Let’s call it and say that workers going to and from Christchurch Hospital at night-time deserve better.

This is after what’s being described as a “very violent” assault on a staff member heading home after work last weekend. It’s understood the woman had been on a shift at the birthing centre, on Antigua Street.

What we know at this point is that security around the hospital’s birthing unit has been bolstered and, as a temporary measure, security escorts are being provided for staff, student nurses, and midwives during the hours of darkness.

The thing is though, should this extra security be a permanent arrangement for hospital staff? And if it’s needed at the hospital, what about other workers going to and from work at night and first thing in the morning?

And this is where I’m feeling a bit torn. Because, yes, of course nurses and everyone at the hospital need to be safe. And yes, I think these extra measures do need to be permanent. So I’m on the side of the hospital staff here.

And if there’s anything people like midwives and nurses get, it’s a lot of support from the public. Especially when things like this happens – and rightly so.

Also, because safety has been a real concern with staff having to park far away from the hospital campus.

I always remember the call we had from a nurse a couple of years ago, and how she told us she always carried a pair of scissors in her pocket when she walked to her car at night, because she was so worried about her safety.

So Health NZ has told staff in an email that an incident happened last weekend and explained what it’s doing to keep people safe, saying that safety is its top priority.

The email says: “Additional security measures have been put in place after a serious assault last weekend. Our security team has, as a temporary response, bolstered security in the area around this part of the hospital. This will be a priority over the coming days to provide an extra layer of security.”

And the bolstering of security that they talk about are the security escorts being provided for staff, student nurses, and midwives during the hours of darkness, and mobile patrols being focussed on shift changes when people are coming and going.

But there are plenty of other people doings jobs where they have to turn up and leave at odd hours – late at night, the middle of the night and first thing in the morning. And they have to run the gauntlet in the dark.

But here’s where I land. I think that, when it comes down to it, not every worker can expect to have extra security put on. But when it comes to nurses and midwives here in Christchurch, they should.

Don't ask me for a thorough explanation of why I feel that way because I know that, in some ways, it doesn’t make sense. But that’s where I’m at.

Reading between the lines, I think the email that went around health staff indicates that these extra security escorts are going to be nothing more than temporary. Because it included all the usual stuff about the incident being a timely reminder for hospital staff to look after themselves and others.

The emails says: “Ensuring your personal safety when leaving or arriving at the hospital involves a mix of situational awareness, planning and taking precautions.

“Whether within one of our campuses or travelling to and from work, please be always conscious of your security and take appropriate actions to protect yourself and your property. Taking these precautions can help minimise risks and ensure your personal safety.”

So a bit of health and safety backside covering, but medical staff deserve better than that.

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In an ideal world, I would love us to have more trains.

In an ideal world, I think it would be great if all our big cities had rail passenger services.

Not just Auckland and Wellington that Transport Minister Chris Bishop was talking about when he announced this morning that there’s $600 million in this week’s Budget going into rail.

I won’t go all scratched record on it and start asking where the money is for the Greater Christchurch area, but I would love to see money going into commuter rail here.

Because if we do think rail has a future in New Zealand —and I’m talking about passenger rail as well as sending freight by rail— I think it’s more realistic to expect commuters to take the train than people going out of town on holiday.

So that’s one area where I’d put the money – into passenger trains. And that’s probably my ideal world scenario, which I’ll come back to.

What I think is certainly more achievable though, is getting more freight shipped around the place on trains. Because we’ve shown how bad we are as a country at maintaining our roading network. And, if you believe the rail advocates, they’ll tell you that the main problem is trucks. That they’re responsible for chewing up the roads.

And, when you travel down the east coast of the South Island, it does strike you how much of a donkey track State Highway 1 is in parts.

Yet we seem to be quite happy for these trucks —designed in countries where they do have massive motorways— to go up and down that donkey track night and day, 365 days a year.

So get more freight on trains first. And then, if we’re going to do anything more with passenger trains, focus on getting people to work and school on a train instead of expecting them to go to Nelson for their holidays on a train.

Because I’ve long thought how brilliant it would be if we had a rail service from Rangiora to the city and from Rolleston to the city.

Imagine what the motorways would look like. Imagine getting into town on a train —not a bus, where you can get all the same disruptions as other vehicles— but you scream into town on the train, you don’t have to worry about finding a park, and then get the train back home again in the evening.

The Canterbury Regional Transport Committee obviously likes the sound of that too.

