Latest news with #Brooking
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
Business case flawed: Brooking
The release of a "flawed" business case means more information is needed before Labour decides whether it would dump the planned Waikato Medical School, a Dunedin MP says. Last Monday, Health Minister Simeon Brown announced Cabinet had approved $82.85 million in government funding to build the country's third medical school at the University of Waikato — the institution was expected to contribute more than $150m to the project. Dunedin MP Rachel Brooking, of Labour, said she was "very sceptical" about figures used by the government to make its decision. The project's detailed business case was made public on Friday evening, part of a document dump which revealed the cost of producing GPs at the graduate-entry Waikato medical school would be $50 million a year cheaper than at the existing medical schools at Otago and Auckland universities. "The business case has really been written with an outcome in mind and not traversed all of the options, and that's just bad decision-making," Ms Brooking said. "It's bad way to make use of taxpayers' money, and it seems that in general, this all will cost more." She said the "flawed" business case would have consequences for the Otago Medical School: "those are difficult to predict exactly". However, Labour had "no plans at the moment" to dump the medical school, Ms Brooking said. "The issue is that we don't think the business case is credible. "So we'll keep asking questions about that and try and make any assessments on good information when we're in a position to do so." Taieri MP Ingrid Leary said "the so-called business case is really just a public relations document, given the outlandish assumptions and comparators". In a statement last Monday, Mr Brown said the project was an innovative model "that supports our focus on strengthening primary care, making it easier for people to see their doctor — helping Kiwis stay well and out of hospital". Waikato University would begin construction on new teaching facilities later this year. A full cost-benefit analysis was presented to Cabinet before any proposal was finalised, as part of the National-Act New Zealand coalition agreement, he said. Green MP Francisco Hernandez said the government's cost-benefit analysis used to "ram through" the Waikato Medical School made assumptions revealing the "lack of objectivity". Mr Hernandez said the document "falsely assumed" Otago and Auckland universities could not have negotiated a four-year rural graduate programme similar to Waikato University's proposal. "This assumption enables the government to claim that Waikato University will train medical students 'cheaper' because Waikato is assumed to have a four-year programme," he said. The government had also assumed Waikato University was more likely to produce GPs "even though Otago and Auckland could have also done a rural graduate programme". "Fundamentally, these flawed assumptions stem from the government's failure to run a transparent tender process from the start," Mr Hernandez said. "Rather than putting out an open tender to every university in New Zealand, they gave Waikato University a sweetheart deal." He called for the government to "be up front and honest about the actual costs" of the project and release the full agreement with Waikato University with all relevant advice. "The government's failure to rule out further handouts or to release the actual agreement raises questions on whether there were further sweetheart deals negotiated behind closed doors in the agreement that might end up with the taxpayer bailing out Waikato University."
Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Call for release of business case
Pressure is mounting on the government to release the business case it says justified its decision to approve a new medical school at Waikato University. Dunedin Labour MP Rachel Brooking said the figures were so different to the original proposal for the medical school that "everyone is in the dark" and the business case needed to be released immediately. The government would yesterday only say the business case would be released "soon". In 2023, National pledged $280 million for a third medical school at Waikato University, with the university to raise a further $100m. The government will now pour $83m into the new Hamilton-based school and Waikato University will have to find more than $150m for its contribution. Ms Brooking said it was unclear how the government got to a point where the numbers had changed so dramatically. "The government talks about a medical school with a focus on rural doctors, but at no stage have they referred to all the good work Otago University does in training rural doctors through their pathways programmes. "Otago has been focused on a medical workforce that reflects our community." Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich said he did not believe "we will ever see it". The cost-effective decision would have been to put more money into Otago and Auckland's medical schools, he said. It was "very disappointing for Dunedin and the wider region and the whole of the South Island", but he did not have immediate concerns for Otago Medical School, he said. The Waikato medical school is expected to open in 2028, with its first intake tipped to be about 120 students. "Now, it remains to be seen how well it works out, but it won't impact on the other medical schools — I don't think it will make much difference to Otago Medical School other than restricting the possibility of expansion that it certainly had." Former Otago University academic Prof Robin Gauld, now executive dean of Bond Business School at Bond University in Queensland, said the public needed to have all the facts. Most people would conclude this was a politically driven decision, he said. "I think it's a blow to [Otago and Auckland universities] and their ambition to increase the level of training. "They've said they could step up and do more if the support is there. But having said that the universities will continue to do what they've always done very well — which is to train world-class doctors." Prof Gauld said in the short term, the decision to establish a new medical school could actually slow down the process of training new doctors, given that the investment would now be going into a new medical school rather than increasing placements in existing programmes. A lot of the discussions would have happened behind closed doors, he said. "I think Waikato was in a slightly less favourable or enviable position. "They've obviously put together a kind of a business model that shows that they're going to reach some break-even or profit-turning position at some stage in the foreseeable future, maybe within the next five or 10 years."
