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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
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Back soon, while waiting, play this Homer's Morrissey
The proposition is to create four senior ministries and alloate each of them 25% of the government's revenue from taxation, plus whatever they can generate from sales. They would also be responsible for all the other government ministries and trade them between themselves.
(These figures are provisional until revision)
Health is designed to be the biggest loser, but it must also produce a balanced budget each year by borrowing what it doesn't receive. With New Zealand's GDP at 125 thousand million US dollars, and $51.6 (billion NZ) from tax revenue, $NZ6 billion from other crown revenue (total $57.6 thousand million) we are left with the figure of 34% (or tax revenue is 34% of GDP).
Divided by four this is approximately 13 thousand million each. New Zealand total health spending (public and private) is $1,623 US per capita. Total Vote Health amounted to $NZ 12716 million (US$ 9146 million) in 2009/10 according to World Health Statistics, which is just within the budget. However, if we add Defense, 1,358 million (US), (1.2% GDP) Police, and one or two other costly departments, such as Justice, we can see that borrowing will be necessary.
If welfare is added, that is another $20 billion. At 5% interest, with no repayments, that is about 1 billion a year. Welfare could borrow from treasury, or parhaps it could borrow it from State Housing. If State Housing has assets, and is earning a modest 10% on its most simple model, that means it has about 13 billion to play with, and could (maybe this isn't too wise), lend Health the billion it needs for interest payments.
Welfare, has some assets in the form of buildings, which it could sell to someone like State Housing, and lease them back. It would take about 10 years of lease to pay for them.
Who then should the government borrow from? The Bank of England is the obvious choice, because it is a Commonwealth bank and is publicly owned since it was nationalised by the government. Let us stick to a 5% interest rate for now, but it could be lower or higher. It could lend money to the Reserve Bank at 8% to be loaned to private house owners at 8.25, or 8.5%. The important thing is not to worry about principal repayment while we are in recession, but to make sure that the interest is being paid.
Now we come to the international price for labour. With a McDonalds store in every country we can leave it to them to set the minimum pay rate. A trained registered nurse is still worth three times the minimum. An international minimum could be set at U.S.$1 per hour, or $8 per day, $40 per week before tax (20%) plus GST of 15%, making total tax 35%, if nothing is saved. A nurse is still worth three times teh minimum, even if she only earns $24 a day, but can earn more than that in the USA.
Now we have a case for nurses working in Fiji where the minimum is only $2 Fijian per hour. This could be easily increased to $4 per hour, with a nurse's pay being $15 (Fijian per hour, without it upsetting the economy. Increasing wages from $80 to $160 per week would still keep exports competitive, while growing the economy because everybody would have a little more disposible income (marginal utility).
Health has a big task if it is to return a profit without actually going as far as to sell health services. When the profit motive is added to health it is inevitable that medical staff will try to sell more services, in the same way that a good salesperson working in retail on commission does not care if they sell something the customer does not really need or want.
Education
Health
State Housing
The first proposition is that nurses, who enjoy standard training, receive a basic salary when trained and registered, of three times the minimum rate.
If the minimum is currently $14 in New Zealand, ($13.25) then they would get $42 an hour before tax (less 20%). The same rate would apply to school teachers. The highest rate considered for an increase would be four times the minimum wage. They can decide, like all state employees (private healthcare can pay what it likes) whether they would like to receive either $6 per hour increase, or $3 per hour increase.
This would have the effect of pushing up the minimum, (for state employees) by either $1 or $2 per hour. It would be paid for by borrowing (at 5%) until the increased GST (at 15%) and income tax helped to raise additional revenue. It could be for a three year period with a review.
There is also a proposal to make the minimum rate for nurses internationally, $3 US per hour. This is well above minimum rates in some countries. If all sate employees wages are indexed to the minimum (not the lowest welfare payment for the unemployed) then at least all countries would have to consider not only state health, but a welfare system as well.
When a worker on the minimum rate gets a pay increase, especially if they work for a government of state owned entity such as a public hospital or school, the worker on three times the rate should expect to get three times the increase to maintain relativity in wages.
One could put forward quite a reasoned argument to say no public sector employee shoud expect to earn any more than four times the minimum, and even that some with more skills, such as doctors of Medicine could expect to earn less than, say nurses, or $35 per hour, because they have the option of working less than the required 40 hours for their 'salary' (ot that they are intelligent enough to decide for themselves that if they are goung to get paid ofr 40 hours, and decide to take some time off, that is their choice because their own ethics should tell them when they have done enough, and when they feel teh need or desire to work because of their dedication and love of their profession, they may do so. You could say that a doctor who has passed his or her exams and has a position, may be required to work no more than 20 hours a week for their salary, and therefore has the right to hold two full time positions, even if it means two at teh same practice, and must only work 40 hours a week for them, or up to 80 if he or she thinks that is best. Who can judge the stress or performance demands of any given week better than the doctor who has actually worked the hours and seen the patients? It may be better when running a practice from the salary of one person to employ someone else at a lower rate to do some of the less important tasks associated with the business side.
New Zealand has a comprehensive compulsary accident insurance (ACC) scheme, which means every worker who has an accident or is sick can still receive some payment while they are off work. This works well, but while payments are made to private hospitals, public hospitals receive nothing for doing the same work.
Anthony Boyd Williams "Tony" Ryall (born in November 1964) is New Zealand politician. He has represented voters and the National Party in the New Zealand Parliament since 1990. Since November 2008 he has served as a cabinet minister, holding the posts of Minister of Health and Minister of State Services. He served previously in the Shipley Cabinet 1997-1999.[1]
Nursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from conception to death.
Nurses work in a large variety of specialties where they work independently and as part of a team to assess, plan, implement and evaluate care. Nursing Science is a field of knowledge based on the contributions of nursing scientist through peer-reviewed scholarly journals and evidenced-based practice.