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Aged care sector needs sweeping reform, woman with elderly parents says
Aged care sector needs sweeping reform, woman with elderly parents says

RNZ News

time24 minutes ago

  • Health
  • RNZ News

Aged care sector needs sweeping reform, woman with elderly parents says

Sandy said she had experienced a raft of issues in both aged care facilities and hospitals that her parents had stayed in. Photo: 123RF A woman has moved her elderly parents out of multiple rehab and respite facilities because of serious concerns including over-crowding, mistakes with medication and unchanged soiled bedding. She said sweeping reform is needed in aged care. The woman, Sandy*, said earlier this year her father, who has dementia, was discharged from a hospital in the middle of the night in his pyjamas because there was no longer a bed for him. RNZ has revealed there is a 20 bed ward at North Shore Hospital full of patients with no medical reason to be there, but there is nowhere suitable for them to go because of their complex discharge needs, requiring specialist nursing and allied health workforces. That prompted Sandy to contact Checkpoint about her experience. She believes the system is already overstretched and it is only going to get worse with an ageing population. Sandy told Checkpoint she had moved her parents from four or five facilities in the past year, for a raft of reasons. "Not enough space, the food is not nutritional... there's not enough people, you're getting a shower if you're lucky every third or fourth day." She said she had been told the lack of showers was standard. "People will get a shower about twice a week... we were told at every single facility, 'no, you get shower twice a week, that's our standard of care'." Lack of separation between patients was another issue Sandy raised, with many patients, including those with dementia, sharing wards. "There's no delineation often with dementia patients, so there are buzzers going all day and all night, people going in each other's room, six people to a bathroom, televisions going at 90 decibels, day and night." In busier times, she said she had seen patients sharing a room. On one occasion a lack of staffing led to her mother, a patient at the facility herself, to be caring for another patient. "There was a woman in the room next door who cried all day and all night and it was my mother who was there meant to be being looked after, who ended up caring for this woman because the carers didn't know what to do with her." Sandy said her elderly father had also been treated poorly. She said her elderly father was made to leave the hospital in the middle of the night due to a lack of beds. "My father, who was at end of life, [at] 3am was put in a taxi in his pyjamas with no shoes and sent back home because they didn't have a bed for him." The incident shocked her. "I was just staggered, absolutely. You know, if someone had told me that story, I would have said no, that can't be right." Sandy said her father had also been given the wrong doses of medication. "A double dose of medication and then a few weeks later, the wrong medication." She said while the situations had been dealt with well by the facility, she was worried for vulnerable people who did not have someone looking out for them. "What about the people that don't have a Sandy? What about the people who don't have a voice? How many other mistakes? How many other things are being overlooked?" Sandy said she had experienced a raft of issues in facilities and hospitals, once being told by the hospital that soiled beds did not get changed on a Sunday. "It's just such a stretched system. We could probably do with double the number of carers, double the number of doctors, double the number of beds and that wouldn't be enough. "I think it's such a systemic problem and I don't know the answer, but it's sweeping reform... it is depressing." Checkpoint has sought comment on this story from Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora. *Not her real name Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

What we know so far about the new road user charges and the end of petrol tax
What we know so far about the new road user charges and the end of petrol tax

