Wellbeing Budget 2022

Media Release 10 July 2022

The government is aware that fully funding palliative care is expensive. Is the government wishing, by underfunding palliative care, to encourage vulnerable patients who cannot access palliative care to choose a lethal injection or assistance in suicide?

The Minister of Health, Andrew Little is generously providing $100 million in this year’s budget for mental health over the next four years, but no additional funding for palliative care.

There are 32 hospices in New Zealand providing world class palliative care. In 2021 it is estimated that it cost $178 million to provide this care. The government provides $88 million and hospices are left to raise the balance from their op shops, raffles, cake stalls and charity events.

Right to Life asks the Minister why the government fully funds as a core health service its “assisted dying” service that allows a doctor to kill their patient with a lethal injection or assist in their suicide, while hospices are only partially funded. Doctors who are prepared to provide this “assisted dying service” are generously rewarded by the State with up to $3,000, for every patient removed from the health service, plus travelling allowances to access patients living in remote areas.

The government is committed to promoting “assisted dying” and has established a special unit of seven full time staff in the Ministry of Health to oversee and promote access to this new service. Its name is the Quality Assurance & Safety Health Systems Improvement & Innovation team. The Ministry has no dedicated unit to promote hospices or palliative care.

The government should give a firm commitment to promote a culture of life by increasing funding to hospices to allow care to be given to those who reside in remote areas. Hospices provide quality compassionate palliative care for our most vulnerable members when they are suffering a terminal illness or from dementia and other serious illnesses. This is care that recognises the dignity and the inalienable right to life of every human being. It is also affirming the role of the medical profession as carers and not killers.

We should promote a culture of life by fiercely protecting our palliative care and hospice movement We must reject a culture of death by strongly opposing “assisted dying”.

Hospices make a huge difference to people’s lives by ensuring terminally ill people are as free from pain and suffering as possible. They also provide care and support for families and friends. In 2020 10,374 people with a terminal illness received care and support in dying from hospice services throughout New Zealand and hospice staff made over 145,000 visits to people in their homes.

Right to Life believes that we should be very grateful to the doctors and nurses who staff our world class Hospices for the care and compassion they administer to our most vulnerable citizens. We can live without euthanasia.

Ken Orr

Spokesperson,

Right to Life NZ Inc.

Media Release 19 May 2022

The Labour government’s 2022 “wellbeing budget” is an historic budget, for never before has a government budgeted for more money for the killing of New Zealanders under the guise of health care.

The government have five objectives for the Budget 2022. The fifth objective is to reduce child poverty and improving child wellbeing. Right to Life asks the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who is also the Minister for Child Poverty Reduction, how she can reconcile that objective with the appalling killing of more than 13,000 unborn children every year in New Zealand. This is the ultimate in child poverty and a crime against humanity.

Right to Life believes that those who kill the unborn and the very sick do not have a right to govern or to sit in our Parliament.

The first duty of the state is to uphold the sanctity of life and protect the life of every human being from conception till natural death.

Since Jacinda Ardern became Prime Minister in 2017 more than 65,000 children have been violently killed before birth in their mother’s womb.

In addition a further 92 vulnerable patients have been killed by their doctor with a lethal injection or assisted in suicide following the introduction of the End of Life Choice Act on 7^th November 2021.These killings are performed under the guise that this is health care authorised and funded by the government.

Right to Life also believes that the community should be aware that hidden in the “wellbeing budget” is continuing funding for the killing of the unborn as an essential service and for the terminally ill, with assisted suicide and euthanasia.

It is disappointing that the media are applauding the government for this budget which promotes a culture of death under the guise of a culture of life.

The Prime Minister, Jacinda Arden said on 12 September 2020.

“I’ve made no secret of the fact that I want New Zealand to be the best place in the world to be a child. It’s an aspiration I’ve held for a long time. It’s one of the reasons I entered politics back in 2008.” Right to Life asks how can New Zealand be the best place in the world when you approve and support the funding of the killing each year of more than 13,000 unborn New Zealand children who are poisoned, violently sucked from their mother’s wombs or brutally and painfully dismembered, their torn bodily remains are treated as medical waste and disposed of at the local tip?”

Ken Orr,

Spokesperson,

Right to Life NZ Inc.