KEY POINTS:
Here is an earlier selection of Your Views:
Aaron (Auckland)
I do wonder if Reihana was not in prison if he would have been able to get this operation. Is it that Corrections does not want to be blamed for his imminent death? He will cost us millions of dollars over the period he is in jail, why should we spend any more money on him? Just let him deal with the sickness in jail. Hopefully it will end him sooner than later and let's not give him the transplant so he can enjoy life after he is let out.
Sean
This is an outrage. Quote: "I think his medical condition is something the medical system of New Zealand has to deal with as it would with any other person who has a similar illness,". Well, you see Jason Reihana stopped being a 'person' when he murdered two people. The leukaemia is a god send. Let him die like the animal he is.
Arron
Let the maggot die slowly without pain killers.
Peter
A callous murderer. And a lot of callous people here, are you any better? Trying to label this as PC, socialist, do-gooder non-democratic is pathetic. This is not a government of the day issue at all, it is whether we are a humane society or not.
Also a father
This is typical of the trendy left system which we live in. In our civilized world he will enjoy all the benefits that society can give him, as well as protection under the privacy act. I agree, as one father to another, just shoot him and give the million towards a few operations for those who deserve it.
Lex (Auckland)
I think it's disgusting we have to pay for this killer to have an operation. He doesn't care for life, so why should we help him have one! Makes me sick that it's even allowed by the government. Go on, waste a bit more of our tax money on these losers!
Barry
I'll be removing myself from the donor list if this goes ahead. If my parts or marrow is to go to a convicted killer, then why should I bother. This will only make the innocent suffer again and I think others should do the same and have the choice of who their parts go to!
Sonia
The Government should invest this money into the failing mental health system. If we had a decent and thorough mental health system, tragedies like this would probably never happen. Let's stop skirting around the real issues and start addressing them! Sensationalist media reports are yet another diversion in permitting us to see and tackle the real issues.
Aucks
So there were no other candidates that needed an operation? Surely this would have been the ultimate consequence to his actions, being pushed down to the bottom of the queue. Is he to spend the rest of his sentence wrapped in cotton wool too, in case he gets sick again? Personal nurse maybe? Nothing would surprise me now.
Outraged (Auckland)
I think he should get the treatment but he should not be given it free. In this society its user pays. If he can pay he can have treatment. If he can not pay then no treatment. Our friends little boy died from this horrible disease because of lack of funding and time. A beautiful 7-year-old life taken because there was no government giving them $1 million dollars to save their child. So if he can pay, yes give him what he needs, otherwise no.
Johnnie (Northland)
There are more deserving people that need this kind of money spent than a double murderer. How long would any normal person have to wait for this kind of surgery? So will this guy have to wait? Maybe he will die before being called up like other people.
Sonya Eastlake
Absolutely ridiculous typical of this Government! I hope the public remember this next year.
Sid
I sentence you to 21 years with no medical treatment!
Kels (Onehunga)
Sure, why not? Here let me pay for it. What is going on? Since when do we value the life of such a savage creature? He did not think twice about his victims. Why on earth are we even talking about this? The government won't even subsidise life saving drugs for cancer patients but will spend millions on a crook? I work hard for my money and I do not want to help pay for this thing!
Lynne
I can't believe the government will fund this, but they won't fund herceptin! Crazy! He is a waste of space!
Neil (Auckland)
This is disgusting. If ordinary law-abiding citizens will not have their healthcare paid for by the government, then why should prisoners get this privilege? If the government is obliged to treat him, he should be put in the same queue as others, but in lowest priority, so that every law-abiding citizen will have the right to get the treatment they deserve first.
pCb (Auckland)
Yet another time when if NZ had any backbone we would have quietly forgotten about any UN agreement that had been signed. (Hey, let's face it, some countries even forget to cough up their annual UN 'Tithe'.) No wonder the family's angry. Wonder what other services are wasted in this manner while the lawful have to wait in line?
Simon (Pt Chevalier)
If most of us really think he should be denied such treatment, then let's tell our MPs to change the law. Obviously it's been policy for decades and cannot be attributed to any one "government" so if we convince all MPs from all sides, then we can get the law changed. If this becomes a political football, then nothing will happen.
