Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

Buckingham Palace has announced that King Charles will remove all of his brother, Prince Andrew's, titles. The statement from Buckingham Palace related the announcement to the allegations of sexual abuse by the late Virginia Giuffre. Andrew Mountbatten Windsor's title will not be immediately stripped as UK Correspondent Gavin Grey said the process of removing his titles "will take some time".  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever since the 1930s, when American soldiers were based all around the world, people in many countries have been antsy about foreigners getting what appears to them to be special treatment or privileges.  The phrase people used back in the day about the US soldiers was something along the lines of them being overdressed, overpaid, oversexed and over here.  And the Government seems to be tapping into the same kind of sentiment with this crackdown on employers not following the rules when they want to hire workers from overseas.  That some employers are going straight to taking-on migrant workers without even trying to find locals to do the work first. Which they’re supposed to do or required to do.   Immigration Minister Erica Stanford is saying today that, if  employers don’t follow the rules and don’t prioritise hiring New Zealanders, then they can forget about being allowed to hire anyone from overseas ever again.  She says, since we started giving out accredited work visas to migrant workers three years ago, there are 20,000 more unemployed New Zealanders.  “We have New Zealanders who are desperate for jobs and they need to be given the first opportunity for those."   Which I think will go down like a cup of the old proverbial with some employers, who will say they should be allowed to employ whoever they want from wherever they want.   And that’s a view I agree with.  It’s something they’ve been pushing back against for years. But where the Government’s current concern stems from, is the number of employers who aren’t telling Work & Income that they’re on the lookout for staff. When they should be.  That’s because they’re not even interested in hiring locals and just want migrant workers.  Erica Stanford says more than one-in-six employers just want to employ migrants without considering local workers.  From the perspective of someone who is unemployed and needing work, I can see how that would be frustrating.  But does that mean that we should be forcing employers to give locals work over people from overseas?  It’s a bit rich of the Government to say that we need to turn the education system on its head so young New Zealanders can grow up and be ready to work anywhere in the world; but then, when it comes to people from other countries coming to work here, we go all protectionist on it.    Employers themselves certainly think they should be free to hire whoever they want. They’ve been saying that since 2016, when the-then National government announced changes to “put kiwis first in line for jobs”.  Anne Tolley was the social development minister at the time and she said: “The Government is committed to getting more New Zealanders into work by ensuring they are first in line for jobs.”  Which is the exact same thing Erica Stanford is saying today.  But I bet it won’t sound any better to employers today than it did nearly 10 years ago.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do we need more MPs? The NZ Initiative thinks we do - saying today that, instead of 120, we should have 170. It says the number of MPs in New Zealand is low compared to other countries with similar populations and we need 50 more to keep them accessible to voters. Another thing it’s calling for is a four-year parliamentary term. That’s a no-brainer, as far as I’m concerned. But 50 more MPs? No thanks. However, I do think some change is needed because of the size of some of our electorates. Which is essentially why the NZ Initiative is advocating for more MPs. But I think a much better option would be to have less list MPs and more electorate MPs. Because, you think about the size of some electorates - the West Coast is a prime example - I’ve always thought it’s crazy that one electorate MP has to represent and cover such a huge area. The Te Tai Tonga Maori seat is another one. One MP has to cover the whole South Island - as well as Stewart Island, the Chatham Islands, Wellington City and the Hutt Valley. The reason the NZ Initiative is making this call today, is because it’s reviewed the last 30 years under the MMP voting system. And its two key points are the parliamentary term and the number of MPs. Senior Fellow Nick Clark says the three-year term is too short for effective long-term policymaking. He says: "By the time a government finds its feet and starts implementing policy, it is already thinking about the next election. A four-year term would give governments time to develop coherent long-term policies." No argument from me there. He also says our parliament - with 120 MPs - is about 30 percent smaller than international benchmarks say it should be. So he says get 50 more. He also thinks we need less cabinet ministers and reckons 15 would be enough. But I reckon he’s going to be pushing it uphill to sell his idea of more politicians. I’m not sold. Far from it. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour had their Capital Gains Tax policy leaked earlier this week. The tax would only apply to residential and commercial property sales, not any other taxable areas. A decision which has led some to question if this is really a Capital Gains Tax. Labour leader Chris Hipkins had previously said that there would be no Capital Gains Tax under his leadership. However, he told John MacDonald that, 'after the election when we lost, I said, well, everything goes back on the table.' LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So another ham-fisted announcement from the Labour Party. In fact, it wasn’t even an announcement. Because of a leak, it was forced this morning to confirm its plan to include a capital gains tax in its policies for next year’s election. Which looks to me like a very watered-down, scaredy-cat version of a capital gains tax that won’t impress many. Because, if they were serious, they’d apply it to everything. None of these exclusions. Which I’ll get to. Another fly in the ointment - aside from all the exclusions and the leak - is what the money from the tax would be used on. Three free doctor’s visits a year for all of us. Which I think would create more problems than it would be worth. So, if Labour forms the next government, it will introduce a capital gains tax that, if it’s to be believed, would only apply to what seems like a very short list of things. There’d be no capital gains on the sale of the family home and there’d be no capital gains on the sale of farms. But there would be a capital gains tax on the sale of rental properties and commercial properties. So the farmers would be happy and the landlords - residential and commercial - would be brassed-off. There would also be no capital gains tax on KiwiSaver, shares, business assets, inheritances, and personal items. Which, Labour says, would mean 90 percent of us not paying any tax on any property we own and all of us getting three free doctor’s visits a year. That’s because the revenue from this new tax would be funnelled straight into the health system But has Labour really thought it through? Because, as soon as you start telling people they can go to the doctor for free three times a year, what chance do you think they’ll actually be able to get an appointment with everyone doing the same? What’s more, Labour says “one in six New Zealanders cannot afford to visit their doctor when they are sick.” So why aren’t they targetting those people? Why would you give free doctor’s visits to the five-out-of-six who can afford to go to the doctor? That’s why this tax proposal is Labour’s second-worst policy idea in the last few years, coming a very close second to the non-sensical, last-minute GST-off-fruit-and-vegetables idea it cooked up before the last election. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on Politics Friday, National MP and former doctor Vanessa Weenink, and Labour's Tracey Lee McLellan join John MacDonald to delve into the biggest topics of the week.  They discuss the Government response to yesterday's wind storm, the mega-strike, the end of home economics and outdoor education in schools, political involvement in the Netball NZ debacle, and Labour's future funding policy.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happened to the emergency mobile alert system ahead of and during yesterday’s wind storm? One explanation for the absence of text alerts from one government MP is that, with the power out in places, the cell towers weren’t working. But the power wasn’t out in Christchurch city and there were still no alerts on my phone. What’s more, the power only went out once the wind hit - well after the Emergency Management Minister pre-emptively declared a state of emergency on Wednesday afternoon. So, there are questions to be answered. I also think that, from the outset, the state of emergency shouldn’t have been limited to Canterbury. If you look around the South Island, there are areas that have been hit just as hard - if not worse - than some areas in Canterbury. The Emergency Management Minister declared an emergency in Southland this morning. But it should have happened sooner. Then there are the people who question the need for such a response. I’m not sure if it was just the state of emergency that made things so quiet in town yesterday or whether it was the state of the emergency plus the mega-strike. Odds on, it was the state of emergency. Which one Christchurch business owner isn’t happy about. They think it was overkill including Christchurch because the city wasn’t as badly-affected as other parts of the region and their takings were down 50 percent because of it. It was like a tale of two Canterburys yesterday. We had trees coming down and that fire at Hanmer Springs. Whereas, in Christchurch, I think a lot of us were wondering when it was going to hit. The wind picked up at times. But, overall, Christchurch got off pretty lightly. Nevertheless, I disagree that the city shouldn’t have been included in the state of emergency. Because who knew the wind was going to behave the way it did? With that wall of wind that was heading towards the city yesterday morning splitting into two and skirting around the city. That’s why I’ll always support the “better safe than sorry” approach. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Canterbury Civil Defence Controller James Thompson joined John MacDonald on Canterbury Mornings with the latest information we need to know ahead of today's expected damaging wind storm. The region is under a red wind warning locally, along with parts of the Southern North Island. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon joined John MacDonald to get the latest from their district on storm preparation and damage. There are also reports that people set off fireworks in the area last night.