Rachel Smalley
@Rachel_Smalley
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Storyteller. Strategy. Communications. Mother.
Auckland, New Zealand
Joined June 2010
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This took me on quite a journey. Thank you
@frankritchie
for your patience, guidance and contemplation . And thank you
@radionz
for providing such an important platform 🙏
09 Rachel Smalley | A patch in the Beqaa Valley | RNZ
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Earlier this year, you and I collectively called out misogyny and violence against Iranian women. This weekend, you dog-whistled misogyny and hate and directed it at New Zealand women. Women like me. You and your party have silenced women. 🤐 What are you doing
@NZGreens
?
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Shambles of a media conference. I feel like I’m on the set of The Simpsons, and Mr Burns is running Auckland.
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Is this the first time in history where women have gone to such extreme lengths to silence each other? For decades we fought to be heard. And now, irrespective of how you identify, women are fighting to mute women. How on earth did we get here?
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Today is not about Brian Tamaki. Please, in memory of those who lost their lives a week ago, don’t let him hijack the headlines. Not today. Speak the names of the victims, not a bigot who fuels division and xenophobia.
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….from the same comms specialist who is paid to help Pharmac avoid accountability for the many criticisms its Exec and Chair faced in the Pharmac Review, and who oversaw the ban that Pharmac imposed on Mediaworks for reporting the truth.
Why did this incident involving Tory
OPINION: This whole story felt like a backlash against a young mayor who is actually doing what she campaigned on.
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Drove 6km to the motorway before realising the rubbish bin was still on the tow bar.
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Keep holding the media to account. There must be balance in our reporting and strong, calm, reasoned debate.
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Love, affirmation, Nazis, and motorbikes. The Greens had a hell of a weekend.
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The PM looks uncomfortable. Her pinched voice and body language suggests she does not 100% believe what she’s saying. Ardern is laying blame. This isn’t leadership. It’s opportunism.
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God, it’s awful watching America right now. Trump’s Twitter feed is littered with the incoherent ramblings of an insane meglomaniac. He’s urging uprisings, criticising Obama and talking about the death toll like it’s some sort of sick game. How on earth can this be happening...?!
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Six whio on the farm. My brother’s been pest-controlling for years to keep this lot going.
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To the thousands waiting for surgery, a GP appointment, or meds right now…. I’m sorry. Your Health Minister’s a little preoccupied right now. Seriously, the state of this election campaign…..🤢
Christopher Luxon committed to the Leaders debate so he should show up.
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I’m also very grateful to the wealthy New Zealanders whose philanthropy helps to fund Starship, St John’s ambulances, our rescue helicopters, universities, access to medicines, the arts, Plunket, Rainbow Youth, KidsCan, the NZ Nature Fund…..🙏 Their success is so often our
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In a sea of populist election policies, this was a standout.
There are 13 important immunotherapies on this list including treatments for kidney, head and neck, lung, and bowel cancer – our second biggest cancer killer. In 25 years, Pharmac has never funded a drug to treat bowel
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Three statements were issued late yesterday by the State Services Commissioner, the Health Minister, and the Pharmac Chair in response to the behaviour of senior public servants at Pharmac.
Peter Hughes, Steve Maharey and Ayesha Verrall have described the behaviour as
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EpiPens have been on Pharmac's waiting list for 26 years. Today, Pharmac confirmed they will be funded. This announcement has been rolled out just before Christmas to avoid too much analysis, but here is a thread for some context.
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My
@TheNBR
column on the hypocrisy of the Greens. The party is unpredictable and increasingly fanatical, and poses a real risk to social cohesion and the stability of our democracy. Hipkins should be worried.
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Seriously….Chris Hipkins committing to lowering the bowel cancer screening age when Labour doesn’t fund a drug to treat it is medically unethical. He’ll lower the age, more people will be diagnosed with bowel cancer…and then they’ll be told “there is nothing we can do for you”.
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Given the role the media has played in fuelling some of the social disruption in recent days, would you consider lifting the paywall on this
@nzherald
? These are important words from the Human Rights Commissioner.
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Isn’t this what the community services card was designed for? Middle class and wealthy New Zealanders don’t need the taxpayer to fund their $5 antibiotics prescription. This is madness. $619m would have smashed a large chunk of the cancer drugs on Pharmac’s waiting list.
When I was a doctor I found it incredibly frustrating that the co-payment stopped some of my patients from getting the medicines they needed to stay well and stay out of hospital. Today's announcement means that three million people will benefit from free access to medicine.
