Quick changes to health sector immigration settings unlikely

A leaked briefing urged that 30 health jobs be added to the green list. Andrew Little says he's doing everything he can while Michael Wood suggests a review of green list is unlikely before May 2023

Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Thursday, November 17, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.

In today’s edition: prime minister to meet China’s president; new poll has NZ First on the cusp of 5% threshold; missile that landed in Poland likely an accident; but first, ministers manage expectations after ministry request to immediately add 30 health jobs to immigration green list

Andrew Little says he believes everything that can be done, is being done (Photo: RNZ/Angus Dreaver)

Ministry “strongly” advises 30 health jobs be added to green list

The Act party publicised leaked ministry advice yesterday that urged health minister Andrew Little to immediately work on putting 30 health jobs on the immigration green list. In the briefing, Ministry of Health deputy director-general of strategy, policy and legislation Maree Roberts “strongly” advised the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to review its green list immediately, instead of May 2023 as planned. Immigration minister Michael Wood suggested it was unlikely the review of the green list would be brought forward, but hinted some changes might be made before then. Little says he believes everything that could be done, was being done.

Health sector vacancies have doubled

As Stuff’s Bridie Witton reports, workforce shortages are rife across the entire sector with the number of vacant roles doubling to a figure that would total about 9,000 doctors, nurses and other workers. An in-patient mental health unit at Christchurch’s Hillmorton Hospital may be closed because it has half the staff it needs. It’s estimated the country is short 500 mental health nurses, while a nurse at North Shore hospital told RNZ this week that stress levels were so bad, it was not unusual for a nurse to be in tears at work.

Tensions rising between Little and GPs over Covid funding and care

BusinessDesk’s Cécile Meier and Murray Jones report on rising tensions between Little and GPs. BusinessDesk asked Little if he was confident that primary care was funded enough. He pointed to the extra $490m GPs received for the pandemic response and then said all he got when he got Covid was two text messages. “The funding we provided was way more than the cost of two text messages," he said. GPs have called those comments “inappropriate” and “disingenuous”. If we’re trading anecdotes, I got a call at 7pm from my GP and multiple assurances to call her on her mobile anytime over the weekend when I got Covid.

Pressure on the health sector delays Covid prevalance surveys

Strain on the health system during the last wave of Covid and the sector reforms are why prevalance surveys for Covid are being delayed until next year. In August, Covid modeller Dr Dion O'Neale said prevalence surveys were one of the best ways to get an estimate of the true number of infections in a community. This morning, Charlotte Muru-Lanning has the current advice and thinking on eligibility criteria for the second Covid booster. One immunologist said “anyone under 50, who was boosted such a long time ago, and has not been infected, is absolutely a sitting duck right now if they get exposed”. Modelling released yesterday shows daily cases could rise to 11,000 cases a day. Hospitalisations could peak at about 100 admissions a day.

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Prime minister to meet Xi Jinping at APEC summit

The Herald’s Claire Trevett is reporting that a meeting between prime minister Jacinda Ardern and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Apec summit in Thailand “is now locked in and expected to be on Friday or Saturday.” It will be the first face-to-face meeting between Ardern and Xi since the prime minister’s brief visit to China in 2019. Ardern is also understood to have what’s known as a “pull-aside” sorted with US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is attending instead of President Biden. Xi has met with Biden, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and French president Emmanuel Macron over the last few days.

Poll puts NZ First within striking distance of parliament

A corporate poll from Labour’s pollster Talbot Mills obtained by the Herald (as is always the case with these polls), has National in the lead on 35% and Labour on 34%. The Greens were steady on 9%, while Act was 10%. Te Pāti Māori was on 3.2%, putting the party in king or queenmaker position at the next election. The poll also put NZ First within striking distance of the 5% threshold required to enter parliament, on 4.4%. Based on Te Pāti Māori’s comments to date on the likelihood of going into coalition with National and Act, that would give us a Labour/Greens/Te Pāti Māori government. It’s the first poll in three months from Talbot Mills that did not predict a National-Act government.

Polish president says missile that landed in Poland likely an accident

The Guardian is reporting that Poland’s president Andrzej Duda has said the missile that landed in his country and killed two people appears to be an “unfortunate accident”. Duda said it was highly probable that the rocket, which was Russian-made, was used by the Ukrainian air defence and that were no grounds to believe that the missile incident was an intentional attack or that the rocket was launched by the Russian side. His comments echo US president Joe Biden’s comments last night after an emergency meeting of Nato leaders in Bali.

Click and collect

• Auckland school principals say Christopher Luxon is “misinformed” after he blamed low school attendance rates on parents and poor school leadership

• NASA brings US a big step closer to putting astronauts back on moon for the first time since the end of the Apollo program 50 years ago

• Big events have boosted coverage of women's sport in New Zealand to all-time high of 25%

• Plan to build houses on flood-prone Napier land “not viable”

• The student who sued Pepsi for a $23m fighter jet

Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.

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“It wouldn’t be happening if not for 22 greedy old men”

The Fifa World Cup starts on Sunday. If you’re feeling conflicted about watching it, you’re not alone. As a football fan, the Herald’s Kris Shannon will be watching (paywalled) but lays out a very clear list of reasons why it will be grim. “So, it will be watched, and it will be grim, because the tournament should not be happening. And it wouldn’t be happening if not for 22 greedy old men.” The Guardian has published a list of the numbers that “World Cup hosts Qatar don’t want to be seen” which all relate to the treatment and death of migrant workers.