National MP Erica Stanford has fired up on AM during a discussion about Labour's attacks on her party saying it will reintroduce prescription fees for contraception if elected.
When National leader Christopher Luxon said his party would reinstate the $5 prescription co-payment fees scrapped by Labour in last month's Budget - including for contraception - he immediately came under fire. Labour's campaign chair Megan Woods, posting on Twitter, even compared National to The Handmaid's Tale - a dystopian television series in which a totalitarian society subjects fertile women to child-bearing slavery.
AM co-host Laura Tupou asked Labour chief whip Tangi Utikere if Dr Woods' move was right.
Utikere, also the MP for Palmerston North, said many parliamentarians shared their concerns about the issue.
"In terms of contraception, we don't actually think there should be any distinction between women who wish to access that service and others who might have other medical needs as well - the status quo is just not an option for us and so Budget 2023 ensures that there will be equitable access for women, for low-income families, for many, many members of our community."
Asked why it had taken Labour six years in power to remove the prescription co-payment, Utikere said Budgets were about prioritisation.
"The bucket is not an endless pool of money and resource and, when we look at what our country has faced over the last 5.5 years, that's really important but we think the timing is right for this."
Utikere said the feedback he'd received from constituents was "overwhelmingly supportive".
Stanford, appearing on AM alongside Utikere, proceeded to unleash on Labour.
"This is absolute gutter politics by Megan Woods," Stanford said.
"Jacinda Ardern had a sense of poise and grace and she rose above things but, I tell you what, that chapter is now closed and what we're seeing from Megan Woods and Chris Hipkins is playing really dirty. Kiwis don't like it and I think she just went absolutely too far on this."
Stanford acknowledged more could be done on access to contraception and noted National was looking at how long-term contraception could be further subsidised if elected.
"You have to remember that this is a Labour Government who have been in for six years and have done absolutely nothing in this space," Stanford said, pointing to a grant introduced by National in 2012 that helped fund the cost for beneficiaries or their teenage daughters.
"The important thing we've said across all of the prescriptions is that if you can't afford prescriptions - yes, there should be some help for you. But if you are able to pay then you should," she added.
