6. Question No. 6—HealthDr SHANE RETI (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 6—Health6. Dr SHANE RETI (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of Health: Does he stand by all of his statements and actions related to the proposed Māori Health Authority?Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): Yes. I especially stand by my statement that The system has never allowed Māori meaningful control over issues affecting their own communities and has never really acknowledged that what we are doing isn't working for Māori and that by giving more control over to Māori communities we might actually change things for the better."Dr Shane Reti: Has he had any communications around aligning the proposed Māori Health Authority with the strategy described in He Puapua; if so what?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I have no knowledge of the content of the report known as He Puapua; I have not seen it. The proposals that the Government announced a couple of weeks ago are based on the information and advice that we have received including the report of the Health and Disability System Review and they are about doing what is right for New Zealand today. Dr Shane Reti: Can he name one Māori health outcome that a Māori health authority will commit to improve in the first year of operation?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: There are a number that I would expect to improve. So for example the feature of our health system that the Health Quality and Safety Commission reported on just a week before we made our announcement two weeks ago was that if you are a young Māori—if you are rangatahi—and you suffer a major trauma you are three times more likely to die within a month of that trauma than other New Zealanders. And one of the reasons for that is you are less likely if you are rangatahi having suffered a major trauma to get a CT scan. How does that work? I would also expect the Māori Health Authority to address the figure of Māori and Pacific people being twice as likely to die young from conditions that could have been treated had they got treatment at the right time. I would also expect in the long term a Māori health authority through its mahi to address the fact that life expectancy for Māori is on average seven years shorter than for the rest of New Zealand.Dr Shane Reti: Is it envisaged that in GP consultations some components of the consultation will be accountable to the Māori Health Authority and some components will be accountable to Health New Zealand (Health NZ)? Hon ANDREW LITTLE: It's very sad that the National Party is forced to put up absurd propositions on what is a very serious issue for Māori but actually for all of New Zealand and that is the inequity in our health system: inequity of access and inequity of health outcomes. That member well knows because of the region from which he comes that there are kaupapa Māori health services that provide health services to Māori and to Pākehā. They don't distinguish it and they provide excellent Māori health services as a result.Dr Shane Reti: Point of order Mr Speaker—not clear to me that the Minister has addressed the question that I asked about GP consultations.SPEAKER: I think he's got there in the end.Dr Shane Reti: Why has he not proposed a separate Pacific peoples health authority despite his Cabinet paper stating that health disparities are centred to the reforms and that Pacific people have the same health disparities as Māori?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: The member is correct that the same health disparities that Māori suffer apply equally to Pacific people and that is why part of the proposal is to have a beefed-up Pacific directorate in the revamped Ministry of Health and specific attention from Health NZ. The difference is however that the Crown has obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi and one of those obligations is to act in partnership and we are going to act in partnership.Dr Shane Reti: Then is the establishment of a Māori health authority with veto powers primarily to address health outcomes for Māori or to comply with the Treaty?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: It is to do two things: it is to address the obvious and longstanding inequity of access to healthcare and health outcomes for Māori and it is also to comply with our Treaty obligations. I don't know why that member and his compadres in the National Party are so concerned that by acting in partnership somehow Māori have a different set of interests to the rest of New Zealand on this. We all have the same interest in the best possible health outcomes for all New Zealanders and we are setting up a system to deliver just that."