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Minister for the South Island is ducking for cover. I probably would be too, if I was him. Because he knows it’s going to be very difficult to defend the pitiful share the South Island is getting from the Government’s latest $1.2billion funding round for new roads and roading upgrades. The south island has been virtually shut out, with just 6 percent of the money going to projects here. The Hope Bypass, near Nelson, is the only one south of Cook Strait. With no mention of making State Highway 1 north and south of Christchurch four lanes, which regional leaders say is needed. Leann Watson from Business Canterbury is saying that, considering the South Island’s contribution to New Zealand’s economy, it doesn’t sound fair. And she’s spot on. In fact, I think she’s being generous. It’s a rip-off. Tell that to Transport Minister Chris Bishop, though, who says the Government can’t do everything at once and needs to prioritise roading projects. But there’s at least one road in the South Island that needs to be given much higher priority - which everyone seems to have been banging-on about for ages. State Highway 1 between Christchurch and Ashburton is an absolute shocker. It’s a stretch that South Island Minister James Meagher will know only too well. How many times do you reckon he’s driven on that road since becoming an MP and since becoming the minister who's supposed to be in Wellington advocating for us? The guy who seems to have gone to ground and who hasn’t been available to respond to media inquiries about this South Island road funding debacle. No wonder he hasn’t been available. Because it is indefensible. At least the transport minister is fronting. Not only saying that the Government can’t do everything at once but also saying that the roads that have got funding - 94 percent of them in the North Island - are getting the green light because they are what he calls “top priority corridors”. He says they're top priority because they will boost freight movement, increase safety and lead to economic growth. But let’s just test that. Would a 4-lane highway between Christchurch and Ashburton already boost freight movement? Of course, it would. What about safety? Would a 4-lane highway be safer, compared to the 2-lane goat track we’ve got at the moment? That’s a no-brainer. And what about economic growth? Would a 4-lane highway between Christchurch and Ashburton do good things for the economy? Do I even need to answer that one? The Government’s argument for 94 percent of this new road funding going to the North Island doesn’t stack up. LISTEN ABOVE Note: Minister Meager did issue a statement - however it was not initially reported. See below the Minister's full statement: “I’m very pleased with yesterday’s confirmation of a near $1.2 billion for the next stage of our Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme. “The Hope Bypass project is significant for the South Island. SH6 is a vital connection for our people and goods to get around, and this bypass will help boost economic growth in Nelson Tasman. It will also bring wider economic benefits for the region; through the jobs the project will create. “It’s important to note yesterday’s update is just one part of the Government’s ongoing infrastructure work programme. “Developments continue on the Belfast to Pegasus and Woodend Bypass (a RoNS), with a FTAA application being worked through currently. “The South Island is also well-represented with six projects in the Roads of Regional Significance (RoRS) work programme, with the Queenstown upgrade package and five Canterbury RoRs: SH76 Brougham Street Upgrades S75 Halswell Road Improvements SH1 Rolleston Access Improvements The second Ashburton Bridge “We’ve also committed to important South Island roading infrastructure outside of the RoNs and RoRs programmes, like a replacement bridge for Christchurch’s Pages Road, which I announced $38.5 million of Government funding for in August.”  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some days you hear about something which absolutely beggars belief. Today is one of those days. You hear about something that makes you wonder what the hell has happened to society. Sometimes it can be overseas. Or it can be something here in New Zealand. Today is one of those days. Because I am blown away by this coroner’s report which has just come out, into the death of a four-year-old girl in a public fountain in Tauranga in May 2023. Coroners are quite measured in the words they use and coroner Matthew Bates is no different, saying today that he’s “troubled” by a particular aspect of this tragedy. I’m reading that as code for “appalled”. Because, even though four people could see four-year-old Nia Lohchab lying face down in the water, not one of them did anything to get her out. The coroner knows that because CCTV footage shows there were four people near the fountain, but not one of them did anything. One of them got on their phone - presumably calling emergency services - but then left her in the water. The coroner says it’s unlikely that the outcome would have been any different if they had got her out. But what does it say about our society? What does it say about us? To put it bluntly, it tells me that we’ve become a bunch of lamos. What other conclusion can you come to? So Nia was at Memorial Park, in Tauranga, with her grandfather and her younger sister just over two years ago. It was three days before her fifth birthday. She ran towards the fountain and her little sister ran in a different direction. So the grandfather went after the younger child first, as most people would. That was just after 20-to-10 in the morning. At 9:49AM, a member of the public called emergency services saying there was a child face down in the water. But neither that person, nor three others in the area, did anything to get her out. Four minutes later, police arrived, found her motionless, got her out, started giving CPR, but they couldn’t save her. In his report, coroner Matthew Bates says - of the four people near the fountain at the time - at least three of them were clearly aware that NIa was there and that she was lying face down in the water. And they left her there. What the hell have we come to? He says he is “troubled by the fact that none of the members of the public who observed nia face down and motionless in the water removed her from the fountain immediately”. Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. Because here’s another example of how lame people have got when it comes to helping out. A chap was driving near The Palms shopping mall, in Christchurch, the other week and was T-boned by another driver. After the crash, not one person came to check he was ok. Some people in the gym came outside to have a look. Then went back inside. No one came to help or, at the very least, check if he needed any help. So maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that people who saw this little girl lying face down in the fountain did nothing to get her out. But it is appalling and it shows how we have become a society that doesn’t care as much as it used to. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is really spooked by this week’s mega strike. With about 100,000 people expected to walk off the job on Thursday. If it wasn’t spooked, we wouldn't have Public Service Minister Judith Collins writing this open letter to patients, students and families affected by the doctors, nurses, teachers, prison staff and other healthcare workers going on  strike. It’s a letter which, I think, ups the ante on the serve Health Minister Simeon Brown gave doctors last week over their involvement. Because what Judith Collins says in the letter, aside from how much the Government regrets the impact the strike is going to have on people - which it is, she’s encouraging parents to do, what I would describe as, harassment of teachers. She’s saying to parents - especially those with younger kids who are going to have to make alternative arrangements for the day because they can’t leave the young ones at home on their own - that they should quiz teachers about the timing of their action.  Why they’re striking in a week when many schools already have teacher-only days and on a day so close to the Labour Day holiday on Monday. And I think this is so wrong. Because, if you’ve ever had kids at school, you will know that quite a few parents don’t need any encouragement to have a go at the teachers. You always hear stories about parents hounding teachers about this and that. And, every now and then, you hear stories about people quitting teaching altogether because of the relentless hassle they get from parents. And the Government, with this open letter, is just encouraging more of that. It’s calling the mega strike “politically-motivated”. But the Government stands accused of the exact same thing with this open letter. As well as the outburst last week from the Health Minister. One of the reasons the Government thinks it’s politically-motivated is the secondary teachers union wanting to discuss Palestine when it met with the Education Minister. That was just dumb and didn’t do their cause any good. But the Government just needs to accept that the mega strike is happening and it needs to stop this attack on people who are doing nothing illegal. They’re fully within their rights to strike and  this harassment has to stop. If you heard me last week criticising the firefighters for striking, because I thought it put us at unnecessary risk, then you might think it’s a  bit rich of me to be having a go at the Government today. The difference is, I’m not a government minister. More importantly, though, I wasn’t encouraging anyone to confront the firefighters. Far from it. But that’s what the Public Service Minister is doing. The teachers shouldn’t have to defend themselves to nagging parents and the Government shouldn’t be egging them on. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Opposition Leader's again expressing concern about Te Pati Maori, but not yet ruling out working with them.   Toxic culture claims by Eru Kapa-Kingi were followed by the party releasing documents accusing him of threatening Parliamentary staffers.   They also show his mother, recently demoted Whip MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, was warned about risking budget overspend.    Chris Hipkins says it’s clear Te Pati Māori has some internal issues to work through before they’d be in a position to form a government.   Chris Hipkins told John MacDonald any decisions about whether or not they’d form a coalition with Te Pati Māori will come closer to the election, as an awful lot can happen between now and then.   However, he says, if there was an election today, he’d say they’re not in a position at the moment to play a constructive role in future government.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Isn’t it weird that, in the past 25 years, we have spent millions and millions and millions of dollars on road safety campaigns, but there have, generally, been no changes in that time to the penalties handed out for bad and dangerous driving?  I tried to find out exactly how much has been spent, but I realised that was quite ambitious.  Nevertheless, I can safely say that it’s hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. In fact, ChatGPT reckons it’s somewhere between $2.5 billion and $3.5 billion. It’s probably way more than that.  Either way, we’ve spent billions over the past 25 years trying to make people aware of the consequences of bad and dangerous driving, but many of the fines and penalties for drivers breaking the law haven’t changed. And the AA wants that rectified.  