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If you’re to address the vitriol levelled at Jacinda Ardern, you need to consider some of the factors that fuelled it. Labour has to face some uncomfortable truths.
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This story is horrifying. Lift the name suppression. Who raised these monsters?
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Everybody has a back story, and the images of women being silenced and intimidated takes me right back to the newsrooms of the ‘90s.
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Update: Steve Maharey, the Chair of Pharmac, says the Board has spoken to Pharmac's SLT and asked them to present at the next Board meeting and detail how they will ensure this behaviour won't happen again.
The next Board meeting is at the end of the month.
I'm not an expert
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…..alternatively, the Government could develop a strategic solution to start addressing NZ’s unacceptable waiting lists for surgery.
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In Martinborough this morning. Drove by, tooted, and the kid in red then raced us around the square. He won. We handed over $10. Then the two boys swapped jobs…🤣
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I did look, Julie Anne, but I didn't find a policy. There's no reform here.
Your 'policy' is to give Pharmac - an entity that is failing - more cash. To do what, exactly?
And how MUCH money? Any KPI's? And what health outcomes should they pursue? Cancer? The 120-odd drug
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Hmmmm. You might want to dial this one back, Labour - or has AI been at your social media too?
Pharmac’s waiting list for modern medicines is epic - a long, sorry tale of unfunded meds to treat cancer, chronic disease, mental health and rare disorders - many have been on
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New Zealand First says it will dismantle the Pharmac model – this will peak the interest of many, not least the party’s base.
NZ First’s supporters are among the most exposed to Pharmac’s failings; as you age, you’re more likely to need modern cancer medicines, or you will have
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This needs far greater investigation. The deal was pushed through on Wednesday - a $33m unconditional agreement to buy a building as part of the Auckland Light Rail scheme…a scheme the Nats say they will scrap. Why now? Why unconditional? Who wins?
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Really interesting how an opinion or a criticisms ships in such hate from the Left. I am the Left. I voted for this Government. Like all of you, I can critique or praise its performance, no?
The PM looks uncomfortable. Her pinched voice and body language suggests she does not 100% believe what she’s saying. Ardern is laying blame. This isn’t leadership. It’s opportunism.
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BREAK: Apology Watch. Simon Henry’s EA has emailed the following to Nadia Lim.
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In the House today
@drayeshaverrall
said “This Government has increased funding for Pharmac by 51%”. This is misleading. 18% of that funding was $155m of existing funding for hospital medications. It was transferred from DHB’s to Pharmac when Labour established Te Whatu Ora. It
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This is New Zealand’s medicines waiting list. This is what Pharmac says it WANTS to fund - there are plenty more that should be on this list. NZ is rock bottom of the OECD for access to meds. Welcome to Venezuela.
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It’s not me, Pharmac. It’s you.
This is a long, raw column from Malcolm Mullholland on the loss of his wife, his own cancer diagnosis, and reveals how Pharmac spoke about him in emails during this time.
Steve Maharey, the Chair of Pharmac, issued a statement last month
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Charlotte Bellis - the journalist who exposed the rigid failings of MIQ, and felt the full wrath of politicians. She knows.
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His mother, his constant, has just died. He is 73. He has a enormous role to fill, he’s under pressure, he’s travelling big distances, and his sodding pen has leaked again. I reckon it’s okay that he gets a bit pissed….
'Every stinking time'.
The King and Queen Consort were signing a visitors' book at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland when the monarch's pen began to leak - and he lost his temper.
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My 73 year old mum replied to the text about her grocery delivery. She thanked them, gave them a little update on her life and said she was very much looking forward to her fresh veges. I can’t bring myself to tell her it’s an automated text....
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David Seymour puts his cards on the table in an interview with
@nickjonesnzer
at The Herald. The Minister outlines the Government's plans, and if they come to fruition we are on the precipice of genuine reform at Pharmac.
+ we now have direct political accountability with the
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In an election year you expect political spin and deflection, but the Health Minister’s claim at the weekend that patients and people advocating for access to modern medicines are ‘on the take’ by pharma is a botched and brutal attempt to muddy the waters and deflect criticism
Health minister Ayesha Verrall offers both criticism and a defence of Pharmac's media strategy - full interview here
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@max_tweedie
@TheNBR
Classic distraction, Max. I'm talking about the Greens. You want to talk about ACT. The Greens are the bullies of the Beehive. It's their way or the cycle way. They are reckless with words - and if they don't get their way, they resort to student activism. That ain't politics.