This is the entity that involves all councils in the canterbury region —including ECAN— and NZTA. And the number one job of the regional transport committee is to implement the Canterbury Regional Transport Plan.

In recent years, there’s been talk of passenger rail services running from the city to Rolleston and as far north as Amberley.

Reading the most recent regional transport plan, the enthusiasm that we were hearing a couple of years seems from the transport committee seems to have been tempered a bit.

There is still political interest in a passenger rail service south of Christchurch but there are no timeframes and, of course, where the money comes from is the stumbling block.

But there are positive signs if you're into the idea of rail, like I am.

The regional transport plan sets a goal of increasing the amount of freight moved by train in Canterbury by 100% over the next eight or nine years. So that’s good.

But it also talks about the population of Selwyn growing by around 58,000 people over the next 20-and-a-bit years. And, in Waimakariri, the population is expected to go up by 25,000 people in the same period.

Christchurch is expected to have another 66,000 people.

So there’s an extra 149,000 people living in the Greater Christchurch area, and we think the Northern Motorway and the Southern Motorway are going to be just fine? Dream on.

And that’s the argument right there for passenger rail services in the Greater Christchurch area.

Which is why when I ask, should we be investing more in rail here in Canterbury, my answer is yes.

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Here’s a story someone told me this morning about what happened within the last six-or-so weeks, when a Christchurch woman took her teenage daughter to the after-hours surgery.

I’m telling you this because the Government has announced that there’s going to be increased funding in Thursday’s budget for after-hours medical care.

Which is great. I’m not going to bag the Government for that. And the fact that people in rural areas are going to get better access to urgent healthcare is great.

But there’s an aspect of yesterday’s announcement that makes no sense to me.

It’s the fact that none of that extra funding is coming Christchurch's way. New Zealand’s second-largest city, and there’s not going to be anything extra pumped into after hours healthcare here.

This is the place where, in the last year or so, we’ve had the 24 hour surgery unable to operate 24/7. Where we’ve had the emergency department turning people away. Shutting its doors because people can’t get into the after hours or can’t afford the after hours and the ED gets overwhelmed.

And this is the city where what I’m about to tell you won’t be a one-off. It won’t be unusual. But it illustrates why it makes no sense whatsoever not to increase the level or capacity of after hours services available here.

So this woman took her teenage daughter to the after-hours in Christchurch.

I won’t go into any medical details other than to say that her daughter was very unwell and, eventually, it was discovered that she was so unwell that she needed surgery.

Which happened. Eventually.

So her mother took her to the after-hours, where they waited six-and-a-half hours to be seen by someone.

They eventually saw a doctor who told them that nothing could be done for them at the after-hours and that they needed to go to the emergency department at Christchurch Hospital.

They went to the hospital and waited through the night until about 4:30 the following morning, when someone came out and told them they were too busy at the emergency department, and they were given a voucher for a free video call consultation.

All up, they had waited about 12 hours to go to the after-hours, be sent to the emergency department, and be told by the emergency department that they were too busy. And then sent home with a voucher for a video consultation.

So they did the video consultation and, at the end of that, they were told they needed to go back to the emergency department.

They went back to the emergency department and saw a doctor, who said that the young woman needed surgery.

This all happened on a Sunday into Monday. So there wasn’t even the Friday and Saturday factor, when after-hours clinics and emergency departments are typically at their busiest.

But, under the Government’s plan, nothing’s going to change here in the Christchurch area. No extra funding. And stories like that one will happen over-and-over again.

So, after waiting all day and night, they had the video consultation about mid-morning and the surgery was done pretty much within 24 hours. That’s how unwell she was.

The Prime Minister says the Government’s plan is all about restoring faith in the country’s healthcare system. He says: When a child’s fever spikes in the middle of the night, parents have somewhere to go without delay. When an elderly person suffers from a fall they won’t be left waiting in pain.”

I don’t know how he can say that to us here in the Christchurch area. I don’t know how he can say that to people living in Waimakariri, who are still waiting for an after-hours.

There’s one on the way, apparently. But it will be another 14 months or so.

And, to be honest, I’ll believe it when I see it because the private outfit behind it has been dragging the chain for quite a while now.

But, even then, that won’t solve the problem of cost. It will still be too expensive for some people to go to the after-hours and they’ll still try to rely on the hospital emergency department.

Which is how things are going to remain here. Which is so wrong.

When it comes to after-hours healthcare, we are being shortchanged big time. And we deserve better.

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"I've seen some bad times in this house, but this is one of the lowest I've ever seen. When you go to that sort of standard of language, nothing's beneath you after that, is it?"

