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Bad news for Winston

by Whaleoil on November 21, 2011

Bad news for Winston Peters and NZ First:

The number of elderly New Zealanders killing themselves has surged 11 per cent to a 10-year high, fuelled by mounting health and economic worries.

The spate of deaths has pushed the country’s overall suicide numbers to 558, the highest since 1997.

While youth suicide rates continue to decrease, the 65-plus age group is growing, with 54 deaths this year – around 10 per cent of all suicides.

But some nurses are concerned not all suicides are being recorded properly, and the number could be much higher.

Suicide Prevention Information New Zealand figures show an average of 49 deaths a year in the older age group since 2000, compared with an average of only 33 in Australia.

John Key was right!

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  • Pete George

    Not a nice post.

  • Petal

    “While youth suicide rates continue to decrease, the 65-plus age group is growing, with 54 deaths this year”

    Meh.  As the 65+ age group has more people in it than in the past, of course the distinct number of suicides is expected to rise.  As a percentage it could be static or even dropping.

  • bb

    perhaps think wider. perhaps the numbers are right with relation to suicide for 65plus, maybe relative to financial co.s collapse with many losing their retired nest egg or worst still everythung including family home. while relating it to “john key was right” is not the best comment in the best of taste however this could have been what j.key was referencing to – statistically speaking.

  • Kosh103

    What a disgusting post.

    • http://www.whaleoil.co.nz Whaleoil

      Taking my lead from Labour.

      • Kosh103

        And an equally disgusting retort.

        Grow up idiot.

      • nzd.gbp

        I reckon you should own this and update this post with an apology rather than blame Labour. if john key found this funny he’d lose my vote. horrible

  • Chaffnz

    Not your best work dude.

  • Agent BallSack

    You may all not agree with the message but Whale is right to put this out there. Suicide is prevalent in NZ society and awareness of it may just catch one or two people per month before they do the unthinkable. As suicide is directly linked to depression and feelings of unworthiness this fits right in with Whales posts on depression and mental illness.

    • Kosh103

      It has nothing to do with not agreeing. It is the digusting way he has posted.

      • http://www.whaleoil.co.nz Whaleoil

        Oh fuck off. I have said repeatedly on this site that my personal view of people who top themselves is that they are the most cowardly and selfish people out there. They are only thinking of themselves.

        I say this from a position of suffering from and continuing to battle severe depression, but I never hated myself so much that I could ever face leaving my kids knowing their father killed himself.

        • Agent BallSack

          I have known parents who have killed themselves, it truly is a disgusting thing to inflict on your children. I watched that persons kids become drug fucked and suffer through perpetuating violence on others and self esteem issues. I totally agree with Cam here.

          • nzd.gbp

            there are a lot of reasons to commit suicide. maybe some of these old people feel abandoned and more useful dead? if so not cowardly at all. they maybe even be convinced they are being noble. still horribly misguided but please let’s not be flippant and pretend to be experts simply because we’ve been there. none of us can or should assume we speak for anyone else.

        • Kosh103

          How typical of you. Miss the point 100% and make it all about you.

          Idiot.

          • Agent BallSack

            Thats because the blog is called Whaleoil, not KoshOil. If you havent noticed the majority of us here are National supporters or, if not, able to hold a half decent conversation regarding our respective political beliefs. Calling the host of the blog you comment regularly on, an idiot because he doesn’t share your particular belief is exactly all too much like the Labour leadership.

          • Kosh103

            I am well aware that this his is blog and that most of you are Nats. However, given that (unless prevented by dear WO) I am free to express my view as well.

            And it is my view using a tragic event like taking ones life for a cheap and ineffective political swipe is disgusting and disturbing.

            Now  I know others having different opinions scare National supporters, but you will just have to deal with it.

          • Agent BallSack

            The majority of National supporters would respect your right to an opinion too. Thats what makes our country great. I dont believe we should politicise everything either, which is why I have kept my posts on the topic of suicide, not Winston or JK. Im sick of politics being like The Sneeches, who has the biggest stars upon thars etc. If the majority of politicians wanted things to change in NZ, they would work together on things that mattered to everyone, not just disavow another party’s policies because they came from the enemy. Unfortunately I dont think we will see that in NZ in the near or distant future.

          • Kosh103

            No, most Nats do not respect ones right to a different opinion. Esp once they find out you do not support Key. Some become quite rabbid.

