Kerre Woodham: Why haven't we tried a bonding scheme before?

It's not a new idea. 

It's been around for a while and it's certainly something a number of you have been wanting. National announced over the weekend that, if elected, newly qualified nurses and midwives will receive up to $4500 per year towards their student loans, if they agree to stay working in this country for five years.

The bonding scheme will also be open to nurses and midwives who have recently graduated. If you graduated last year and think you’ve missed out, not to worry - Christopher Luxon will extend that to you as well. He says we have to do all we can to hold on to the nurses and midwives we've trained in this country. 

Now there is a bonding scheme of sorts that exists right now, but it's only open to those who work in hard to staff areas such as mental health and aged care, and it's only available in a handful of regions such as the West Coast.  

National’s proposed bonding scheme would be open to everyone. Everyone, everywhere, all at once, if you will. This is just one of the measures announced to try to bolster the under-siege health workforce.

The other measures put on the table by National include allowing nurses to come into this country on six-month visas to have a look-see. They're also looking to offer relocation grants to up to 1000 nurses who want to come in from overseas. 

As I say, it's not a new idea to bond young professionals. 

I think Peter Dunne’s talked about it. Certainly Winston Peters has.

So why isn't it standard practice? To me it makes sense. I know a lot of young people say it's not fair, we had to pay for our loans and you old people didn't. Well, there was a much more stringent and strict criteria to get into university. Not everybody who wanted to go to university could go. And on the basis that it's a slightly freer application system, it means you have to carry the cost of some of your education, but ultimately most of it is borne by the New Zealand taxpayer. You are not paying the entire cost of your degree or your training. The taxpayer is picking up the lion’s share of it.  

Many of you are taking out large loans that you're finding pretty burdensome. Is it a win-win if you get your money back, and we get you for five years before you go off seeking greener pastures? To me it is and I would love to know why it hasn't worked before. 

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