I’m not saying don’t do it, but I’m not convinced that that would make much difference when it comes to what actually happens on the roads and how drivers behave.  Aside from the money spent on road safety campaigns, let’s also not forget the gazillions spent on cleaning up the mess after road crashes.  ACC, hospital costs, ongoing care for people – it’s estimated that that comes to about $10 billion a year.  So, in the past 25 years, billions have been spent trying to educate drivers and dealing with the consequences of road crashes. But in that time, not much has changed when it comes to penalties.  Which is why the AA’s road safety spokesperson Dylan Thomsen is saying today that, at the very least, fines should be doubled across the board to make up for inflation, and fines automatically adjusted for inflation on an ongoing basis.  He says: "We need to bring these penalties back up so they work to make drivers think twice about taking risks on the road or breaking the rules because right now they're not doing that."  I agree that they’re not working, but I don’t agree that harsher penalties would make a difference. Because when people are muppets out on the road, they don’t even think twice about the penalties, let alone the consequences.  The AA thinks differently, and reckons the changes need to focus on the types of offences that cause the most carnage on the roads.  Which are: people driving drunk or stoned, people not wearing seatbelts, people driving too fast, and people being distracted by things like mobile phones.  Dylan Thomsen is saying that the AA, generally, wants fines to double but thinks the penalties for these particular offences might have to be increased more than that to really make a difference.  The fine for using your phone while driving would certainly need to be more than doubled if we were to get anywhere close to the fines dished out in parts of Australia.  In New South Wales, if you’re caught using your phone while driving, you’re fined $350 - or $470 if it’s in a school zone. In Western Australia, it’s a $1,000 fine.  Here, it’s $150 and 20 demerit points.  Dylan Thomsen points to a recent survey of AA members which found that most of them don’t think our fines are effective. Less than 50% said they thought the fines dished out for things like speeding and using a cellphone driving were tough enough to change behaviour.  But do you really think harsher fines would change these behaviours? I don’t. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m right behind the call being made today for helmets to be made mandatory at recreational ice skating and roller skating rinks.  For it to be a legal requirement that if you want to go and have a skate with your mates, you have to wear a helmet.  Because if it’s good enough for helmets to be compulsory on bikes, then why isn’t it good enough for helmets to be mandatory when someone’s on a set of skates?  When you think about it, you are far more likely to ride a bike than go to an ice skating rink or a roller skating rink. Which, surely, means that skating is way more risky. So helmets have to be non-negotiable.  In fact, I’d go beyond just ice skating rinks and roller skating rinks, I think we should be doing the same at the likes of ski fields and skate parks.  But back to the tragic death of 13-year-old Kymani Hiley-Hetaraka during a school visit to the Alpine Ice Skating Rink in Christchurch 15 months ago.  Her sister was also on the trip and the two of them were skating together when Kymani —who wasn’t wearing a helmet— fell and hit her head.  She was, initially, able to speak and she asked her sister to get her some Panadol. But she then started having a seizure, was taken to hospital, and died two days later after being taken off life support.  Since the tragedy the rink has voluntarily made helmets mandatory. But there is no law requiring it and Kymani's parents —Curtis Gwatkin and Maraea Hetaraka— think that needs to change.  They’re saying today that they want the Government to make helmets mandatory at all recreational ice skating and roller skating rinks. And I couldn’t agree more.  They’re speaking out because, initially, they wanted to wait for WorkSafe to do its investigation, thinking that someone would be prosecuted. But that didn’t happen.  WorkSafe found that there were no health and safety breaches by the ice-skating rink. No breaches by Kymani’s school. And no breaches by the external organisation contracted by the school to run the trip.  But that’s not good enough as far as Curtis and Maraea are concerned.  They say it’s left them feeling frustrated and angry, and who can blame them?  They’re determined to keep fighting on this one and plan to start a petition to try and force the Government to make helmets mandatory at all ice skating and roller skating rinks.  It’s a no-brainer as far as I’m concerned. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you voted in this year’s local body elections, congratulations. You can consider yourself a member of a very exclusive club. Because, this year, voter turnout around the country was the lowest it’s been in 36 years. Which is pitiful. So pitiful that I don’t even think my idea of having just one main voting day - like we have for central government elections - would make much of a difference. In fact, I think there’s only one way to fix it. Something which has already been tried somewhere else with immediate results. Because something needs to be done. Because local councils matter. They have far more influence on our daily lives than central government ever will. Our councils are responsible for the roads we drive on everyday. They’re responsible for getting the rubbish collected and getting water services to our houses and making sure the sewers work properly. They