Public Address | Cafe | Speaker: Election 2014: Mental Health Policies

Kyle MacDonald

Mon, 08 Sept 2014 22:28:50 +1200

Me too Marc.

Marc C

Sat, 06 Sept 2014 23:32:51 +1200

National's mental health policy consists of 3 pages of rather aspirational goals and lists only some special focus groups, especially youth, children, cancer sufferers and new mothers. I did also have a look at the 'Rising to the Challenge: The Mental Health and Addiction Service Development Plan 2012-2017' when it…

Kyle MacDonald

Thu, 04 Sept 2014 20:24:47 +1200

Two big differences:
1. No ring-fenced funding
2. No focus on NGO's and supporting/ funding their work

Moz

Thu, 04 Sept 2014 16:51:06 +1200

They (WINZ, government) are not looking at themselves, they lay blame at the clients, that cause problems, so it is an ongoing "warfare" instead of "welfare".

I expect the "defense" measures will also come out of the welfare budget. So the pressure on the most vulnerable people will only increase.…

Kyle MacDonald

Thu, 04 Sept 2014 15:13:01 +1200

Hon. Tony Ryall's office finally got back to me. National's mental health policies can be viewed here...
https://www.national.org.nz/docs/default-source/PDF/2014/policy/health_mental_health.pdf

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 04 Sept 2014 07:09:43 +1200

social well fear...
...we have many people in distress and need, but too few services, to actually step in and avoid breakdowns and harm!
I agree,
the point of last resort has been shifted beyond many's endurance.
Plans B thru Z don't exist,, or are unrealistic.

Service provision has been…

Kumara Republic

Thu, 04 Sept 2014 00:03:57 +1200

It is all about cost cutting, and some "difficult" persons like Tully, they are just persons that WINZ has little time for, and will put into place. Sadly with him, he could not cope and went out of control, to cause a disaster.

They (WINZ, government) are not looking at…

Marc C

Wed, 03 Sept 2014 22:48:24 +1200

It will be the Waco siege approach, for sure, and today the government sent such signals, as it will be about more security personnel, more police and more observation and controls. Beneficiaries are due to MSM indoctrination over many years viewed by not only the government, but also most in…

Dismal Soyanz

Wed, 03 Sept 2014 21:46:24 +1200

Not an area that I have researched much but one that I have felt is important to us as a society. In Welly I don't often come across many homeless (and I don't automatically include the guys who sit with cardboard signs along Lambton Quay every now and then) but…

Kumara Republic

Wed, 03 Sept 2014 21:42:23 +1200

Here's a thought: What if there wasn't just one John Tully with a 12-gauge, but hundreds of John Tullys with 12-gauges? Would the Govt pause and listen, or would it do a Waco Siege?

Marc C

Tue, 02 Sept 2014 21:10:13 +1200

I wonder, on this very topic, mental health funding, I just come across this, which was broadcast on Nine to Noon on Radio NZ National this very morning. Forgive me if someone else already posted it, because it seems very important to take note of:

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/20148046/community-mental-health-providers-under-pressure

This proves exactly what…

Marc C

Tue, 02 Sept 2014 20:54:24 +1200

Thank you Angela, I like to challenge also the PSA and Mr Wagstaff, to hold a meeting with all their unions' leaders at MSD, to discuss their working conditions, and what "feedback" they get from "clients", so they can establish a more realistic picture of what goes on at the…

Angela Hart

Tue, 02 Sept 2014 20:23:19 +1200

Ms Benefit is at pains to ensure that her staff are not blamed. I don't think anyone is blaming them.
Ms Benefit states clearly that Tully got everything he was entitled to and even turned down some offered "assistance".
Ms Benefit is careful to avoid thinking or permitting anyone else…

Marc C

Tue, 02 Sept 2014 19:53:39 +1200

Yes it is over the top, but Tussock raises some questions, that are NOT being answered, as sadly the mainstream media chooses to just accept "official" comments by a Minister, a Chief Executive, and moves on. They did that with John Key for years, until suddenly "Dirty Politics" raised questions,…

