Are You Being Served?

The Duties of Governments

Governments are established to serve and protect the interests of their citizens, ensuring their well-being and fostering societal growth.

The problem is that no one seem to have told the politicians and the bureaucrats. Rather it seems to me that citizens are expected to fit in with the decrees of Government (central or local) or the bureaucracy. In this way citizens become the servants of or subservient to government. And this approach is wrong headed.

Another problem is that Governments take on too much – especially in New Zealand where the Government is seen as the first port of call rather than the last resort when all else fails. This creates a culture of dependency that goes far beyond that which flows from multi-generational reliance upon social welfare assistance. Citizens seem to be helpless is devising ways to solve their problems, preferring to leave it to the Government.

The Government happily accepts the responsibility even although by doing so it goes beyond its basic remit. And the way that it solves problems is not to provide solutions but to provide the money that funds solutions (theoretically). We only need to look at Auckland’s Central Rail Link to see how that worked and the hideously expensive solution will not be available until 2026 – if we are lucky.

In my view Government has four fundamental responsibilities in serving and protecting the interests of citizens. These are ensuring the safety and security of citizens, providing for their health, ensuring access to quality education and providing for essential services and the infrastructure supporting them. These responsibilities are foundational to a thriving society, as they promote stability, security and prosperity and the pursuit of happiness.

The first and most fundamental role of government is to provide for the safety and security for its citizens. Without security, individuals cannot enjoy their rights, and societies cannot progress.

This function includes the maintenance of law and order through law enforcement agencies, the military for national defense, and the judicial system to resolve disputes and uphold justice. A secure society allows individuals to focus on their personal and professional development rather than living in fear of harm or injustice.

Without security, the rule of law cannot be maintained, and the freedoms and rights of individuals cannot be guaranteed.

Moreover, the government’s role in security extends beyond physical safety to include limited actions to promote economic stability. By enacting regulations that protect property rights, prevent exploitation, and ensure fair markets, governments foster an environment where businesses can thrive and citizens can pursue economic opportunities.

Safety is the bedrock upon which all other societal functions depend. Without it, the pursuit of health, education, the provision of necessary infrastructure or personal fulfillment becomes unattainable. By prioritizing safety and security, governments create a stable environment where individuals can live without fear and pursue their aspirations.

A government’s ability to provide safety is the foundation upon which all other functions rest.

The provision of healthcare is another vital function of government. Health is a fundamental human right, and access to healthcare services is essential for individuals to lead productive and fulfilling lives. Governments have a responsibility to ensure that healthcare is accessible, affordable, and of high quality. This involves investing in healthcare infrastructure, training medical professionals, and implementing public health policies that prevent and control diseases.

A healthy population is more productive and capable of contributing to the economy. When citizens have access to healthcare, they are better equipped to work, study, and participate in community life. Moreover, public health initiatives, such as vaccination programs, health education campaigns, and sanitation projects, help to prevent the spread of diseases and improve overall public health outcomes. By prioritizing health, governments ensure that their citizens can lead longer, healthier lives, thereby enhancing the nation’s human capital.

Inadequate healthcare leads to systemic inequalities, perpetuating poverty and reducing overall societal productivity. Thus, investing in health is not only a moral obligation but also an economic imperative.

More on this topic later.

Education is the cornerstone of a prosperous and progressive society. It empowers individuals with the knowledge, skills, and critical thinking abilities needed to navigate the complexities of the modern world.

Governments have a duty to provide free access to quality education for all citizens, regardless of their socioeconomic background. This includes investing in educational infrastructure, training teachers, and developing curricula that meet the needs of a diverse student population.

An educated populace is essential for the development of a vibrant economy and a robust democracy. Education fosters innovation, drives economic growth, and reduces poverty by providing individuals with the tools they need to secure better-paying jobs.

Additionally, education promotes common values and civic engagement, enabling citizens to participate more effectively in democratic processes. By prioritizing education, governments lay the foundation for a more informed, equal, and prosperous society.

In addition to these three functions is the provision of infrastructure and essential services, such as power, water, and sanitation. These services are the backbone of a functioning society, facilitating economic development, public health, and overall quality of life.

Infrastructure is the bedrock upon which modern economies are built. Roads, bridges, electrical grids, and water supply systems are essential for the smooth operation of businesses and industries. Without reliable infrastructure, economic activities would come to a standstill, hindering growth and development.

Governments are uniquely positioned to undertake large-scale infrastructure projects that require substantial investment and coordination. By providing these services, governments create an environment conducive to economic prosperity, attracting investment, creating jobs, and boosting productivity.

