Calling Minister Coleman on his bluff with the power of the crowd

What to do when the Health Minister says we’re just “left-wing and anti-government protesters”

I’ve just got off the phone after a dozen media interviews — the open letter 12,800 New Zealanders signed in support of better public mental health services is making quite a stir!

In the media scrum today delivering our open letter to Associate Minister of Health Peter Dunne with Kyle MacDonald and Nina Atkinson

So much so that Health Minister Jonathan Coleman has come out swinging.

In media today, rather than answer our calls for an urgent increase of mental health funding, independent oversight of the public mental health system, an inquiry into the system to uncover what’s working and what’s not (so it can be fixed) and mental health education in schools — he’s tried to dismiss our concerns.

He’s called us “left-wing and anti-government protesters”.

You know you’ve struck a chord when powerful people try to discredit the people making the ask, not the policies we’re asking for.

So, here’s the plan: We’re going to crowdfund independent polling with a research company to ask a representative sample of New Zealanders: Do you think the Government is doing enough to ensure everyone in New Zealand can get essential mental health care when they need it?

We’re betting that most New Zealanders, no matter who they vote for, want to see a healthy and functional public mental health system, so we’re going to use this polling to call Minister Coleman on his attempt to distract from the real issues.

Hon Peter Dunne, MP David Clark and MP Julie-Anne Genter who received our open letter

Signatories of our open letter — that has been signed by two people every minute, every day for the past two weeks — included nurses, counsellors, unions, teachers, New Zealander of the Year Taika Waititi, Survivor Advocate Louise Nicholas, Mad Butcher Sir Peter Leitch, comedians Rhys Darby and Michele A’Court and many, many others. Hardly the “anti-government” group Coleman is trying to paint us as.

Let’s clarify something for Minister Coleman: being part of movements like ActionStation is how everyday people respond when politicians like him are out of touch.

Being interviewed by Māori Television outside Parliament

Once we get the results of the poll, we will release it to the media to keep this issue in the headlines and call Coleman on his bluff. But we need to move quick, the weekly polling questions go out every Monday.

The open letter was received by Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne, Labour Health Spokesperson David Clark and Greens Health Spokesperson Julie Anne Genter. We had invited Health Minister Jonathan Coleman who declined, and ACT and the Māori Party sent their apologies. It was covered by RNZ, One News, Māori Television, Radio Live, Newstalk ZB and others. Paddy Gower of Newshub was on television over the weekend saying he thinks that mental health could be one of the key issues this election year. That’s thank to all of you.

Polling is the kind of political tactic usually reserved for the rich and powerful. But if hundreds of us chip in now, we can ensure it’s the voices of ordinary New Zealanders that get heard for a change.

Dismissing citizens ideas that you disagree with in media is nothing new. Politicians have been using this tactic since forever. What is new is that with today’s technology we can come together at a speed and scale like never before to change the conversation and make our voices heard.

Chip in to help us fund people-powered polling into the issue of public mental health.

You can read the full People’s Mental Health Report here: www.peoplesmentalhealthreport.com

You can also watch the open letter delivery on our Facebook Live here: