National is pushing the Government to urgently provide 100,000 free counselling sessions as it struggles to spend the money allocated for other mental health services. National’s Matt Doocey will push for the Government to pump $10m into free counselling sessions at a speech to the National Party faithful in Queenstown on Saturday. Free counselling is already provided to those most in need, but the referral process can take weeks. “I believe the best way to address mental health in New Zealand is taking a cross-party approach. A set portion of all DHB funding goes to acute mental health services.

Source: Stuff May 14, 2021 17:00 UTC