          • http://unsolicitedious.wordpress.com/ Unsolicitedious

            Being on the  right we’re not scared of different opinions at all -that dear Kosh is the prerogative of the left. 

            What we – and I think I can speak for everyone – don’t like is someone trolling.

            From what I have gathered you make few factual comments and instead come on here to try & wind people up. That is trolling.

            In this instance you have offered your own view which is fair enough. But most of us disagree – not because we are heartless, but because in the context of the election this post is funny & appropriate.

          • Kosh103

            Most on the right are very afraid of different opinions.

          • greenmuppet

            Talking about idiots… Hope you didn’t miss to cast you vote for Labour on November 20.

            http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2011/11/kris-faafoi-calls-his-volunteers-idiots/#disqus_thread

      • kevin

        If you hadn’t seen the details on here you wouldn’t even know… consider yourself informed.

        • Kosh103

          Another one who has missed the point.

          Old WO is using a very sad fact to take a political swipe at Winston. That is the disgusting thing.

      • Agent BallSack

        Ignore the ‘John Key was right!’ bit and do something you are not allowed to do on MSM – discuss suicide. Apparently hiding the fact it happens doesnt stop it, and seems to encourage it because the family name doesn’t get as much stigma attached to it as say, going bankrupt owing your creditors 200 million dollars.

    • nzd.gbp

      what utter crap. spin away agent bs. horrible attempt at black humour.

      • Agent BallSack

        Having attended my cousins funeral after he committed suicide at 22, I have no spin. All I can say is its a waste of precious life in the same way the 4 murders in Auckland the last week are. It ruined his parents marriage (they divorced not long after) , his brother went way off the edge and is involved in all sorts of crap still. I respect most people and their own actions, but this is one action I feel strongly against. It harms way more people than the one who committed suicide, for them its over. Its the rest of us who have to pick up the pieces and carry on saying, Why? No spin, just honesty regarding the issue.

        • nzd.gbp

          i couldn’t agree with you more. i’ve been through an almost identical situation and for the life of me I cannot begin to understand what went through their mind. what i am not happy about is this john key was right business. as i said above some people feel so despised or useless that they think they are doing us all a favour. i cant see that making jokes like this will make these desolate old folks feel like sticking around.

        • kehua

          Jeeez Ball Sack read the friggen paper correctly , there were not 4 murders in Auckland last week dickhead, there are currently 4 murder cases being heard in Auckland. No wonder you put such fuck`n stupid posts on here, you have no comprehension skills dumass.

          • Agent BallSack

            I managed to comprehend your tripe. and its Dumbass. Dumbass.

          • http://unsolicitedious.wordpress.com/ Unsolicitedious

            so how many were there then? we know at least 2 children were killed last week & there has been at least 3 adult murders this month….given that your response is being a bit of a dumbass don’t you think?

          • Agent BallSack

            2 children and a security guard (suspicious circumstances) were killed in AK last week and thats without googling it. I’m sure I can find another murder if I put my Google hat on but why? I’m not sure why the personal attack against me for merely writing on a blog, but I am ugly enough to withstand it. However, if you are going to attack me, please write in English.

          • Jester

            Goff murdered quite a few financial speeches recently which may inflate the numbers somewhat.

      • http://unsolicitedious.wordpress.com/ Unsolicitedious

        Disagree – in this circumstance (election week) and Winston claims National is bad for the elderly, it is all in context. Outside of this then yes it would be offensive but given Whale’s own experience it is doubtful he would make that kind of gaff.

  • http://unsolicitedious.wordpress.com/ Unsolicitedious

    And then there is the fact that it is true – Winston’s support base is dying off! Why can’t we have a tongue in cheek moment on this? Poor elderly care & the subsequent high suicide rates are awful and serious issues, but there is no harm in drawing on it to have a wry dig at Winston. 

    Sometimes it is good to just take the piss – being precious about things in no way indicates you have the monopoly on caring about such issues, it just means you’re a tool with no sense of humour.

    • Kosh103

      It is my opinion, to use something as sad as taking your own life for a cheap political attack is a disgusting and disturbing thing for a person to do.

      • http://unsolicitedious.wordpress.com/ Unsolicitedious

        And that’s your opinion. In this circumstance given it is election week and Winston claims National is bad for the elderly I disagree. It is all in context. Outside of this then yes it would be offensive but given Whale’s own experience it is doubtful he would make that kind of gaff. 

        • Kosh103

          2 wrongs make a right – thats the stance you are taking?

          Really?

