The Ministry of Health needs to act now before more children and young people are permanently harmed. Photo / Matese Fields, Unsplash
Thank you for publishing Charlotte Paul’s opinion piece on puberty blockers (December 8). After reading it, I am left with two simple questions.
Firstly, if we don’t know exactly what we are treating, if there is a very weak evidence base for the effectiveness of the treatment and if the treatment has permanent and damaging effects on the children, why on earth are we using it? Secondly, given the significant increase in recent years in young women presenting with gender dysphoria, why is this phenomenon not being investigated with urgency?
The Ministry of Health needs to act now before more children and young people are permanently harmed because decision-makers are giving more weight to their right to have the treatment than to the lack of evidence for its use.
Margaret Curnow, Island Bay.
Cook Strait Ferry
It continues to amaze me that some people are still saying the coalition Government should reverse its decision to cancel the $551 million Cook Strait ferry, which had blown out to more than $3 billion due to the previous administration not considering any portside infrastructure costs.
It should also be remembered that Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s decision, just months out from the general election, declined KiwiRail’s third request for extra money. When will some people acknowledge that we as a country are financially broke, and whilst so many nice-to-have things would be great, there are just too few taxpayers to pay for everyone’s expectations?
Think about what we can do with those additional billions, such as building more hospitals, upgrading and improving schools, etc. I feel confident that the coalition Government will reach an affordable solution that will not please everyone.
Mike Baker, Tauranga.
48% of the people surveyed (NZH January 10) wanted rail-enabled Cook Strait ferries. They realise that a train can carry more goods and passengers more efficiently than road transport and that the use of rail avoids congestion and wear and tear on the roads. 28% preferred ships for passengers and road freight only, and the question is why? A list of their reasons would be interesting. (Presumably, the remaining 24% had no opinion.)
Anne Martin, Helensville.
Puberty blockers
Professor Charlotte Paul has done us all a favour by drawing our attention to the fact that New Zealand is out of step in its elevated use of puberty blockers among young people with gender identity problems.
As she points out, these medications are not proven to be either safe or reversible for this use and we would be far better at helping young people with counselling and other non-pharmacological interventions, for the time being anyway.
It should be added that this issue is entirely separate from what one’s opinion might be on the politically charged and polarising matter of transgender rights. The issue of the elevated use of puberty blockers in New Zealand should be seen as a matter of what the research evidence shows and how best to help young people through a potentially tricky stage of their lives.
Peter Davis, Kingsland.
Tax reform
Three wise men, Professor Robert MacCulloch, Richard Prebble, and Sir Roger Douglas, are advocating a change from the current tax-based system for paying superannuation, health, education, and welfare costs, to one based on personal savings, the successful Singapore system. With a rapidly ageing population, the current system cannot be sustained without a substantial increase in taxation, raising the age of eligibility, reducing the number of pensions paid, or combining all three, all of which are politically unacceptable.
None of our current politicians have the political courage to admit that the wise men are right. They don’t understand that, if the case for change is made clearly and honestly, then people will accept it.
The radical reforms introduced by the 1984 Labour Government were met with outrage by the then-opposition politicians and a deeply concerned public. The Government took the time to explain the country’s financial problem and said that the only alternative to radical change was national bankruptcy. The people appreciated the political honesty, and the Government was returned with an increased majority!
Vince Ashworth, Morrinsville.
Fuel agnosticism
Energy Minister Simeon Brown is quoted recently describing the Government as “fuel agnostic” in the discussions around sustainable aviation fuels (NZ Herald, January 6).
Perhaps Mr Brown and the Government might like to consider observations from Jonathon Porritt in Hope in Hell: A Decade to Confront the Climate Emergency (2020, p173): “There’s no shortage of ideas out there and, even more encouragingly, no shortage of capital to invest in good ideas. We are short of economically literate politicians who understand just how critical it is to sort out this chronic and life-threatening market failure in the way we manage carbon.”
Being “fuel agnostic” is not an option for any government worthy of its brief.
Leonie Parker, Tuakau.
Health Services
Susan Grimsdell (NZ Herald, January 4) could not be more off-track to compare NZ health services with those in the United States.
Here, we have a public health service funded by the taxpayer, which provides essential emergency and acute trauma services but has never been able to provide overall healthcare. This is despite private services, whether directly paid or via health insurance, already contributing 17% of our healthcare funding. The public sector also has to contract out to the private sector consistently.
Southern Cross Healthcare Group, a not-for-profit entity owned by its one million members, has existed for 46 years and, without it, our health services would collapse. Let us understand that without a mixture of public and private healthcare, NZ could never cope.
