Top-level resignations over the past few months are an example of the disarray caused by this government, but nowhere is there a more obvious sign of the health chaos than in the rows of piles on the old Cadbury site in central Dunedin.
It’s no good trying to get a straight answer from the Minister for Health, Simeon Brown.
I recently asked if he has contracted the build of the inpatient building for the Dunedin Hospital, given construction needs to begin soon if even the delayed schedule is to be met. The Associate Health Minister Casey Costello responded on his behalf with little more than waffle.
There’s a reason ministers don’t like visiting Otepoti Dunedin: they don’t like our straight talking.
But we all know this government has a privatisation agenda and all the indications are this is exactly what they’re planning for the Southern Hospital.
Mr Brown has said they are looking at a range of funding and financing options and Ms Costello revealed they’re talking commercial contracts at present.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister repeats his mantra that the government is more than happy for public-private-partnerships to make a profit from our public infrastructure.
The thing is, with all the broken promises, repeated resets, changed plans and loss of key staff and knowledge, the government knows it is in a bind.
The Southern Hospital we need can’t be built within the government’s $1.88 billion funding envelope.
This begs the question — will the government have the courage to admit its mistakes and fund what is needed, so we get a Southern tertiary hospital that is "fit for purpose for generations, not a patch-up job" as National promised in the last election?
Or will they hunker down and sell bits of it off, so we continue to pay a commercial operator for decades into the future?
Ultimately, all of us will pay more if a commercial operator is engaged through a public-private partnership.
We cannot expect the private sector to do it without wanting significant profits in return, and that will come at the cost of further investment in public health, housing and education.
We need to take ownership of our future and build it ourselves, and our Green Budget released in May will show how.