run our libraries. All sorts of things that we use and rely on every day. Our councils are the majority owners of key infrastructure services. Christchurch City Council, for example, has the airport, the Port at Lyttelton, the Orion electricity lines company and others. Not worth taking an interest in who is leading these outfits? Or having an influence in who is leading these outfits? Sixty-eight percent of us don’t think so. Talk about apathy. Andrew Geddis - who is a political scientist at the University of Otago - reckons that one of the main reasons for the low turnout is that the voting period is just way too long. And people just forget about the voting papers sitting on the kitchen bench. He also points out the benefit of having one main voting day - like we do in the central government elections. I used to think the same. But I see only one solution. Which is something people talk about in relation to central government elections. But I think we need it for local government too. Compulsory voting. Because, after this pitiful turnout in this year’s elections, we need a kick up the jacksy - and making it compulsory to vote is the only way to achieve that. In Australia, compulsory voting in federal elections was introduced in 1924 and, since then, voter turnout has never fallen below 90 percent. More relevant, though, is what they’ve done in Tasmania. Three years ago, Tasmania made voting in local government elections compulsory, as well. And just like compulsory voting in federal elections sorted out the low participation problem, the same thing happened in Tasmania with their local body elections. In just one election, voter turnout increased by 44.6 percent. Councils in Tasmania have four-year terms - so the 2022 turnout is the most recent example. But it shows you, doesn‘t it, how compulsory voting in local body elections works. And how it could work just as well here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shihad frontman Jon Toogood joined John MacDonald ahead of the Christchurch Full Metal Orchestra concert. He talked about performing with Phil Rudd of ACDC, his passion for heavy music and the joy it brings the crowds, and how his health has become a priority in his later years.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Phil Mauger has been re-elected as Mayor of Christchurch. He joined us on the show following his win, and discussed the key issues he wants to focus on. Where will cut debt? Who will be his deputy? And does he think Wayne Brown is correct that Auckland is our only international city? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christchurch's incumbent mayor believes debt is the Council's biggest challenge.   Phil Mauger says if re-elected he's committed to tackling the Garden's City's growing debt by selling off assets like the Lichfield Street carpark.   Mauger told John MacDonald the current debt level is $2.5 billion, and he wants it under control.   He says 25 cents of every rate dollar goes into debt servicing, and he wants that money spent on more things to benefit the city.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I support the NZ Drug Foundation’s push to decriminalise drug use and drug possession.   The key point here is “use” and “possession”. It’s not saying let the dealers and manufacturers away with it, it’s saying we need to take a much more compassionate approach and treat drug users as people in need of help, instead of treating them as criminals.   I’m picking your response will probably be determined by your exposure to drugs or experience with drugs.   By that I mean whether your life has been affected in any way.   I reckon that if someone close to me got hooked on meth, for example, then I’d definitely be wanting the law to take a more compassionate view.   Because I know that I wouldn’t see them as criminals, I’d see them as someone needing help.  Whereas if my life was impacted negatively in any way by a meth head —for example, if someone high on meth had attacked me in the street or broken into my home— then I might not be quite so compassionate.   But if I listen to what the Drug Foundation has to say, then maybe a more compassionate approach would mean less drug addicts attacking people in the street and less drug addicts committing crimes to get money for their drugs.  Because here’s what it says about that in its report:  It says we should decriminalise personal possession and use of drugs —including drug utensils— because evidence from overseas shows that a system where people get help —and aren’t treated as criminals— even when they continue using their drug of choice... it says there is evidence that it works.   In Switzerland for example, where it has what’s called “heroin-assisted treatments”, less people have died from overdoses and there is less drug-related crime.   Another example the foundation gives in its report is Canada, where there are signs that its “safer supply programmes” are reducing the number of drug overdoses and helping drug users lead more stable lives.    So why wouldn’t you give it a go?   But it wants it done in parallel with a whole lot of money being poured into health and harm reduction services.   Which, no matter what your views on our drug laws are, is a no-brainer.   You’ll remember how, late last year, it was revealed that cocaine use in New Zealand is at an all-time high and methamphetamine consumption has doubled. And with people using more cocaine and meth, they’re at much greater risk of things like psychosis and heart issues.   So, either way, there’s going to be some sort of financial burden on the health system at some point, isn’t there?  So why not turn things on their head? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.