Ari (Lower Hutt)
I think he doesn't deserve the treatment. He killed to innocent people, robbed them of their lives and caused pain for both families of the victims. I think he should rot in hell and why should the taxpayer pay for it? To sum up I agree a bullet is a lot cheaper or just letting him suffer may bring some justice for the murder victim's family.
Julz
Wow here's an idea, okay, all of you who have been waiting for a life-saving operation, which is free where you don't have to pay a cent, go commit a crime! What a load of BS.
Can someone tell me why our beloved government insists of helping the criminal and not the people that truly deserve it?
Graham Wootton
This man should be executed. Bringing the death penalty back must be thrust into the public arena and encouraged. Self-confessed murderers, where the evidence is overwhelming and where they show no remorse, are the ideal candidates for a limited execution program, such as in this case and in the example of the RSA killings in Auckland.
This is a disgrace and an outrage that we can spend so much on a violent murderer, meanwhile child cancer research struggles to find funds to assist innocent little kiddies, along with woman in desperate need of cancer-fighting drugs and the many other good people out there on waiting lists. He has blown his chance in our society, forgone his rights and should be terminated without delay. Heads should role as to who can authorise such a blatant waste of resources. History will judge the politicians who allow this to happen.
Steve (Hamilton)
I think it is an absolute disgrace. There are far more deserving people on waiting lists, and yet the murderer gets priority, plus an all expense paid surgery. There is no justice in this country. A man like this does not even deserve to live, let alone be treated. This shows what has happened to the 'justice' system. It seems that under this current government, the laws have become so PC that they have become socially unacceptable.
What kind of messages are we sending to potential criminals out there? Kill someone and you'll receive a slap on the wrist. I've heard prisoners these days even get Sky TV. What's next? Room service?
Ray Gilbert
All voters should file this away as yet another example of an arrogant government ignoring the wishes of those who elected it. When they can find $1 million for a subhuman that should have been executed and have law-abiding citizens die through lack of treatment it is time for them to go. What a pity the election is still so far away. How much more damage can Clark and her evil cohorts inflict before then?
N DiCaprio
How nice is this! He took 2 innocent lives and we award him with $1 million to help with his problems then invite him to a place where he can watch Sky TV, play basketball, smoke dope and have sex. Occasionally he will be served KFC for behaving himself when there's an inspection from the top. Then when he's released, we give him enough money to live and play on a weekly basis. What are we doing in comparison? Working hard to support the government on this sort of thing or spend months to argue about whether our children should be smacked? Makes perfect sense to me!
Justice for all
So this murderer is to be offered expensive health treatment for a life threatening illness. He is of course entitled to this under our welfare state. However, did the victim's family receive any compensation for this heinous crime? Probably not. Things are certainly out of balance here. But then again if a prisoner tries to escape from prison or custody and injures themselves then they too are eligible for ACC payments and treatment. I hope they hold this fellow under extremely tight guard when he is out and about having this expensive treatment. As tax payers we don't want him slipping and breaking anything.
Retired
No operation give him pain killers until he dies.
Susan O'Neill
Crime sure does pay. I assume this creep will go to the bottom of the list for this kind of procedure, as long as he does not queue jump we have to treat him. I would prefer to see the death penalty in this country for people like him who are clearly not worth wasting any resources on, but we do not have one and we cannot sentence him to death as much as we may like to. He must not get preferential treatment in any way, after all, good honest hard working people cannot get treated here and our health system is close to third world status so in reality he should wait and, as the rest of us, possibly die while waiting for his life saving operation. After all that is what happens to most New Zealanders now who rely on the public health service.
Moana from overseas who still reads the nzhearald on the internet
The man should be sentenced for life, 21yrs not long enough for a double murder. Disagree with the operation. His suffering is minor to what he did to those he killed. And I certainly would not condone my tax money to pay for such a treatment. He deserves to die with the disease he has because he did not give the other people a chance to live.
Billy the kid
What a waste of taxpayer money. He is going to die any way, let's make it quicker. I agree with the father lets give him some lead.
