Newsletter no: 37
Well much has been happening recently in the fight against ANZTPA and if you're a little confused as to where we stand you're probably not the only one!
NZ First wasn't going to vote for the Bill, then they did, then they wouldn't again, then they had a 'compromise' which was going to "satisfy all the pill poppers" but which of course didn't, and then this week news reports have said that their compromise is dead after all. Amongst all this we have had ACT confirming for many years that as the party of less regulation they couldn't support ANZTPA and then their leader announced that he had agreed with Labour to take another look at it but also promised industry that he wouldn't let them down.
So what do we know? Well, a third select committee has failed to recommend the Bill but this means nothing to the Government and the draft legislation is still in the Parliamentary process. At any time the Government could bring it back to the house and ram it through and we have no doubt that if they can muster the numbers through back room deals then that is exactly what they would do.
NZ First has not confirmed to us that they won't be supporting the Bill so until the votes are cast we can not be sure which way they will go. We know that ACT wrote to the Government suggesting some changes to the Bill but what those are we do not know.
Until the Government concedes that NZ will not accept ANZTPA and agrees to establish a robust and sensible NZ based system, the fight must go on. So keep talking to the MP's, keep ringing talkback, keep telling your friends, keep sending the Post Cards and for more ideas of how to help visit www.nzhealthtrust.co.nz
To Order Post Cards http://www.nzhealthtrust.co.nz/support_forms.html also keep visiting the News Page for the latest news http://www.nzhealthtrust.co.nz/news.html
It is seeming more and more that everyone except the Labour party have realised that this Bill is deeply flawed and is doomed - its time for the Government to accept that they got it wrong and move forward in a way that will benefit NZ. While they continue to flog this dead horse all they are doing is trying to save face and wasting taxpayers money while they do it. We deserve better from our Government.
Rest assured that we are as busy as ever on this and will not stop until we have achieved what we set out to achieve from the start - the best health outcome for New Zealanders
Kind Regards
Dave Sloan |
