The waiting list for elective surgeries has skyrocketed in the last year, with many experts pointing towards ongoing workforce shortages as the cause.
Thousands of people on the waiting list are in intense, ongoing pain, requiring essential operations such as hip or knee replacements.
For Casper's weekly catchup with the National party’s Dr. Shane Reti, they discussed the causes of the growing waiting list and the National party’s proposed solutions to the problem.
New Zealand and key allies have imposed sanctions on two “extremist” Israeli politicians for their role in “inciting violence against Palestinians” in the West Bank.
However, opposition parties, including Labour as well as the Greens and Te Pāti Māori, are calling for further action to be taken against Israel.
It comes after Israel kidnapped 12 pro-Palestine activists on international waters, who were intending to break the aid blockade and reach Gaza.
And earlier this week, the National Business released their annual rich list.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, I spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about these topics.
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