RNZ News

time24 minutes ago

  • Automotive
  • RNZ News

What we know so far about the new road user charges and the end of petrol tax

The government proposes to phase out petrol taxes in favour of electronic road user charges by 2027. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi Explainer - The government made it official this week that the petrol tax is on the way out, to be replaced by electronic road user charges, or RUCs, for everyone. Drivers of all light vehicles - petrol, hybrid, diesel and electric - will now pay for road use based on distance travelled and vehicle weight, instead of an extra charge at the pump. Right now, Road User Charges (RUC) only apply to vehicles not powered wholly by petrol, and all vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes. An awful lot of the specifics around the new system remain uncertain, as the government considers how to implement the plan. But here's what we know so far. All of Aotearoa's 3.5 million light vehicle owners will need to pay RUC fees to help pay for road upkeep and maintenance. But exactly how the fees will be set and collected are still a work in progress. In making the announcement, Transportation Minister Chris Bishop said it was "the biggest change to how we fund our roading network in 50 years". It comes as more and more drivers use hybrids, electric vehicles or other technology. Bishop said the number of fuel-efficient petrol hybrid vehicles has jumped from 12,000 in 2015 to 350,000 today. "As our vehicle fleet changes, so too must the way we fund our roads. It isn't fair to have Kiwis who drive less and who can't afford a fuel-efficient car paying more than people who can afford one and drive more often." "This is a change that simply has to happen. The government has recognised reality and is getting on with the transition." Replacing fuel excise taxes with electronic road user charging was part of National and ACT's coalition agreement. The government's been signalling this move for some time and last year scrapped an Auckland regional fuel tax of 11.5 cents per litre . AA principal policy adviser Terry Collins said while the association thinks the changes are good in principle, "we need to see the detail". Transportation Minister Chris Bishop. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone That's one of the big question marks right now. Under the system, all vehicles would be paying for road use based on distance and their vehicle's weight, Bishop said, but no detail on the weight limits was given. The current RUC for light vehicles - under 3500kg - are $76 per 1000km. The average Toyota Corolla weighs between 1200-1500kg. Charges can widely vary for larger vehicles under the current RUC, according to NTZA's website . There's also an administration fee of $12-$13 per transaction. No costs or parameters for the new system have been announced, but just as an example under the current RUC setup, a small electric vehicle would pay more than $760 including fees for 10,000km worth of credits. Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook Again, answer unclear. Bishop said currently, petrol drivers pay a tax of about 70 cents per litre. However, the AA says that the full cost of fuel excise, duties and taxes such as GST altogether was over $1.20 per litre as of mid-2024 . There's no real way of knowing yet if the changes would automatically drop 70 cents or more from fuel prices. Legislative work toward the changes will begin next year, with the government eyeing 2027 for the new system to take place. "At this stage, no date has been set for the full transition of the light vehicle fleet," Bishop said. "That's a deliberate choice, as we're focused on getting the system right rather than rushing its rollout." The legislative plans include: "The changes will support a more user-friendly, technology-enabled RUC system, with multiple retail options available for motorists," Bishop said in announcing the changes. "Eventually, paying for RUC should be like paying a power bill online, or a Netflix subscription. Simple and easy." Bishop told ThreeNews that users could possibly pay road RUCs through an app, and log in and pay what they owed at the end of each month. The next step for the plan is changes to the Road User Charges Act 2012, and a bill will be introduced to Parliament and referred to a Select Committee for public input. "I expect to pass legislation in 2026, followed by an updated Code of Practice for RUC providers," Bishop said. "We will also engage with the market in 2026 to assess technological solutions and delivery timelines. In parallel, NZTA and Police will upgrade their systems to support enforcement in a digital environment." An example of a current road user charges permit. Photo: RNZ Bishop called the current setup for light vehicles a "clunky" system. You keep track of your odometer readings, pay for RUC in 1000km chunks and put a sticker on your windscreen that shows how many km they are good for. Once your odometer passes the number you've paid for in RUC, you need to pay for more. "We're not going to shift millions of drivers from a simple system at the pump to queues at retailers," Bishop said. "So, instead of expanding a clunky government system, we will reform the rules to allow the market to deliver innovative, user-friendly services for drivers." The AA's Martin Glynn told Morning Report that it's not the easiest system for users. "The biggest problem with it, people need to keep an eye on their odometers and see if they've used up their RUC and need to