The provision of infrastructure is linked to the provision of health services. Access to clean water and proper sanitation is a fundamental to survival, may be therefore seen as a human right and a crucial determinant of public health.

Governments have the responsibility to ensure that all citizens have access to these basic necessities. Contaminated water and inadequate sanitation facilities can lead to the spread of diseases, causing significant health crises.

By investing in water treatment plants and sewage systems, governments can prevent outbreaks of waterborne diseases and ensure the well-being of their populations. Moreover, reliable power supply is vital for healthcare facilities to operate efficiently, especially in emergencies.

Infrastructure is essential in considering the obligation of governments to provide for the security of citizens.

Infrastructure and essential services are critical components of national security. A well-maintained and resilient infrastructure system ensures that the country can function effectively even in times of crisis.

Natural disasters, cyber-attacks, and other emergencies can disrupt power, water, and sanitation services, leading to chaos and instability. Governments must invest in robust infrastructure and establish contingency plans to safeguard these services.

This enhances the country's resilience and ability to respond to unforeseen challenges, thereby protecting the nation and its citizens.

These four primary functions of government—safety, health, education and infrastructure —are deeply interconnected. A secure society creates the conditions for individuals to pursue education and enjoy good health. Similarly, educated citizens are better equipped to participate in maintaining societal security and making informed health decisions. A healthy population, in turn, is more capable of contributing to the economy and engaging in lifelong learning.

When governments neglect any of these functions, societies face significant consequences. Insecure communities struggle to build schools and hospitals. Poor health undermines educational achievement and economic productivity. A lack of education fosters ignorance, inequality, and instability. Thus, governments must approach these responsibilities holistically, recognizing their interdependence.

The problem is that this hasn’t been happening. From time to time events occur which in isolation may be considered accidents but when taken together seem to be indicative of a failure by those appointed to serve to properly do so. One only needs to consider the provision of electricity that was compromised when a pylon fell over in Northland in May 2024. Essential electrical services were cut off.

One only needs to consider the dire situation surrounding the provision of water services in Wellington which faces enormous infrastructure costs because the local body preferred to pursue “nice to haves” rather than concentrate on maintaining necessities.

The provision of a transport infrastructure across Cook Strait – the never-ending saga of the Cook Strait ferries provides another example of the failure of the Government to properly provide for and maintain a reliable service essential for the country. The grounding of one of the ferries can hardly be seen as an accident – rather an inevitability – when measured alongside an unreliable “service”.

Auckland’s rail service provides another example of continued unreliability. On one occasion the trains were delayed because the temperatures were so hot that damage could be caused to the rails. One wonders why it is that we have such a fragile system with such limited tolerances.

Our defence forces demonstrate a failure to properly provide for continuing maintenance and what may be considered basic training. The RNZAF aircraft put on for dignitaries’ travel breaks down with undignified consequences. And a proper watch seems to have been absent on the bridge of the Manawanui which was on autopilot and went aground and the Navy obtained a submarine. That isn’t an accident. That is negligence and a failure to follow proper procedures.

The woes of the education system seem to be continuous. Education has become highly politicised. I haven’t checked lately but what I remember as “English” morphed into “communication studies” – a laughable misnomer since some of the fundamental elements of communication – a properly constructed sentence where the meaning is clear; the ability to provide legible hand-writing; the ability to read the cursive writing of another – seem to be lacking. The fundamentals of oral communication starting with physical elements such as breath, articulation and clear idiom-free speech are absent. And as for teaching literature – Shakespeare, Dickens and others – forget it.

These are all isolated examples of a gradual decline in the services that our Government is meat to provide for “we the people”.

Perhaps the gravest concern (excuse the pun) should be reserved for the health system.

Bruce Cotterill wrote a thorough examination and critique of News Zealand’s failed health system in the Herald for 7 December 2024. Cotterill’s argument is that the system needs urgent and radical reform.

From the outset of the article the position is grim.

“Despite different governments, restructuring programmes, name changes, independent reviews and health ministers of varying competence and quality, things don’t seem to get better. The unfortunate part is that, the worse it gets, the lower our expectations become, and the lower the standards we are prepared to accept.”

Cotterill provides anecdotal evidence of his own experiences and that of others. Nothing wrong with that because readers will recognise similar problems they may have had in engaging with the public health system. Delays in attention seem to be the most common problem followed by an absence of frontline staff.

Cotterill points out the problems today and the fact that these were not always with us.

“Like most things, our health system is probably best measured by the outcomes we deliver for our patients. Right now, those outcomes aren’t good enough or fast enough. It’s not for the lack of money. Earlier this year, the Government announced a funding boost of $16.68 billion across three Budgets for frontline services. But like many government enterprises, too much money goes into the back office. Big bureaucracies full of people doing business with themselves, having meetings with each other with no outcomes, going to conferences and courses, the outcomes of which are often vague at best.

It wasn’t always like this. We once had a health system that was the envy of many countries. At its heart was the local GP, who usually operated out of his own practice, and worked long hours at the clinic, often from 7am until 7pm. That same doctor would then do house calls on his or her way home in the evening if required. They knew their patients, their families and their state of health.

Alongside other GPs from around the neighbourhood, they would jointly co-ordinate their efforts to ensure that weekends were covered for those owner-operators who needed medical help after hours. And we didn’t need after-hours clinics because if it was serious enough, we could call the doctor outside of hours.

But time has moved on and work has changed.”

He points to what he describes as the corporatisation of GP clinics which creates difficulties in developing a relationship with a doctor. A patient may see a different physician on each visit. I must say that I have been lucky in that over the last thirty-nine years I have had three doctors and have developed good doctor-patient relationships with each. The reason for the three is that two of them were older than me and retired. But each one passed me on to another doctor. But I know that my experience is not common.

Cotterill discusses possible ways in which the provision of some health services could be made easier. He gives the example of blood tests.

“Think about the process of having an annual check-up. We all know that a blood test is going to be a part of that. Ideally, we’d have the blood test before we see the doctor. But we can’t get a blood test unless the doctor requests it. The doctor won’t request it until they see us. Why can’t a nurse request a blood test in advance of the doctor visit? That way, if there’s a problem the doctor can deal with it rather than wait for a second appointment.”

He goes on to discuss staffing and training of doctors and nurses.

“Otago and Auckland say that, given funding, they could increase capacity by 50%. That would give us another 300 or so doctors a year. We need to try harder to keep them too. What if we bonded them for five years in return for paying a portion of the education and accommodation component of their student loan?

We attract plenty of overseas students to our medical schools, and the good news is that those numbers are gradually growing again. But many of those students, whom we educate, return to their homelands post-graduation. What if we bonded them too, and in addition, offer them citizenship if they graduate and stay?

It’s the same with nurses. We need to encourage young people to pursue a career in nursing and we need to motivate them to stay here. Bonding, work visas and citizenship offers all have a role to play in fixing these problems more quickly.

Recently we learned that just 844 of a total of 1619 nursing graduates were offered jobs. That means 775 missed out. Someone should be asking why that is. Are we recruiting the wrong people or teaching them the wrong things. There is no question that we need nurses. So we train them, but fail to employ them? It doesn’t make any sense.”

And pressures on the health system are going to increase.

We only need to think about New Zealand’s response to the Covid crisis. This is a somewhat contentious issue and its complexities are only just becoming apparent. The Ardern/Hipkins strategy was to prevent the spread of the disease. Now those who support the Ardern/Hipkins approach say that it was wonderful and that it saved thousands of lives (although how the figures bandied about were reached is unclear) but the reality was that the prevention programme involving lockdowns, the infamous MIQ system, the restrictions of civil liberties and the vaccine mandates that weren’t mandates (and that were going to be ineffective when it became clear that vaccination did not prevent the spread of Omicron) were all designed not to protect the health of citizens but to prevent undue stress on the health and particularly the hospital system. Simply put it was clear from the outset that our health system could not cope with Covid.

Back to Cotterill. Not only is Cotterill critical and analytical of a problem. He suggests a solution. And his is a radical one. He says:

“Perhaps we should seek to start again. Our health system is currently operated by not one, but two government departments, the Ministry of Health and Health NZ. What would happen if we set a target to close both down completely 12 months from now?

We could then appoint a highly qualified and small team to spend the next year designing and establishing a new organisation appropriate for today’s needs. They should be excluded from employing bureaucrats who currently serve in the existing system. They should also be targeted with maximising the talent at the front line and minimising the size of the back office. And in 12 months’ time, all necessary assets, equipment and the employment contracts for those critical doctors, nurses and other mission critical personnel at the front line would switch to the new organisation.

It might sound risky. But the status quo isn’t working any more. We have to try a new way. And in 10 years’ time we might get a doctor, a scan and a specialist in one day.”

That sounds to me to be an admirable approach but one can already hear the “tut-tutting” and the bureaucrats shaking their heads at a proposal such as that.

And the other issue is that given our penchant for instant gratification, about which I wrote in my article entitled “Instant Gratification” it would be that politicians would probably lack the patience for such a long term solution.

And by failing to grasp the nettle and provide the basic services that Governments are supposed to provide, those services that we as citizens expect to be provided will decline and deteriorate.

We deserve better.