NZNO delegates gathered signatures at Invercargill’s Southern Crafters Market for a petition launched last September — The Buller Declaration, calling for the Government to deal with the health system crisis.
Kua kohia ngā waitohu e ngā māngai NZNO i tā Waihōpai Southern Crafters Market hei tapiri ki tētahi petihana i whakarewaina i tērā Hepetema – e kīia nei ko te Buller Declaration, e tonotono ana i te Kāwanatanga kia whakatika i te pūnaha hauora e mōrearea nei.
Southland delegate Maike Rickertsen said the market, held at Stadium Southland, was a huge event running over the weekend with more than 200 stalls.
Hei tā te māngai Murihiku a Maike Rickertsen, kua tū te mākete nui rawa, neke atu i te 200 ngā wāhi hokohoko, i te mutunga wiki kua hipa ki te Stadium Southland.
Read this story in English here.
Rickertsen pitched the stall idea at a delegates meeting last week then set about getting a foot in the highly-coveted market door. With no crafts to sell and only a jar of giveaway lollies and a publicity skeleton in tow, the nurses got a spot anyway — free — thanks to organisers’ generosity.
Kua marohia e Rickertsen te mahere i tētahi hui o ngā māngai i tērā wiki, kātahi ka tohea kia whiwhi i tētahi wāhi hokohoko e tino paingia ana. Ahakoa he kore mahi toi kia hoko atu, me ngā rare me tētāhi anga kōiwi whakatairanga noa iho ā rātou, i mau i ngā nēhi tētahi wāhi – he kore utu – nā runga i te aroha o ngā kaiwhakarite.
“They all had their own journeys probably in the health system,” she said.
“Tērā pea kua takahi rātou i ō rātou ake haerenga i te pūnaha hauora,” ka kī a ia.
Eight delegates, including a student, pitched in to help – three heading off to work shifts after their time at the stall.
He tokowaru o ngā māngai, e tae rā anō ana ki tētahi ākonga, i mahia – he takitoru kua wehe atu ki ō rātou mahinga i muri mai i tō rātou wā i te wāhi hokohoko.
The group added another about-1000 signatures to the petition over a weekend of non-stop engagement with visitors — only a single person having a bad word to say about nurses.
Kua tāpiri te hunga tata ki te 1000 o ngā waitohu ki te petihana i roto i ngā rā whakatā tino nui te kōrerorero ki ngā manuhiri — kotahi anake te tangata i whakahē ki te kaupapa o ngā nēhi.
Beforehand, the nurses worried the public didn’t support their cause — but that fear quickly evaporated.
Nō mua atu kua āwangawanga ngā nēhi tērā pea kāhore te marea i tautoko i te kaupapa — engari i tere whakaeto taua āwangawanga.
“It was the polar opposite, and everyone really hates the Government,” Rickertsen said. Health Minister Simeon Brown was also hugely unpopular amongst this craft-loving community.
“He āhuatanga tauaro katoa, ā, ka tino whakahē te katoa ki te Kāwanatanga,” ka kī a Rickertsen. Kāhore rātou o te hapori mahi toi i paku rata ki te Minita Hauora a Simeon Brown noki.
The stall came after about 36,000 Te Whatu Ora members voted to strike later this month: giving the nurses a chance to test community reactions.
Kua whakatūria te wāhi hokohoko i muri i tā ngā mema Te Whatu Ora e 36,000 pōti kia porotū i te whiore o te marama.
At the market, an online survey run by the members drew 97% support from 36 responses for the strike. When it came to the state of the health system, “everyone’s had a gutsful”, Rickertsen said.
I te mākete, kua whakarite ngā mema i tētahi tirohanga tauanga tuihono e toia ana te tautoko a te 97% o ngā kaiurupare 36 i te porotū. E pā ana ki te āhuatanga o te pūnaha hauora, “ka tino hōhā te katoa”, ka kīia e Rickertsen.
“And honestly the stories that we got out of people were just heartbreaking. I mean, we know how it is, but oh my God.”
“Me pono, e tino pōuri ana ngā kōrero a ngā tāngata. Āe, kei te mōhio kē mātou ki te āhuatanga engari e hika.”
Rickertsen said the weekend was full-on for the delegates, but ultimately the support was “far better than we thought it would be”.
E ai ki a Rickertsen, he nui te mahi i ngā rā whakatā engari i te mutunga iho “kua pai rawa ake te tautoko i tā mātou i kawatau ai”
Meanwhile sitting amongst the quince chutney preserves and woodcrafts of the Deep South’s biggest craft market was Arthur Healthcare — a bandaged skeleton chilling on a camping chair.
Heoi anō, e noho ana a Arthur Healthcare i runga i tētahi tūru puni hei whakatā i waenga i ngā tiamu quince chutney me ngā mahi toi rākau o tā Te Murihiku mākete mahi toi nui rawa — he anga kōiwi e mau ana i ngā tākaikai.
Rickertsen said he was a symbol of the health system, and something of an eye catcher and conversation-starter for curious passers-by.
Hei tā Rickertsen, he tohu a ia o te pūnaha hauora, ā, kua hopua e ia ngā karu, ā, ka tahuna ngā kōrero a ngā kaititiro.