buy more. That's probably the biggest problem with it." However, the government said it wants to shift away from the "outdated" system and replace it with greater use of electronic RUC, or eRUCs. Basically, instead of having to keep track of your odometer readings and paying as you go for km credits, it's a device that does that work automatically. There are a variety in place now for current requirements. There are several approved eRUC providers for the heavy vehicle fleet of vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. "EROAD's system automatically records the distance each vehicle travels on-road and accurately records all off-road travel with its intuitive GPS-tracking capability," the website of one of the providers, EROAD, states. Infrastructure New Zealand chief executive Nick Leggett applauded the change and said it could work well with other transport charges. "User-charging is a fair, proven way to fund infrastructure. eRUC will make it easier to apply that principle consistently across all vehicles, whether petrol, diesel, electric or hybrid, and as our transport system evolves. "We also see the use of flexible payment methods and the integration of eRUC with other transport charges such as tolling and congestion pricing as sensible moves." However, there's still a lot of questions around the costs of implementing eRUCs for everyone. Would all cars be fitted with new devices or would some kind of self-monitoring system be in place for those with older vehicles? There's also been a fair bit of talk doing the rounds on social media about the idea of electronic records on vehicle travel and worries about the government tracking people. In a statement to RNZ, Bishop said there were privacy protections in place and it would remain a concern in developing the new systems. "The Road User Charges Act 2012 has existing provisions that protect privacy by limiting what RUC electronic information the RUC collector can access. "Location data can only be accessed to verify where the driver is owed a refund for off-road use. "Officials will be engaging with the market and stakeholders (including the Office of the Privacy Commissioner) on the features of potential solutions, such as cost, privacy and ease of use." The AA's Collins said it would be important to see the detail of "who has that information and what's done with it". "Everybody in the trucking industry wants to have that technology fitted. I don't think that's the case in the light fleet." Collins noted that our phones - which almost everyone has with them in their cars - are also packed with tracking technology. Other countries have managed similar systems, he said, but "it's what the data will ultimately be used for in the future that's the biggest concern". In their announcement, the government also said that private firms will take over the collection and administration of charges from NZTA, "to foster fairer competition". Tax Justice Aotearoa said they were concerned about that change and taking the responsibility away from the government. "We are deeply concerned by this initiative as using the power of the state to require citizens to pay charges decided by the state is a core function of government," Chair of Tax Justice Aotearoa Glenn Barclay said in a statement. "It should not be for the profit of anyone and it means that the details of thousands of road users will be held and managed by private organisations with no accountability back to the public." "Putting RUC in the hands of private companies, who will need to make a profit on the transactions, is a recipe for higher fees for drivers," the Public Service Association union's national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said. All vehicles will now have to pay RUCs. Photo: RNZ / Nicky Park It's unclear. Petrol could in theory be cheaper, but will be somewhat offset by RUCs all vehicle owners must pay. "This is a once-in-a-generation change," Bishop said. "It's the right thing to do, it's the fair thing to do, and it will future proof how we fund our roads for decades to come." Collins said the distance-based changes could benefit certain drivers, such as those who own multiple vehicles that aren't actually travelling much, or boat users. "Nothing's going to be cheaper, we know that," he said. "It's like saying do you think that your cars are going to be cheaper in three years' time?" "Realistically, we want to be building a modern safe roading network and that's not cheap. All of us as road users need to contribute to that." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

Gas shortages force Taranaki business to temporarily close
Gas shortages force Taranaki business to temporarily close

RNZ News

timean hour ago

  • Business
  • RNZ News

Gas shortages force Taranaki business to temporarily close

A gas shortage could force a Taranaki business to shut down its fertiliser production plant for up to four months. Ballance Agri-Nutrients is warning if things dont improve, businesses maybe forced onto an energy roster, with rotating times for production. The Kapuni Plant uses gas to power their production and as a raw ingredient for fertiliser that is used by New Zealand farmers and growers. But a shortage of gas means the co-operative can't get a guaranteed supply and the prices quoted are up to 100% more than what they are currently paying. Chief Executive of Ballance Agri-Nutrients, Kelvin Wickham spoke to Lisa Owen. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.

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