Kent
This is very simple. As galling as it might be, Jason Rehina did not receive a death sentence for his crime. Under the UN mandate prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment, the NZ government has an obligation to maintain the health of its prisoners. The true irony is that the late Northland man denied dialysis treatment a few years ago, would have received the treatment if he killed someone and was put in prison. It sucks, but that's what we have signed up for.
G Garnett
I can't believe we are to waste money on a convicted killers health when there are thousands of other members of the public on waiting lists because they can't afford treatments like this themselves! What is wrong with this country! I thought the point of sending a felon to jail was to punish them not to make sure they receive better care and services than people who live within the law. It astounds me and I have to totally agree with the victim's father why not spend a couple of dollars on lead and save the country some money for a change.
Glen Oliver
New Zealand, quite rightly, abolished capital punishment a long time ago. Simply put, denying any person a life saving operation is effectively imposing a death sentence. This runs contrary to New Zealand's values and to the concept of the courts applying the appropriate penalty under the law. While the anger of the victims family is understandable, comments implying that the offender should be shot instead of operated on do not add to rational debate. This person has been convicted under the law and any medical procedure must be seen independently of that. There are serious implications for the legal system if additional sentences (such as denying medical treatment) were to be imposed post-sentencing.
Joseph Mascarenhas
Shocking! This is democracy gone mad. The minimum punishment for all cold blooded criminals should be the same what they did to their victims. It is sickening to hear that these cowards have the right to live, and taxpayers have to shell out for their lawyers expenses, hospital bills etc. Instead of tax cuts, taxpayers have to support killers and rapists. I hope the next government has the courage to stop this nonsense, and wastage of taxpayers money.
You can't be serious.
Absoultely ridiculous. Let him rot.
Steve
I completely understand everyone saying let him rot, believe me, I am all for letting him rot, but the issue of his healthcare and his sentence are two different things. His operation should be decided the same way it is for everyone else. He was not sentenced to death or to a lower level of healthcare. He was sentenced to prison only, and that is "justice" whether we agree with it or not, and he is serving that sentence. It would be unfair to sentence him further.
Mary Hamilton
As a retired physician, I consider it a total disgrace to even think of giving this man a marrow transplant. He deserves nothing from society.
Trish (Auckland)
And the Government wonders why people keep leaving this country. Here's a perfect example. Yes, everyone has the right to our health services but why should a murderer be given this surgery when like we all know there are way more deserving free people who should have it. Put the money into breast cancer drugs for the ones who want to keep on living a good clean life. I think the govt needs to toughen up and bring in the corporal punishment for those beyond any doubt. 90+ per cent voted for harsher punishment and it's been a long time coming. Why should be pay for years and years of someone in prison isn't that wasting money? Like the guy who killed all the people at the Panmure RSA, why should we pay for 33 years for him? Go figure that one. Why?
Paul
Interesting how a lot of messages firstly talk about the money before the people. Maybe that's why we all ended up in this mess. Does the wish of society wanting him dead make us any better than him. Put him on the list for treatment like my father and cousin are, he may get to see a glimpse of the mercy he could have shown.
Wayne (Auckland)
By the looks of it the only way you get to jump ahead of the queue for medical treatment is to be a criminal. Isn't it wonderful how our politicians stick their heads in the sand in hopes that this will go away? Guess what Helen & Co, I hear the pitter patter of elections coming and I doubt that you'll be liking the outcome!
Westie
Reading about this hoodlum's possible cost to the NZ taxpayer made me feel sick to the stomach. Only last week we heard that the government would not spend some large amount of money, perhaps $1 million on preventing girls from getting cervical cancer in later years. The logic I guess to that decision was it would be considered too much and too expensive. And now I hear that $1 million could be spent on someone who does not even deserve the right to receive further tax-payer funded medical aid. We have already provided enough tax-payer dollars for this guy through legal aid, prison accommodation e.g. Christmas dinners, free gym use, and all the other perks of prison life. Why waste any more tax-payers dollars on someone who is likely to re-offend if he lives long enough to get out of prison and onto our social welfare system?
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