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Such terrible news for the talented team at Newshub. Cut my teeth at TV3 some 25 years ago and spent the majority of my career there. On so many occasions, TV3 set or shaped the news agenda, forced One News to deliver a better product, and was a much-needed voice for the
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There are now a dozen people in hospital with Delta. That’s 5% of our cases. Get the jab, people. 💉
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My view from the office right now. Bus. Burger. Shark.
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In amongst the vax/anti-vax rage…Kiwis are dying every day (every day!) because NZ has the worst access to modern medicines in the OECD. New Zealand STILL doesn’t fund the meds to treat…..
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It’s my birthday today. My friend gave me a t-shirt.
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My heart breaks for David and Gillian Millane. Justice has been served, but they too have a life sentence. A truly unimaginable trauma.
#gracemillane
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The Government’s response to the Pharmac Review is a diversion. Pharmac doesn’t just fail Maori and Pasifika…it fails everyone.
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Looking forward to the day when our taxpayer-funded politicians talk about something other than each other.
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NBR has lifted the paywall on this column. It details some of the reasons why Ardern’s resignation seemed inevitable.
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This is a horror show. I’m not even angry….I just feel sick for Nadia Lim and for every woman in business.
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Immigration NZ has lost its mind. How did it become SO dysfunctional? ‘I really don’t think they wanted us to be New Zealanders' says Julien Debord of Immigration New Zealand.
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If you bring forward the screening age for bowel cancer and diagnose it, you need to fund the medicines to treat it. Pharmac doesn’t fund a SINGLE immunotherapy to treat bowel cancer. Those meds are sitting on Pharmac’s waiting list. National have said they’ll fund one drug -
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Fallon’s behaviour is far, far worse. It’s hideous. Abusive, predatory, narcissistic. His behaviour deserves a more intense lens than ILG’s.
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And to clarify, Nadia didn’t receive a call, have a missed call or a voicemail on Friday. No couriered apology ever arrived.
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Tecentriq and Keytruda shouldn’t be ‘nice to haves’ for Triple Negative Breast Cancer either - a cancer we don’t treat. Some of the more privileged among us would happily pay for contraceptives if we knew our sisters could access modern immunotherapies if they needed them.
Contraception is not a 'nice to have'. Cost should not be a barrier. National is out of touch with reality for many women.
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8100 delayed mammograms in the Wellington region. 59 of those women were later diagnosed with breast cancer - in 25 women the cancer was advanced. These are mums, sisters, partners, daughters. Failures like this cost lives.
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This was lost in the Michael Wood saga, but every political party (except Labour) greeted this protest yesterday. The Therapeutic Products Bill can NOT go through in its current form. Major implications for people needing drugs that Pharmac doesn’t fund.
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Found in the back of a ute at Mitre10 this morning. Someone’s pet bear.
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This morning Steve Maharey - the Chair of Pharmac, ACC and Education NZ - phoned the PM’s office to flag comments he has made about National and Christopher Luxon in editorial columns. These comments are in breach of the Crown entity Board member Code of Conduct.
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No, I didn’t Paul. I don’t believe any politician should suffer abuse. You?
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The Covid updates are getting confusing. They need graphics. Show us numbers, trajectory, linked/unlinked numbers. Media do graphics everyday - they’re easy. It’s hard to absorb and understand information from talking heads.
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On a Friday, just before the Queen’s funeral….Pharmac reveals the drug it described as a ‘paradigm shift’ in the treatment of cystic fibrosis will not, in fact, be funded.
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Increasingly uncomfortable with this story. It’s his private life UNTIL it’s confirmed he spent public money. And do we need to use language like ‘rendezvous’ and ‘mistress’? Iain Lees Galloway, the mistress and the Paris trip.
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If you are in Level 3 this morning, could you please buy a warm, fresh, sugary donut and a barista-made coffee, and talk me through the whole thing. Ngā Mihi, Rachel in Level 4.
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German neighbour left this, still warm, on our fencepost. This is why immigration is so vital for New Zealand. 🇩🇪
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The blanket closure of Auckland schools revealed a deficit in critical thinking - and an abdication of parental responsibility.
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Confused as to why there is a push for cross-party support. It suggests this is an issue for parliament to resolve, not the Government. If the protest is anti-mandate, is this not an issue for the Govt to resolve on its own? Why would the other parties support?