Otago Daily Times
06-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
To infinity and beyond with a possum and sweet chilli sauce
One of the things MPs like most about the Budget debate — the freewheeling discussion of the Finance Minister's hard work — is that it enables them to speak about almost anything so long as it can (sometimes very loosely) be linked back to the Budget. Hence this week our southern MPs have been talking about possums, utes, outer space, Barker's sweet chilli sauce ... and every so often about something of vital importance. On Tuesday Taieri Labour MP Ingrid Leary fell into the latter camp with an impassioned speech about the state of the nation's mental health system. "The Budget would have been the perfect opportunity to [workforce gaps], including the 1594 full-time equivalents that the NCAT — which is the National Committee for Addiction Treatment—has identified as missing from the NGO frontline," Ms Leary said. "But no, they did not. Instead, they threw a paltry bit of money to help the transition at emergency departments for the withdrawal of police. That was far too little, far too late." It was Ms Leary's Labour Dunedin colleague Rachel Brooking who brought possums and utes to the debate soon after — which was fairly funny, albeit with a serious purpose. The Budget had been good for possums, Ms Brooking said, because of cuts to pest management initiatives. And it had been good for utes because of subsidies being afforded to companies. But most of all, Ms Brooking said scornfully, the Budget had been bad for women. "Anyone listening closely to the House when the Budget dropped will have heard me give an audible gasp when I read ... that $12 billion was looking to be saved from pay equity. "Yet the Prime Minister had the gall to say to us just the week before, 'No, no, no. This has nothing to do with pay equity'. It is astounding." And she did not mean that in a good way. Up soon after, Taieri Green list MP Scott Willis warmed up on the topic of people feeling the cold as winter bit hard — although he might have sparked debate on his own side by talking about getting nice and cosy in front of a fire rather than being warmed up by an electric fire powered by solar or wind energy. "What really would have helped people and helped landlords, even, would have been support for warm, dry, energy-efficient homes," Mr Willis said. "But this government, over the last two Budgets, has cut over $230m from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority ... crippling the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. Why has this government decided that ordinary Kiwis should be left out in the cold?" The next day the South's government MPs got to give an alternative, all together more enthusiastic appraisal of the Budget. Rather than wreaking havoc on all and sundry, Southland National MP Joseph Mooney extolled it for "balancing the New Zealand taxpayers' funds in a very considered and careful way in a challenging domestic and geopolitical environment." Funding such as new daytime urgent care services in places like Invercargill, Gore, and Alexandra found favour with Mr Mooney, as did the potential expansion of the service to Balclutha, Lumsden, Roxburgh and all places in between in the future. It was Mr Mooney who donned his space suit, noting Southlander Sir Peter Beck had made New Zealand the third-largest launcher of satellites into infinity and beyond. "He had a wild dream and made it happen in a country that did not have a space sector. I think that's an opportunity for all of us to lift our sights high, aim for the stars, and we can make it happen," he said, leaving unspoken but fairly obvious the assertion that the government was helping such firms to focus on the target. Leaving Waitaki MP Miles Anderson — no doubt well aware that many residents in Geraldine would like their town to instead be in the Rangitata electorate — to praise the fine products of Barker's of Geraldine. "I spoke this morning to the team at Barker's of Geraldine — and those of you who have had the opportunity to try some of their goods, I highly recommend them." "Great little place. Sweet chilli sauce," Otaki MP Tim Costley chimed in, a sentiment echoed from across the House. "They supply jams, preserves, and pickles to supermarkets across the country," Mr Anderson added, in his best infomercial manner. There was actually a point to all this spruiking: Mr Anderson wanted to use his time to boast about Investment Boost, the Budget's central policy for business growth. Enabling firms to immediately write off some of the cost of new equipment was a boon for an expanding business like Barker's, he said ... and that was not all for the great electorate of Waitaki. "Other local businesses are also having an increase in asset investment," Mr Anderson said. "Te Pari Industries tell me that they have seen an increase in interest for their products, and that farmers are making decisions much more quickly with both sheep and dairy systems. Drummond & Etheridge in Oamaru, local farm machinery retailers, saw an immediate increase in sales and a significant increase in buyer inquiry." And with a shout out to Five Forks School — pupils from which had visited the House the previous day and been acknowledged from the chamber — that was it for the Budget debate for another year. Half time, change sides Act New Zealand Southland list MP Todd Stephenson is poised to become the most recognisable backbencher in the country following the grand rearrangement of the House this week. With the coalition swapping deputy prime ministers, New Zealand First's MPs have moved to where Act once sat, and vice versa. As Act's whip, Mr Stephenson is now sitting in the second row alongside National chief whip Stuart Smith. That means that during Question Time — the only bit of Parliament that most New Zealanders catch a glimpse of — that Mr Stephenson is sitting right behind Christopher Luxon and David Seymour when the cameras roll.