Ms Grimsdell needs to understand these basics. Dr Hylton Le Grice, Remuera.
Worst debt collector Reports of company failures inevitably include the IRD as the biggest creditor, and confirm that our tax department is probably the worst debt collection agency in the country.
According to IRD’s own figures as at June 30, 2024, there was $7.84 billion in overdue tax debt on their books (of which $2.84 billion was overdue GST). In addition there is $2.37 billion in overdue student loans, and a further $1.0 billion in child support payments.
Collecting even a fraction of this would be enough to pay for two state-of-the-art Cook Strait ferries, plus a couple of Dunedin hospitals.
Surprisingly, this appears to be of little or no concern to the Government, who seem to be focused on relatively small savings in other areas instead of realising the vast sums of untapped money on their own balance sheet. Duncan Simpson, Hobsonville Point.
Medical supplies
You cannot reuse medical supplies, as Marie Kaire from Whangārei (NZH, Jan 1) suggests. The infectious complications and, indeed, the cost of the task to achieve what she suggests just won’t work. What can be achieved, however, is a more robust procurement for expendables. All the suppliers see the DHBs as a rich cash cow for profit. Streamlining this area of health won’t impact patient care directly, but there is potential for millions of dollars to be saved in the price paid for said expendables.
John Ford, Napier.
Big Brother
Canada and the United States have a similar relationship as Australia and New Zealand: big brother and smaller brother. All four nations have fought and died alongside each other: the Anzacs on the beaches of Gallipoli, the Canadians and Americans on the beaches of Normandy being the most memorable. I think the relationship will last much longer than the idiocy of Donald Trump, who seems to be a few sandwiches short of a picnic.
Sidney Turner, Waipu.
Meta fact check
With Meta’s cancellation of fact-checkers, the way is open for every pervert in the world to prey on the vulnerable. It brings the Dark Web to social media. Perhaps our Government could ban Facebook and lead the world in social responsibility.
Rex Fausett, Auckland.
Trump show
President-elect Trump has wasted no time putting the world on notice to expect the unexpected throughout his four-year presidency. His recent utterances about the USA taking control of the Panama Canal and Greenland and renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” are undoubtedly just a taste of the potential for much chaos and mayhem when he takes office on January 20.
Bruce Eliott, St Heliers.
Game shows
Does anyone watch those dopey game shows on TV? They must be cheap to buy. They fill a scheduling gap, but really, give me strength! What a load of ... c**p.
G Spencer, Patumahoe.
Treaty Bill
The Treaty Principles Bill was open for submissions for months. There is no reason to complain if anyone was not organised before the closing date.
John Ford, Napier.
Richard Prebble
Richard Prebble sees an economic solution in the Government lifting New Zealand’s productivity and maybe increasing our exports. He may achieve more if he looks at the private sector and its leaders to build a stronger economy. At present, we lack leadership, innovation and ambition in the private sector.
Chris Kaelin, Te Awamutu.
Hybrid efficiency
When I finish a drive in my hybrid car, it gives me a report on my driving and the efficiency of the trip. We have lots of speed humps in our area. When I drive locally, it tells me I could save on petrol and emissions if I maintained a more regular speed.
Colin Nicholls, Mt Eden.
Noah flood?
For the fourth year in a row, Noah is one of the top two boys' names for newborns, so I guess we should be expecting another very big flood sometime soon.
Gary Carter, Gulf Harbour.
Where is Winny?
Where is Winny? He seems to be missing in action. Shane Jones seems to be the voice of NZ First. Is this a sign that Winny is going to retire and hand over the leadership to Jones?
Jock MacVicar, Hauraki.
Stripping shellfish
If, as reported, the removal of shellfish is out of control at Piha, then surely it’s time for our fishery patrols to implement a regular and strong policing policy there. It would also be interesting to know which group is responsible for this.
Paul Beck, Auckland.
Sports head injuries
Why does the media continue to glorify boxing and kickboxing when it is now a well-known fact that they cause brain damage and hospital admissions? It took over 100 years to accept the harmful effects of smoking finally!
Bruce Tubb, Devonport.
Bill submisisons
The January 7 deadline for filing submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill could not be more cynical, with it ending barely beyond the statutory holiday period. But hoorah! That shameful and undemocratic exercise failed miserably, with over 300,000 submissions that crashed the website.
Don’t poke the bear.
Roger Laybourn, Hamilton.
Niwa’s outlook for rest of summer picks above-average warmth for the North Island.