Minister Refuses to Guarantee Social Bonds Won’t
Be Manipulated for Profit
Fears that the social
bonds experiment on the mentally ill will turn into a simple
drive to make money were reinforced in Parliament today,
says New Zealand First.
“Minister of Health Jonathan
Coleman refused to give a guarantee that private companies,
even foreign interests, would not put profit first over the
care of people,” says Spokesperson for Social Development
Darroch Ball.
“We are in now in a farcical situation
where the government cannot even give the public the
assurance that social bonds won’t be able to be
manipulated.
“Social bonds will have such a massive
impact on society. We should not be allowing this experiment
to be implemented on our most vulnerable people.
“The
fact that the government has decided to test the safety of
social bonds on people in the mental health system shows the
callous nature with which they are approaching their state
responsibilities.
“We must not drive social change
through a game of chance where profit-making priorities
could win,” says Mr
Ball.
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