Undercurrents

Undercurrents Ep. #3: Who broke New Zealand's health system?

The previous Labour government introduced the biggest health sector reforms in a generation, but most changes have now been undone by the National led coalition government.

**Watch the latest episode of Public Interest's fortnightly current affairs show, Undercurrents.**

If you’ve tried to see a doctor lately or spent hours in an overcrowded hospital waiting room, you’ve probably felt it already – something is going wrong with healthcare in New Zealand.

Our system is supposed to be based on a simple idea: care based on need, not wealth.

But today that model is under growing pressure, as hospitals and clinics are stretched to breaking point while private healthcare expands into the gaps left behind.

Senior doctors now warn of a “death spiral” – one that could leave New Zealand with a two-tier system, where wealth determines who gets treated and when.

So who broke New Zealand’s healthcare system? What is replacing it? And who is fighting to save it?

We unpack these questions and more in the latest episode of Undercurrents, featuring Rob Campbell, chair of campaign group Kaitiaki Hauora and former chair of Te Whatu Ora, and Justine Sachs, a union organiser in the health sector – in conversation with Ollie Neas.

Watch the episode below or view the full transcript here. Subscribe to stay updated about future episodes.

Free fees are gone – but the bigger story is the crisis in tertiary education

The free fees scheme for tertiary students never went far enough, and its demise highlights chronic issues of underfunding for universities and polytechs, says Tertiary Education Union president. The coalition Government’s decision to scrap the fees-free tertiary education scheme has ignited debate about student debt, access to university, and

Undercurrents Ep. #2: Who's to blame for the energy crisis?

Watch the second episode of Public Interest's fortnightly current affairs show, Undercurrents. It has been two months since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran, triggering an Iranian retaliation that has resulted in the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a key choke point in the

Undercurrents Ep. #1: Why is Luxon's government so unpopular?

Watch the first episode of Public Interest's fortnightly current affairs show, Undercurrents. Never before in New Zealand history has there been a one-term National government. Every time a National led government has been elected, it has gone on to win a second, third or even a fourth term

Announcing Public Interest

Politics isn’t just what happens in Parliament. Public Interest is a new media platform focused on making sense of the bigger picture. Rising prices, crumbling public services, storms that get ever more frequent, a yawning gap between the super-rich and everyone else – every day, it feels like things are

Watch the latest episode of Public Interest's fortnightly current affairs show, Undercurrents.

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Free fees are gone – but the bigger story is the crisis in tertiary education

Undercurrents Ep. #2: Who's to blame for the energy crisis?

Undercurrents Ep. #1: Why is Luxon's government so unpopular?

Announcing Public Interest

**Watch the latest episode of Public Interest's fortnightly current affairs show, Undercurrents.**