Maori Healthcare Comments Miss Point

Libertarianz spokesman Richard McGrath today endorsed some of Don Brash's comments on Maori health, but said that subsidizing health care on the basis of "need" rather than race is still wrong.

"Dr Brash is correct in his comment that if Maori people smoke more cigarettes than other ethnic groups they will have correspondingly more tobacco-associated illness. He is also right in saying that the Treaty of Waitangi has nothing to do with an individual's lifestyle decisions."

"However, Dr Brash spoils it all by calling for subsidised health care based on perceived need. The Libertarianz Party asks: at whose expense? Taxpayer-funded health care relies on extraction of the required money by force - tax is theft. Libertarianz has no problem with subsidisation of health care by voluntary donation, but taxation is not voluntary – it's extortion.

"Libertarianz believes that adults should be free to choose their own health care services - mainstream or alternative - and should bear the cost of such treatment themselves. Nobody has a 'right' to health care - it is morally wrong to force others to pay."

"Don Brash and the National Party should grasp the nettle and repudiate socialism totally instead of offering a watered-down version of Labour's policies."

ENDS

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