That was Winston Peters yesterday after his coalition colleague, Brooke van Velden, used the c-word in parliament.

And I’m with him 100%.

He said he was disgusted that the word was said in Parliament, and he was disgusted that the word was used in a newspaper article at the weekend – which is why it came up for discussion yesterday.

And the timing of it was interesting, because just hours after the c-bomb went off, it was announced that the co-leaders of Te Pati Māori have been suspended for three weeks, and one of their MPs suspended for a week.

This is in relation to them getting out of their seats in Parliament and doing the haka as a protest against David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill.

The part of it that actually got them in strife wasn’t the haka, it was the two-finger gun salute given to David Seymour while they were out of their seats.

If you were to ask me: “What’s worse? The two-finger gun salute in Parliament or an MP using the c-word in Parliament?” I would say that the bad language is way worse. Hands down.

And if you were to ask me: “What’s worse? MPs doing a haka in Parliament or an MP using the c-word in Parliament?” Same. The bad language is way worse than that too.

I’m not defending the Māori Party MPs, because what they did is not the kind of thing I expect in Parliament. At the time, I thought it was a great piece of theatrics, but it’s not appropriate.

Just like I’m not going to defend Green MP Julie Anne Genter crossing the floor that time to go nuts at Matt Doocey. That didn’t meet my expectations of parliamentary behaviour either.

Which is why I think that ACT party deputy leader Brooke van Velden has to be hauled over the coals. Even though she, reportedly, had permission from the Clerk of the House.

And why I agree with Winston Peters and with Judith Collins who have both been saying since yesterday afternoon that we have reached a new low. That behaviour in Parliament has reached a new low.

It’s believed that van Velden is the first MP to intentionally use the c-word in the House. This was when she was replying to a question from Labour about the Government’s pay equity changes.

Or, more to the point, a question referring to the opinion article at the weekend about the pay equity row, where the writer used the c-word.

I don’t know why Labour even brought it up, when it seems to have been silent about the derogatory nature of the article. I thought the article itself was appalling, but the writer seems to have gotten away with it because her employer is backing her to the hilt.

But that doesn’t mean that Parliament should turn a blind eye.

I wasn’t impressed with Speaker Gerry Brownlee's handling of things yesterday. Not once did he interrupt van Velden, only saying afterwards that it might have been better to refrain from using the word. Saying “more discretion” could have been used.

The wet bus ticket treatment from the Speaker doesn’t give me much hope that standards in Parliament are going to improve.

I know people have been saying forever that parliamentarians behave badly but I think Parliament needs to up its game big time.

That is where laws are made. Parliament is where we look-to for leadership. And this is probably a bit old school, but Parliament sets the standard for society.

Some people say it should reflect society, but I say it should set the benchmark, and our politicians should show us what a civil society looks like.

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“It’s like making a silk purse out of a pig’s ear.”

That’s a quote from the boss at Transporting New Zealand, which represents the transport sector, talking about Brougham Street in Christchurch.

Because it’s been revealed by NZTA that the $150 million revamp of Brougham Street, one of Christchurch’s busiest streets, will include T2 transit lanes – which the truckies are brassed-off about because they won’t be able to use them.

And I’m with the truckies. I think it’s nuts that on a street like Brougham Street —which is a pig’s ear of a road if ever there was one— we’re going to go all “rules are rules” on it and not do something that I think would make a genuine difference.

As the truckies do as well.

So these transit lanes, or T2 lanes, can only be used by vehicles carrying more than one person. They’ve been on the Northern Motorway since 2021. There is a stretch of T2 that trucks can use there, on the Tram Road on-ramp near the Waimakariri Bridge.

It's probably just to make it easier for them to turn onto the motorway, but don’t go telling us NZTA that you can’t do the same on Brougham Street because it “might set a precedent”.

So Dom Kalasih from Transporting New Zealand says Brougham Street is a pig of a road and Scott McAlister from logistics company Mackleys says traffic congestion there is “bad and getting worse”.

He says: “All the improvements are focused on pedestrians and cyclists. That’s fine. But it needs to conjointly be done with freight.”

Tell that to some people living in the area though, who are happy that the T2 lanes will mean the trucks being closer to the middle of the road and not travelling so close to the footpath.

I understand where they’re coming from but the bigger picture, surely, has to be getting that stretch of road moving – especially the trucks.

And I know rules are rules, but I reckon Brougham Street is a special case. And truckies should, of course, be allowed to use these transit lanes.

