Hide Rodney: New Zealand Public Health and Disability (Enhancement of Competition) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Hide Rodney: New Zealand Public Health and Disability (Enhancement of Competition) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:629;Page:1829] 
RODNEY HIDE (Leader—ACT) 
: 
 I never ever thought I would stand up and say in this House what I am about to say and it shocks me to my quick that I am about to. My statement is this: bring back Annette. As a Minister of Health she was not great but boy did she outperform Pete Hodgson in terms of her understanding of the issues! The other thing I say about Annette King is that she was actually prepared to front up and explain the Government’s policy. Pete Hodgson has not got his head around the policy and he is not prepared to front up to the New Zealanders who pay their taxes who are the voters in this country who are the people we represent and who are being denied the very drugs they need—for their lives. People are dying because of the drug policy in this country. 
The Minister of Health is quite prepared to stand up in the House and justify the Government’s policy but he is not prepared to go out on the steps of our Parliament and meet the people who are the victims of it. I know that Annette King would have. I did not agree with her but she would have. Pete Hodgson though is too busy to meet women who are dying for the want of a drug. 
I was shocked by Pete Hodgson’s explanation of why he opposes this bill. His argument starts like this: “This bill really keeps the costs down. Look how much money we’ve saved.” OK that is one measure but being the Minister of Health is actually not all about saving money; it is about using money to best effect to save New Zealanders and that is what we did not hear from Pete Hodgson. In fact he went on to say that drugs do not make much difference as to whether a person lives or dies but clean water does. Well I can tell the Minister of Health for free that the women from my electorate in Auckland who are coming down to Wellington to protest his Government’s policy have clean water. Those women are in trouble and have to have radical surgery because of Pete Hodgson’s policy and failure to review what Pharmac is up to. His excuse is that drugs do not make a difference. I ask him to come out of Parliament at 1.15 p.m. tomorrow and tell that to the women who will be there protesting. 
I look forward to seeing Barbara Stewart out on the steps of Parliament explaining why she opposes the Health Committee having a look at what Pharmac is up to. I will be telling the people of New Zealand that New Zealand First had an opportunity that it did not take. It stopped it because New Zealand First is a poodle party. Its members jump to the tune that Pete Hodgson puts out. Barbara Stewart has an explanation to make tomorrow. 
I ask members to reflect on this: between 1997 and 2002 160 new medicines were listed in Australia—medicines that will save and improve the quality of Australians’ lives. New drugs are available because of research and technological development. We may ask ourselves how many new drugs were listed in New Zealand. The answer is 48. Australia listed 160 new medicines and New Zealand listed 48. In this House Barbara Stewart the Green Party and the Labour Party are saying that that is OK. Well the ACT party says it is not and that is why we support this bill.