“One of the election promises being kept by the incoming government is to bring back an independent mental health commission. This policy was supported by all three of Labour, the Greens and NZ First in the lead up to the election, and includes both the re-establishment of an independent Mental Health Commission and a review

The terms Consumer and Citizen have rich histories which chronicle on-going struggles over meaning, power and equality. In exploring Consumerism we can begin to see how the socio-political landscape has in many ways remained unchanged since some of the first descriptions of citizenship evolved based on wealth, privilege & exclusion. The contemporary shift in language to a focus on transactions can

*Working in what is considered a “consumer” role, most people would assume that I identify as a “consumer”.  But I don’t.  Put simply, I just can’t identify with that term, and to be honest I feel the same way when it comes to alternatives such as “service-user”. I choose instead to identify as a person.