      • Agent BallSack

        However, inferring you are going to die before your child’s first birthday is all kosher politics…

        • Kosh103

          No it is not. And I did not defend what was done if you had bothered to look.

  • Jimmie

    Suicide is a mess of a way out – damages the family more than would think.

    One I went to a middle aged guy gassed himself in the garage while his family were at work and school.

    Guess what he did? While waiting for the exhaust fumes to take effect he rings the land phone form his cell ph and leaves a message saying I’m so sorry I’m so sorry…………I mean, if he was so sorry why didn’t he just turn the car off and go back inside?

    It turned out he had no real money or work problems, just decided to kill himself – the family was devastated.

    • http://unsolicitedious.wordpress.com/ Unsolicitedious

      That’s pretty awful, but at least he did it the nicer way. I know of an ex-ambulance guy who hung himself…..and guess who was the first on the scene….his co-workers. Really awful.

      But you can’t put rationale on people who are not rational so all you can do is talk about the issue with people you care about so that they know no matter how dark their days get they have support.

      With the elderly I would imagine the big one would be when their spouse dies. My Grandmother wanted to die every day for the 13 years she survived Granddad and while she didn’t attempt suicide she was mostly miserable and depressive episodes became very frequent and lasted a lot longer. Yet before his death she was a healthy vibrant woman. 

      My Grandfather on the other side attempted suicide after Grandma’s death and has been in care ever since. He went from being a really healthy 78 year old to a man who looked like he was well over 100 and only moments away from death. 2 years later he isn’t any better.

      So there are lots of reasons for suicide but like anything, the best way to deal with it as an issue is dialogue – including the odd tongue in cheek.

  • Andy

    Suicide “surges” under National’s health and economic policies and this is your response? That it’s somehow another party’s bad news? I find it fascinating that suicide numbers last peaked under the previous National government. Winston was right – National governments are bad news for the elderly.

    • http://unsolicitedious.wordpress.com/ Unsolicitedious

      National’s policies are bad for the elderly….despite the fact that Tony Ryall has done more in 3 years to look at aged care than Labour did in 9 years (you have a short memory so I will refresh it: have a look at the sheer volume of elderly abuse cases under Labour..) and their superannuation has gone by $166 per fortnight?

      What bollicks…you do realise this is a right wing blog so the facts tend to come out rather than convenient soundbites full of ‘mistruths’?

      • Andy

        The facts quoted above are:
        1) The number of elderly New Zealanders killing themselves has surged 11 per cent to a 10-year high, fuelled by mounting health and economic worries;

        and
        2) The country’s overall suicide numbers [are] the highest since 1997.

        If they are ‘mistruths’, surely no self-respecting right wing blogger would have posted them for cheap political gain?

        • http://unsolicitedious.wordpress.com/ Unsolicitedious

          So more mistruths…..it is expediency when you just quote suicide rates before and after Labour’s 9 year reign of hell. How about you include their rates too – suicides have been at all time high every year for years. Especially when it comes to young males.

          It’s not any government’s fault – it is modern life. Too busy, too much stress, too much alienation from ones own family and too much individualism where the norm is not knowing your neighbour.

          • Andy

            What do you mean “more mistruths”? They’re the same old exact quotes from the article above. And if the country’s overall suicide numbers are the highest since 1997, then they can’t have been at an all time high every year for years. Something tells me you ought to get the literacy and numeracy standards of your blog comments checked… Your arguments are about as weak as the “joke” in the original post above.

  • Agent BallSack

    Since Phil Goff tentatively agrees with euthanasia, where does that leave the Labour voters on this issue? How does that counter with his views that Labour is a Christian party? Does this mean assisted suicide would leap under Labours tenure?

    • http://unsolicitedious.wordpress.com/ Unsolicitedious

      Labour a Christian party? Didn’t know he thought that! The left usually means nanny state and very liberal PC policies..including gay marriage etc which the Church often doesn’t agree with….he might think it but a whole host of christians would probably disagree with him!

  • diabolos

    Its a thinking, grateful and compassionate society we live in.

    All of NZ is now summed up in convenient little soundbites and blog comments.

    One can only hope that youth, young adult, adult, aged suicide doesnt ever personally affect us or confront us personally.

  • Anonymous

    I hate to agree with Kosh but he has a point. By all means let’s have a very public general discussion on suicide, it is long overdue. But lets keep politics out of it, and move on.

  • Suzie5

    You have the emotional intelligence of a fly – you’re a carrion feeder.