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In bed, asleep, and my asshole of a cat just came through the cat flap with this 🤢
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Jeepers, Cormack. You deleted that faster than Fitt leaves a Select Committee meeting…..😎
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Pharmac has issued Mediaworks with a network-wide ban. My employers are challenging that decision.
Meanwhile, here is the backstory to a contrived and controlled public health announcement, that forced gagged advocates to tell patients to watch the news to learn their fate.
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If you think it’s cold in Auckland today, I just drove past a bloke fixing a fence on the Crown Range Road. In shorts. And it’s snowing.
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This is an incredibly disingenuous headline. The PM is referencing her daughter’s growth, character and independence. No male politician would be subjected to this.
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Grant Wood's ‘American Gothic’ painting comes to mind when I think about today's meeting between Sarah Fitt and Steve Maharey at Pharmac.
Fitt will go before the Board to explain how she will “identify actions that can be taken to prevent a situation like this from happening
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My bank account was hit by fraud last night- a dozen transactions, $2k gone. Bank says they won’t do anything unless I go to a police station, file a report and provide a report number. Until then the account remains open and they won’t investigate. Is this the norm?
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I am so filled with dread about the horror unfolding in Wellington. Our country feels like it’s on the cusp of another major tragedy. Please no. 🙏
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The Common Room asked me to explain the issues with Pharmac, why it is failing Kiwis, and the implications of our unfunded medicines crisis.
New Zealanders desperately need access to modern medicines to treat cancer, chronic disease, mental health illness, and rare disorders.
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This is Emily.
She has Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). Her mum, Marion, took her photo in PICU, in Starship Hospital. She wants
@TeWhatuOra
to see how SMA impacts a child when it is undiagnosed and untreated for months.
Last year, after years of patient advocacy, Pharmac
Doctor's plea: Why are newborns not being screened for this disorder?
A Starship Hospital doctor is concerned babies born with a devastating genetic disorder are being denied life-saving drugs because of Te Whatu Ora inaction.
@Rachel_Smalley
reports.
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My Dad died of myeloma in 2016. Back then, I didn’t fully understand the function of Pharmac, and I hadn’t heard of a drug called Daratumumab.
The following year, in 2017, Pharmac documented an application to fund Dara to treat myeloma. Seven years later, Dara sits dormant on
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Also…apology is dated May 6th 🤷♀️ When an apology isn’t an apology…..
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I could list over 100 cancers, chronic and rare diseases which we don’t treat in NZ because Pharmac is so grossly underfunded. But ya’ll keep raging on about your right to have (or not have) a vaccine for a flu.
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Clarification: There is a conflict of interest here
@NZStuff
and
@NewstalkZB
I have the utmost professional respect for Prof Chris Jackson BUT he is married to a Labour MP and was an author on the Cancer Control Agency’s report that identified the drugs that National says it will
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Good performance by a confident Cunliffe. More assertive than Key. Cunliffe the winner? I think so.
#LeadersDebate
#Vote2014NZ
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Pharmac gets $71m this year. They needed $450m to clear the waiting list last year.
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Critics saying we have two choices (Pharmac or the US model) are ill-informed. Look to Australia or virtually any other European country and you'll see patient-focused systems at work - all with far superior access to meds. NZ can do so much better.
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.....what if the Nats called Bill English, offered him the leadership and then campaigned on being the best party to lead the country’s economic recovery? Then what?
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The queue for Covid testing in Te Atatu is moving well, I could see around 10 cars waiting. Whoever’s managing it is doing a cracker job.
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“….27 patients harmed by cancer treatment delays.” Yet another failure of health sector governance. And all will keep their jobs. Where is the leadership? Where is the accountability?
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In response to National’s cancer drug policy this week, Chris Hipkins said “I think we need to be careful as politicians about picking and choosing what drugs get funded.” In 2017, just before Labour came into Government, they promised to fund PrEp - a drug to prevent HIV
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If there are two community cases in Christchurch, could we at least know the suburb? Surely this information would be helpful to the public?
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The most distressing aspect of this situation to me is that we prioritised a UN employee ahead of dying Fijians. NZ lost its ethical way under sustained diplomatic pressure.
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I studied journalism with Liam. He was the light and life of our class of ‘97. A ready smile, a super-quick intellect, and a passion for politics and social justice. RIP, Liam. You were the sweetest of men. 💔
Police confirm Liam Hockings as fifth victim of Loafers Lodge tragedy
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