Otago Daily Times
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Govt says do be hasty
You may have had a bad week but it's probably nothing compared with the week Dunedin Labour MP Rachel Brooking has had. Ms Brooking has oscillated between outrage, anger, despair and disgust during the course of the past few days as the government took urgency to pass two Bills which she was deeply affronted by: the Equal Pay Amendment Bill and the Wildlife (Authorisations) Amendment Bill. Ms Brooking's dudgeon was in equal parts: she took extreme exception to both the content of the Bills, and the manner in which each was passed in all stages by the government, under urgency. Before the House went into recess three weeks ago, no indication was given by the government that it intended to go into urgency, nor that it intended to rush through two such controversial pieces of legislation. Given the circumstances, the Opposition did rather well to keep argument on both law changes going for a couple of sitting days. Depending on which side of the House you sat on, the Equal Pay Amendment Bill was either an exercise in providing a better framework for assessing whether there was ''a sex-based undervaluation in remuneration in female-dominated occupations'', or a horrible and unfair piece of legislation. We know Ms Brooking is in camp B given those are her words, not mine. ''We are going to take every opportunity to try and amend this terrible legislation that we think is a disgrace,'' she added for good measure. Through Tuesday and Wednesday Ms Brooking took seven calls on the Bill (Taieri Labour MP Ingrid Leary and Dunedin Green list MP Francisco Hernandez were also often on their feet) teasing out the minutae of the Bill as only she can. ''Where the current legislation, back at 13F, has things that are included for consideration, and that happens at subsection (3) - it uses ''including'' - at subsections (1) and (2), it has to be everything; there are and's included,'' she said in part 2 of the committee stage, before going on to quite the discussion about the difference between ''view'' and ''views'' - any port in a filibuster storm. The Opposition was not just posturing here: they had a legitimate point to make, Whether you agree with the law change or not, whether you believe it was a cynical attempt to balance the government's books by deferring a contingent liability or not, it was a terrible use of urgency to pass the Bill in a matter of hours. Given the decades of struggle it has taken for the concept of pay equity to gain purchase, profound changes to the way the system of achieving it operates warranted full discussion from affected parties rather than this week's rush job. As a lawyer, Ms Brooking was understandably vexed by the entire process. Having fought in vain for 48 hours, Ms Brooking was back for more almost immediately, as the Wildlife (Authorisations) Amendment Bill hoved into view. The Opposition had slightly more of an inclination that this one was coming, it being well publicised that the government had not been best pleased at a recent High Court decision that it was unlawful for the Department of Conservation to authorise the killing of wildlife unless there was a direct link between killing and protecting wildlife. Permissions had been given in the past for consented construction works, such as the Mt Messenger road in Taranaki, which occasioned this lawsuit. The government, fearful that its infrastructure building programme could be interfered with, has moved to reverse the court's findings. Having sat in the family station wagon many a time as a child as it scaled Mt Messenger Southern Say has some sympathy with those who want the road built, but the wider point that Ms Brooking and others were making against the Bill - that its clawback on protections for wildlife could be far-reaching and fraught with unintended consequences - was a reasonable one. This Bill is a stopgap before a much-needed overhaul of the antediluvian Wildlife Act, but given that tidy-up is likely many months away it may well be in force for some time, making it all the more important that a decent period of deliberation be taken to passing it. By lunchtime Thursday Ms Brooking was fed up to the back teeth with it all and let rip in her third-reading speech. ''I have tried over and over again to try and engage with the minister about how it is that the words in his Bill make sense, how it is that they don't contradict each other ... this Bill is a hot mess. I mean, it just shows the craziness of using urgency for all stages, particularly when the policy problem has only arisen recently, so there's clearly not been much time to develop that. ''That is why we are opposing this Bill. It is a dreadful process. The government doesn't know what it's doing, and shame on them.'' That is as may be, but it is now the law.
USA Today
17-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Falcons legend to announce team's picks on Day 2 of 2025 NFL draft
Falcons legend to announce team's picks on Day 2 of 2025 NFL draft 2025 NFL draft: Falcons legend Keith Brooking to announce Atlanta's picks on Day 2 The Atlanta Falcons are preparing for their fifth draft under general Terry Fontenot, which kicks off one week from today in Green Bay, Wisconsin. On Day 2 of the draft, each team will have a current or former player announce their pick. ESPN's Adam Schefter announced which players will be making the Day 2 selections for each Falcons will call upon former first-round pick Keith Brooking to announce their second-round selection in the 2025 NFL draft. Brooking, the former Georgia Tech standout, was taken by Atlanta with the 12th overall pick in the 1998 draft. Over 15 NFL seasons -- 11 with the Falcons -- the five-time Pro Bowl linebacker racked up 1,103 solo tackles, 22 sacks and 13 interceptions while appearing in 225 career games (193 starts). Since the team doesn't have a third-round pick, Brooking can call it a night after Atlanta makes pick No. 46 overall in Round 2. Last year, the Falcons traded up in the second round to acquire Ruke Orhorhoro. The former Clemson defensive lineman played sparingly as a rookie but his role should increase in 2025. The 2025 NFL draft kicks off on Thursday, April 24 at Lambeau Field. Round 1 begins at 8 p.m. ET.