Marc C

Tue, 02 Sept 2014 19:47:10 +1200

You raise a valid point of question! I am getting somewhat angry about how the media report on this horrible incident, and how MSD and WINZ, and especially their CEO and Minister are getting let off the hook. There are serious questions that deserve to be asked. The shooting did…

Kyle MacDonald

Tue, 02 Sept 2014 16:12:22 +1200

I assume your post is sarcastic to attempt to make a point, but I think you might've missed the point there...

tussock

Tue, 02 Sept 2014 14:56:39 +1200

That’s bullshit. The event was that a man killed two people,
because he was angry. Thats not political, it’s criminal.

It's a tragedy, bloody murder. Two innocent people dead and one more likely carrying horrific injuries. Families lost loved ones, colleagues deeply traumatised, a country town in shock at the…

Kyle MacDonald

Tue, 02 Sept 2014 11:17:36 +1200

Great interview on Nine to Noon today about the very real effects of the cuts in DHB funding for mental health, and the risk we may lose a very effective service in Golden Bay, Te Whare Mahana...

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/20148046/community-mental-health-providers-under-pressure

Kyle MacDonald

Tue, 02 Sept 2014 09:32:52 +1200

Thanks, I think. It can be both of course. He was angry and this is a horrible criminal act. It's also true he was poorly treated by a political system. But he's not alone in that AND not all mis-treated by WINZ kill.

Kyle MacDonald

Tue, 02 Sept 2014 09:23:41 +1200

Yes: I suspect we actually agree with each other.

Kyle MacDonald

Tue, 02 Sept 2014 08:39:40 +1200

To clarify: I have no doubt that the tragic events in Ashburton are Political. However I continue to feel uncomfortable about how when we politicise, we loose sight of the individuals involved. The WINZ staff are not political figures and their families should be given space to grieve. Some comments…

Jeremy Andrew

Tue, 02 Sept 2014 08:26:53 +1200

“The personal, as everyone’s so fucking fond of saying, is political. So if some idiot politician, some power player, tries to execute policies that harm you or those you care about, take it personally. Get angry. The Machinery of Justice will not serve you here – it is slow and…

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 02 Sept 2014 06:52:30 +1200

One paragraph at the end of the Ashburton shooting story on The Press front page today caught my eye. Social Development Minister Paula Bennett, who flew to Ashburton yesterday, said Tully tried to email her.
'Tried'?
She either got an email or she didn't,
how would she know if he…

Kumara Republic

Mon, 01 Sept 2014 21:28:10 +1200

Here's a thought: what if there were thousands of John Tullys, instead of just one? Chances are the symptom will be attacked and not much more. A bit like Ferguson, Missouri.

tussock

Mon, 01 Sept 2014 21:24:07 +1200

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11317351

A recent history of the man in question. Homeless on disability in Ashburton, a month sleeping rough with failing joints, only at WINZ in the first place because those on disability have to seek work now, like the shiftless lazy bastards we all know they are, only out of…

Marc C

Mon, 01 Sept 2014 17:21:58 +1200

She later apologised, I understand, and she claimed that at the time she made the controversial tweet, she did not know the full details and that two persons had been killed.

Condolences must go to the work colleagues, family members and friends of the victims.

Yes, it is wrong to…

Kyle MacDonald

Mon, 01 Sept 2014 16:31:34 +1200

I am very critical of what she (Sue Bradford) tweeted. The tragic death of two innocent individuals shouldn't be politicised, at least not with in hours of the death. There will be plenty of time for a post-mortem and analysis. Now is not that time. To her credit she has…

Paul Williams

Mon, 01 Sept 2014 16:26:26 +1200

I am a bit critical about what Sue Bradford apparently tweeted, but on the other hand, I do agree with her previous criticism of the “welfare reforms” this government has forced upon tens of thousands of sick and disabled, facing re-assessments, where mental health conditions may not be taken serious…

Kumara Republic

Mon, 01 Sept 2014 16:03:58 +1200

I have an uncomfortable inkling that John Tully is just the tip of the iceberg.

Angela Hart

Mon, 01 Sept 2014 15:34:25 +1200

Yes, mental health issues need to be taken seriously, along with other issues which make people vulnerable and people need to be treated with respect and compassion. Sue is correct in pointing out that current government policies are likely to cause terrible stress in some people who see nowhere else…

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 01 Sept 2014 15:20:00 +1200

Herald has the recent background stories as well...

Marc C

Mon, 01 Sept 2014 14:44:11 +1200

Shocking news from Ashburton today, about a shooting in a WINZ Office there, may just sadly underscore that mental health policies and funding must be given absolute priority in New Zealand health policy. I heard the reports via the radio and at lunchtime I saw the TV news coverage, and…

Marc C

Fri, 29 Aug 2014 23:08:44 +1200

Mental health is a delicate area of medicine, and some new research into conditions, and how they result varying degrees of disability, has both been supported by some and disputed by others.

Here are links to some info about "findings" by controversial Professor Mansel Aylward that were used as "evidence"…

Marc C

Fri, 29 Aug 2014 22:37:20 +1200

Thanks for the information in this post, showing mental health policy various parties have. I am not that surprised that Tony Ryall has not provided much information, and what National and their present government have been doing is not very convincing. It appears that mental health treatment and support has…

Craig Young

Fri, 29 Aug 2014 09:30:27 +1200

I gritted my teeth, held my nose and read a puff piece by Ian Wishart interviewing Colin Craig for Investigate earlier this year. Anyway, CC stated that he thought public health expenditure should be diverted partially to alternative and complementary "medicine" and "remedies" like chiropractics, homeopathy and also opposes fluoridation.…

Kyle MacDonald

Thu, 28 Aug 2014 23:12:58 +1200

So the low wage sector in mental health is largely the care work provided to the chronically and long term mentally ill, what is loosely described as "supported accommodation."
Largely this is conducted by NGO's and this is a worthwhile policy in my view as it forces NGO's to not…

Kyle MacDonald

Thu, 28 Aug 2014 20:28:49 +1200

I'm inclined to agree, at least at a political and sociological level. But practically, unless health budgets are fully and adequately funded, then I suspect health boards will internally be inclined to underfund mental health, at the cost of achieving other health targets. In this light I can't see another…

Grant Taylor

Thu, 28 Aug 2014 15:42:29 +1200

Valuable post, Kyle, thanks. As a former mental health professional careerist (Clinical Psychologist, once upon a time), I am only too familiar with the relative neglect of mental health both politically and by the health administration – but I think this just reflects our society's general discomfort with mental health…

Carol Stewart

Thu, 28 Aug 2014 14:14:36 +1200

Thanks Kyle, that's a really useful summary.

Russell Brown

Thu, 28 Aug 2014 13:56:34 +1200

I work in an addictions organisation, and contrary to ACT’s statement, I know that the clients we work with value the free services they receive very much.

That was such a banal statement that responding to it almost amounts to unduly dignifying it. But yeah.

George Darroch

Thu, 28 Aug 2014 13:37:15 +1200

Thanks Kyle, greatly appreciated.

I work in an addictions organisation, and contrary to ACT's statement, I know that the clients we work with value the free services they receive very much. I'm heartened by the promises of support and of increasing both the level and quality of service across the…

Kyle MacDonald

Thu, 28 Aug 2014 13:36:48 +1200

The following response from New Zealand First came through after this was posted:

"1. What are your parties priorities for mental health funding if you are returned to government?

New Zealand First would ensure resources and facilities are available for treatment. New Zealand First would also:
· Increase the options…

Public Address

Thu, 28 Aug 2014 13:36:48 +1200

Discussion from blog post.