Alex Spence

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Alex Spence

Alex Spence

@alexGspence

News Editor at POLITICO Europe, based in Auckland. Previously at The Times, BuzzFeed News, NZ Herald, North & South. DMs are open if you need to reach me.

Auckland Katılım Ağustos 2011
1.1K Takip Edilen10.8K Takipçiler
Alex Spence retweetledi
POLITICOEurope
POLITICOEurope@POLITICOEurope·
INVESTIGATION: In summer 2021, Mozambican soldiers based at a TotalEnergies’ gas plant abducted, raped and killed dozens of civilians. Through survivors' testimonies, we reconstructed a detailed account of the atrocities. This is what we uncovered: politico.eu/article/totale… 🧵
POLITICOEurope tweet media
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Alex Spence
Alex Spence@alexGspence·
@aljwhite I’d expand that to include information systems — generally more data and public records in the US, and better mechanisms to access them. Eg compare what you can get from an FOI in the US to the UK, or from the courts.
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Alex Spence
Alex Spence@alexGspence·
And it would start with having a coherent vision, let alone a plan for delivering it. The previous govt didn't have it. Yet to see evidence that this one does either.
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Alex Spence
Alex Spence@alexGspence·
If NZ truly wants to build a mental health system for its young people that is good and continuous and joined up, from prevention to early intervention to crisis response to specialist treatment, it will need soooo much more than $6m a year for a single charity.
Christopher Luxon@chrisluxonmp

We've just announced a $24 million investment in the I Am Hope Foundation to provide young people free mental health counselling services through Gumboot Friday.

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Alex Spence
Alex Spence@alexGspence·
@POLITIKwebsite Maybe you're right and TVNZ could get enough true fans in this saturated small market to subscribe to a news product to cover the costs of a national broadcast newsroom, but that feels ambitious too me.
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Alex Spence
Alex Spence@alexGspence·
@POLITIKwebsite That's the problem, though: For most consumers, news ISN'T distinctive. They can get it instantly, 24/7. It glances past them on their feeds, there's no brand loyalty, they can get it without paying -- indeed they've been conditioned by the market to think it should be free.
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POLITIK
POLITIK@POLITIKwebsite·
Sky has over 1 million subscribers, many paying as much as $10 a month. They do not rely on renting eyeballs to advertisers and therefore trying to compete with the Google monpoly. Please note TVNZ.
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Alex Spence retweetledi
Frank Ritchie - Chaplain & Broadcaster
Frank Ritchie - Chaplain & Broadcaster@frankritchie·
What @alexGspence has done here deserves real attention. This is important work. Go through his whole thread and read the articles.
Alex Spence@alexGspence

This story is the capstone of 2 years of reporting on problems in NZ specialist public mental health services and particularly the crisis-response system. It's also one of my last stories for @nzherald, so please indulge me a long, rambling thread. This one is from the heart. /1

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Frank Ritchie - Chaplain & Broadcaster
Frank Ritchie - Chaplain & Broadcaster@frankritchie·
@alexGspence Alex, you've done extremely well with this. It's heavy stuff to wade through as a journalist and to stay in it. You've given the people in it, and the issue itself, a voice. 🙏🏻
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Alex Spence
Alex Spence@alexGspence·
...short political attention spans; and exhaustion/inertia in frontline services that have been ground down for years. The Te Whatu Ora national restructuring is a mess and doesn't help. It may get worse before it gets better. /24
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Alex Spence
Alex Spence@alexGspence·
Even if there is a coherent strategy, it will be up against formidable obstacles: Crippling workforce shortages; spending cuts; clashing bureaucratic cultures and incentives; politics in govt and the MH sector; atrocious lack of data; competing govt priorities... /23
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Alex Spence
Alex Spence@alexGspence·
This story is the capstone of 2 years of reporting on problems in NZ specialist public mental health services and particularly the crisis-response system. It's also one of my last stories for @nzherald, so please indulge me a long, rambling thread. This one is from the heart. /1
Alex Spence@alexGspence

Exclusive on @nzherald today: Parents of an 18-year-old have demanded an explanation from Health NZ after their son was accused by a crisis nurse of pretending to be suicidal to upset his parents. I obtained a recording of the nurse's comments. 1/ nzherald.co.nz/nz/parents-out…

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Alex Spence
Alex Spence@alexGspence·
It needs better prevention, better mental health literacy among the public, earlier interventions, stronger community mh services so that people don't get into crisis, a coherent first point of contact, joined up response services, places for people to go instead of ED etc /22
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Alex Spence
Alex Spence@alexGspence·
That's all welcome, and yet... Anyone seriously looking at this acknowledges that it will take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars to establish a genuinely consistent, accessible, empathetic, effective national crisis response system that can meet the demand. /21
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Alex Spence
Alex Spence@alexGspence·
And Doocey is considering a joint proposal from the health agencies and police on a five-year transition to a "multi-agency" crisis response system that would take the burden of responding to calls off the police. It's due to go to Cabinet later this or next month. /20
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Alex Spence
Alex Spence@alexGspence·
Doocey is also keen on the "co-response" teams of MH nurses/paramedics/police working together to respond to MH calls, which have shown encouraging results in the places where they've been tried. Most experts I've spoken to think this should be expanded. /19
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Alex Spence
Alex Spence@alexGspence·
Yes, the new MH minister Matt Doocey has said crisis response is one of his top priorities. And he's made some early moves that have been welcomed in the sector, including last month announcing that peer support workers will be placed in 4 big hospital EDs later this year. /18
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Alex Spence
Alex Spence@alexGspence·
It's been building for a long time under both parties. Labour didn't do much to address it while in power (choosing to focus its attention on early interventions for people with less severe and urgent issues) and there's little evidence so far National has adequate solutions. /17
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