Do I Have A Choice?

 

Sometimes governments can be incredibly sneaky.

It has come to my notice that our parliament very quietly, near the end of last year, introduced a huge bill that has the potential to impact the lives of every single New Zealander.

It is called the Therapeutics Products Bill, and, if passed in its present form, it will set up one person (called a Regulator) who will have god-like control over every single medical drug, medical device, active pharmaceutical ingredient, and natural health product in New Zealand.

Martinborough Hotel, Waiarapa

It will especially impact any medical therapy that is outside the conventional Western drugs medicine system.  This includes herbalism, ayurveda, homeopathy, aromatherapy, rongoa Maori, traditional Chinese medicine, as well as lesser-known areas like reiki, and generally accepted practices like osteopathy and massage.

Going to a chemist or supermarket and buying vitamin and/or mineral supplements may become a thing of the past.

Potentially, the Bill even has the capability of preventing anyone cooking with aubergines or using cinnamon or turmeric!

Kaeo Hotel, Northland

My understanding is practitioners of non-conventional therapies will still be able to practise. 

They cannot claim any benefits for their work without being liable to a fine of $200,000 or a five-year prison sentence (but doctors are allowed to say a certain drug “works”!).

Anything prescribed will have to be manufactured by the practitioner and sold to the client only after a consultation (imagine if a doctor had to make up the drug he was giving you?).

Glenorchy Hotel, Queenstown

All of the above sounds absurd, but shows how little the proposed legislation has been thought through.  Yet it is being rushed through the legal process, with nary a Select Committee to consider its implications or consultation with the health industry, and the public have been given only until 15 February to object.

Once again, I shake my head in disbelief at the way governments can use their power to rob people of their free choice.

Just as well I am still smiling 😊

Margaret.

 

(If you want to object, head off to https://www,parliament.nz/.../therapeutic-products-bill to state your opinion).

So&So Does It Again

 

I’ve been offline for a few days after picking up a bug when looking online for cotton sheets to buy.  It covered my screen with constantly-moving flashing advertisements and froze everything else.

It took So&So two hours of concentrated searching but he finally found the bug buried deep within my Google Chrome browser (so deep even the virus detectors weren’t locating it).

A little bit of magic (or a large dose of it!) and I was given my computer back, but the experience has left me very wary of going online again although I know I must.  Silly of me really, to feel like this, but there it is.

The Modernist Garden in Hamilton Gardens

Our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, made a shock announcement this afternoon by saying she was going to step down from office.  There is almost equal amounts of jubilation and consternation in the streets, as people react with either joy or dismay.

Personally, I feel she has done as much as any reasonable leader could be expected to do over the last few years.  But our country is facing dire economic times and a lot of Labour Party policies have been deeply divisive, so the time is probably politically correct for a change in leadership before the General Election at the end of the year.

Entrance to the Chinese Scholars Garden in Hamilton Gardens

Once again, I am glad I don’t have any political affiliations (to me, they all seem as bad as each other!), so I can watch proceedings with a neutral eye and wait to see who our new PM will be.

Keep smiling and carry on 😊

Margaret.

 

Local Body Elections

 

There are many different forms of government on this earth, and the one we currently live under here is called Democracy. 

Abraham Lincoln once described it as “of the people, by the people, for the people.”  In reality, what it means is the people get to choose, every so often, the people they want to rule over them.  Once those people are chosen, they have the authority and power to make decisions for the country and the voting public have no further say in the matter (they may grumble, but that is all).

The same goes for local authorities, and voting is currently taking place to choose our city mayor, city councillors, and regional representatives.

Although it is a legal requirement to be enrolled on the voting register it is not a legal requirement to vote, but now I am a permanent resident here in Hamilton I have decided to exercise my right to do so.

A little pamphlet arrived with the voting papers and I read through the candidate descriptions and chose the ones I wanted.  Now all I had to do was find somewhere to post it.

Post Offices are almost non-existent now, only to be found lurking at the back of a shop somewhere (usually a book shop).  Street post boxes are also becoming more difficult to find – I guess with the advent of email there are fewer and fewer people actually using the postal system any more.

A search online discovered our nearest Post Box was only a couple of kilometres away, hidden down a side road.  I went for a drive, but do you think I could find it? 

I drove past twice before I caught sight of it hidden in beside a bus-stop shelter.  It was small and tatty-looking but still had a plaque stating collection times, so I entrusted my voting papers to its inner bowels and drove off with a small feeling of satisfaction at having done my bit for the governance of our fair city.

What a pleasant surprise to discover son had planted tulips in his garden

What a lot of drivel I write sometimes!  I hope it hasn’t been too boring 😊

Margaret.

 

HEADER PHOTO FOR OCTOBER 2022

This coal train was photographed at Arthurs Pass in May 2019. 

Arthurs Pass is 739 metres above sea level (2424 feet), and is one of three passes that cross the Southern Alps in the South Island.  It was the first Pass to become a proper road, being opened in 1866 to cater for gold-rush miners accessing the West Coast.