there was no funding for it and the promise was reckless during an international financial crisis.

Grey Power issued a statement calling on parties to say how they would fund home energy efficiency.

"How big a deal is the $1 billion home energy fund? Less than a single year's Crown revenue from taxes and dividends from the electricity sector," the statement said.