March 28, 2023
Petition and poll give policy teeth
A petition calling for publicly-funded dental care has attracted more than 10,000 signatures in a week.
Brook Stanley Pao from Auckland Action Against Poverty, which is one of the groups behind the petition, says support is coming from across the political spectrum.
She says polls show 77 percent of Labour and Green voters and 73 percent of National and Act voters back the idea.
She hopes the petition will put pressure on whoever forms the next government
“I think we should always remind the Government it’s the communities and the people on the front times that have the power and they should be coming to us and asking us what we need instead of putting out there on policies based on whatever it is they believe in so those things should always be connected and we should always be pushing for those spaces to reimagine what looking after our communities really looks like,” she says.
Ms Stanley Pao says oral healtrh is connected to the overall health of the body.