It’s a key link for freight and it makes no sense to keep them stuck in the slow lanes.

Forty-five thousand vehicles use Brougham Street each day —trucks make up 10% percent of them— and the truckies are saying it adds 30 minutes to their trip. Which I think is a very compelling argument for bending the rules. If not bending the rules, then re-writing them.

You only need to travel on a bus in one of those bus lanes to get an idea of how much quicker trucks could get through in a T2 lane. I know they would be sharing the lanes with other vehicles —unlike the buses which have the bus lanes to themselves— but it’s worth a go, isn’t it?

The other part of this is that NZTA is going to have to make sure that these new transit lanes on Brougham Street are policed.

You might have seen it reported earlier this week that the T2 lanes on the Northern Motorway haven’t been policed since they opened four years ago. Which means people are sailing through when they shouldn’t be. So there will need to be monitoring and enforcement on Brougham Street, otherwise the T2 lanes will be a complete waste of time.

They’ll also be a complete waste of time if trucks aren’t allowed to use them.

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Construction is booming in Canterbury – but what is the market doing?

Construction Analyst Mike Blackburn joined John MacDonald to delve into the current situation in the region, the areas that are seeing major work, and if they’re seeing an over-supply of multi-unit dwellings.

LISTEN ABOVE

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Well done to the Government for making all the right noises about dealing with truancy.

It’s going to spend $140 million over the next four years with one aim: getting more kids to turn up at school regularly.

It’s looking good. But I’m wanting to see some more creative approaches than what’s been talked about up until now, and I've got some ideas.

Most of the $140 million ($123 million) is going to go into setting-up what the Government is calling an “attendance service”. So sounds a bit like the old truancy service.

But what I’m hoping is that it's going to be prepared for this new service to be a bit creative on it, and not go down the old route of stick and no carrot.

In fact, I’m hoping there’ll be no stick, because I don’t think punishing parents, for example, is the solution.

So I’ve got two things I would do if I was running this new service. Which might sound like a weird way of going about it, and, if I’m honest, these ideas generally go against how I've thought about school for the whole time I’ve been a parent. But here goes.

If I was in charge of the new school attendance service, I would start by looking around the world to see what has worked already. And I would try to get schools here on board with something they trialled at a school in the UK that actually got some results.

Starting the school day later.

This was at a high school, and what they did is they gave 800 students a late start. They didn't start classes until 10am, and absenteeism went down by 27%.

So that’s one thing I’d do. But I would go a bit further than that and I’d try to get schools on board with starting at around 11:30am. You’d probably have to limit it to high schools for all sorts of practical reasons, like parents and caregivers needing to get to work and all that.

And I’d make it an 11:30 start because we saw after the earthquakes how much better teenagers whose high schools had to share campuses and were only physically at school for half the day did in their NCEA results.

I know it’s very easy to say or think that kids who wag school are all the same. That they’re no hopers, or that their parents are no hopers. But we need to think about some of the practical reasons why kids aren’t turning up as often as we think they should, or not at all.

And if teenagers, especially, need to sleep in —as we know they do— then let them, knowing that they have to be at school later in the morning.

The other thing I would do if I was running this new truancy agency is I would encourage schools not to be so hellbent on insisting kids having to be in the actual classroom.

Which probably sounds like a weird approach for someone given the job of getting more kids turning up at school, but I think we need to decide whether we’re going to focus on attendance or participation. They’re two different things and, if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll probably agree that participating in the education system in some way, shape or form is far more important —far better— than just turning up and attending.

So it’s attendance versus participation.

As a parent, I always wanted my kids physically at school because I think they learn a lot about dealing with people actually being there. But if you’ve got a child who just can’t cope with that —for whatever reason— then why shouldn’t they be able to participate in the education system by working from home?

Why should they be labelled a truant? Shouldn't we do what we can to make sure they get an education? That they participate? Of course we should.

And if the best way or the most appropriate way for them to get that education seems a bit weird to some of us —those of us who think you can only be educated at a school with everyone else— then we just have to get over ourselves and accept that people learn in different ways.

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The Opposition Leader's welcoming Government investment into school attendance.

$140 million from this year's Budget will go towards a new system and better data monitoring.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins wanted truancy officers reintroduced two years ago when he was PM.

Hipkins told John MacDonald it's clear disbanding the previous truancy service in 2012 was the wrong decision.

He says it’s a good step in the right direction, and gives credit where credit is due.

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