Cut! Cut! Or free dental care for everyone

[Lilith7]

Interesting perspectives. On the one hand ACT want to cut everything to reduce 'wasteful spending', on the other the Greens want free dental care for everyone.



https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-nat...rvice-jobs

"The Act Party wants to dramatically reduce the headcount of the public service if it is in government after this year's election, by ordering ministries to immediately stop work on projects it wants to axe.

Act leader David Seymour promised this morning to issue “stop work notices” to public sector chief executives on day one of a government, claiming this will “save up to $1 billion on day one of the next government”.

The “stop work” idea works by asking ministers to take proposals to Cabinet to immediately “stop work” on projects it disagrees with (Seymour acknowledges this would not happen the first day of the government being formed, but early on in the government’s life).

He acknowledged that making redundancies in the public sector would mean some paying people out unused leave and other entitlements, but said this was ultimately worth it for the goal of reducing the headcount.

“There’s potential that you’re actually gonna have to pay a person out for an average of a couple of months to get to where you want to get to, but compared with the cost of many of these policies, that’s a small price to pay,” he said.

Act reckoned it could reduce the staff at MBIE  (the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) by 50 per cent using stop-work notices.

Other things in line for the chop are Three Waters, He Waka Eke Noa (the Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership), Auckland Light Rail, Fees-Free and the Provincial Growth Fund."






https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-nat...dental-all

"The Greens have promised to fix the "broken and cruel" dental health system by making it free for all.

To pay for it, the party - currently polling around 9 or 10 percent - would make "fair and simple changes to the tax system".

"The time is now to make dental care free for everyone and to pay for it with a fair tax system," Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said on Sunday.

"Right now, oral health is a luxury few can afford. Every year millions of people put off going to the dentist because it is too damn expensive. The average cost of going to the dentist is around $350, so it's hardly surprising that with food, rent, mortgage repayments, and power bills going up, so many people are choosing not to go."

At present, free dental care is only offered to people up to their 18th birthday. The Greens say only about 2 percent of public health spending goes on dental care, leaving Kiwis nearly $2.5 million out of pocket every day on services.
Going without has led to one in three adults with untreated tooth decay and half with signs of gum disease, the party said.

Davidson said people are living "in agony" and using pliers to pull their own teeth out because of the prohibitive cost.

"Under our plan, everyone in Aotearoa will be able to visit the dentist when they need to through a new community-based New Zealand Dental Service, which will also provide emergency and complex dental services through local hospitals or specialist sites."

"Seventeen years ago, the former Prime Minister Helen Clark expanded dental care from our youngest children to everyone aged 18 and under," co-leader James Shaw said. "The time is now to finish the job.

"Free dental will be fully funded through fair and simple changes to the tax system that will unlock the resources we need. Every dollar will come from those most able to contribute."