O'Connor Simon: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeO'Connor Simon: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 01 March 2016. Volume:711;Page:9245. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]SIMON O’CONNOR (National—Tāmaki): I am not sure whether one would call that last speech philosophical or just sort of a litany of woes that really just have not I think got any impact whatsoever. I have to say when I go around my electorate and other parts of the country it is funny that nobody but nobody raises or mentions those issues at all. In fact if you are talking to people out in the electorates what they talk about is very much what we heard in the Prime Minister’s statement and I will come to some of those bits later.I thought though to start—I just want to very briefly touch on Cyclone Winston. The primary reason for that having lived and worked in Fiji and in fact gone through a cyclone a few years ago there is to just speak I suppose in solidarity somewhat with the people there to say to them: Ni sa bula vinaka na kai viti e vanua viti. Having been through a cyclone—it literally came up the driveway where I lived and blew the place apart—I can say that the people of Fiji are incredibly resilient. We often attribute great smiling faces to them as a people and despite this adversity I am pretty sure those smiles will still be there.The one thing about cyclones is—obviously you have a few hours of terror if you will but it is the damage that continues to be done afterwards. I suppose in using a few minutes of this speech it is to encourage New Zealanders and Kiwis to continue to be generous. The cyclone itself might destroy the buildings but it also rips up the crops particularly the dalo plant. It turns it into a little helicopter and literally pulls it right out of the ground. So the first week you would actually go as we did and harvest some food and eat. But in the weeks after it begins to rot and of course you begin to run out of food. Where we were we were cut off for about a month and so your food supplies begin to run very low. The other thing—and those who have lived in the Islands will know—is that all the sea salt gets blown up on to the land and actually scorches the land and the trees and everything goes brown. It is not actually that they have been ripped out of the ground in that case but again scorched.So an encouragement to those listening and to New Zealanders as a whole and to this House—continue to support the people of Fiji. The cyclone is not just simply an activity of a few hours but is something that goes on for weeks and months. In fact even after I had left after a couple of years the damage of the particular cyclone that I went through was still being felt. Again to the people of Fiji I want to wish them well and strength at this time.This remains a very strong and positive Government. As said in the Prime Minister’s statement there has been a whole list of activities where we have performed incredibly strongly. We have heard everything from the increase in wages unemployment which is falling and is expected to fall even further and of course an area of interest to myself is around health care—an incredibly positive story to be told there. I think that is reflected in a couple of ways. First and foremost we know that more elective surgeries are being done. I note that a couple of constituents this week sadly have had to go to hospital. I am thinking of Valerie in particular—if she is listening in—who wrote in and told me: “Six days in hospital but a remarkably excellent experience through the Auckland DHB.” So we know that not only are surgeries going up but also the quality of surgeries is seen as very positive.We know that extra funding is being put into the likes of palliative care. I think that it is particularly good to acknowledge the good people of the Eastern Bays Hospice. Once again those from Tāmaki will know the Eastern Bays Hospice or at the very least the Dove shops which raise an enormous amount of money for hospice care in our community. One thing that I always like to stress to the House is that hospices like Eastern Bays Hospice are actually about where people are able to be at home and be supported. It is not like this little mini-hospital filled with morphine and other drugs; it is actually a life-giving dynamic and I want to thank all of those who work in hospices particularly those within my own electorate. We have got a whole lot of these new pain management teams out now. There is a lot of support particularly for people with orthopaedic pain. Again a really good news story.I think that is somewhat reflected in the work of the Health Committee at the moment. It is and remains an incredibly incredibly busy Health Committee. Over the last year—and again I think it is indicative of just how well the Government is doing—we have seen more funds made available to assist carers. There was a bill we just passed 2 weeks ago in this House with unanimous support—a bill under a National Government—to actually pay those providing care for the cost of transport for the first time. We are also updating the Radiation Safety Act and I think later today actually we may have a chance to complete that piece of work. Last year we updated legislation around health practitioners. In other words we are looking at the health industry in New Zealand and saying: “How do we increase the scope of practice for various professions?”. The best example is things around death certificates or sick leave certificates which are primarily the purview of medical practitioners but we are saying: “Actually scopes of practice have changed now so why not see nurses and others being involved with that?”. We have also modernised elements around health protection. This was around regulation of sunbeds but also dealing with how we I suppose monitor infectious diseases. So again it is a busy select committee but I think it is indicative of actually what is a very positive Government making positive changes.I say though that it is busy—it was something I was sharing with some members of my constituency last week around the select committee because petitions often come up. I thought I would give an indication of just some of the topics that the Health Committee is looking at at the moment and acknowledge those who have put these in. There are quite a number of petitions before the committee. We are dealing with everything from surgical mesh to transgender operations female prophylactics to tube-weaning—so that is for young people babies mainly who have to be fed by tube and how you wean them off that. It is quite a difficult process. We are looking at adrenalin autoimmune-injectors or EpiPens if you have an anaphylactic shock. We have been looking at petitions around public health and disability pharmaceutical waste assisted suicide and the district health board in Northland. And services—pathology services. We are looking at maternity services and smoking and—just when you think that we had not actually covered all the topics moral ethical medical and otherwise—we are also looking at the whole element of cannabis Sativex as well. So it is a rather busy and I would like to think hard-working committee with all members—but I certainly say that of our Government members—working incredibly hard.So for me we are a Government that remains incredibly focused a Government that is incredibly busy and I think one that remains very much in touch with New Zealand. One of the best gauges for me is being in the electorate. It is where I derive most of my strength and energy working with the good people of Tāmaki and they continue to talk about the things that matter. Most of what we have heard from the other side today is really just superfluous in many ways. It is not what really impacts on people: health absolutely; education for sure; and crime and law and order are incredibly important—knowing that they are safe in their homes. And of course the economy is something important too.But the people of Tāmaki have also understood that the Government is behind them and so in the last year in particular we have had a number of successes again building on the good work of the Government. So there has been money for a cycleway. I know the member for Auckland Central is very proud of her—I think—bright pink cycleway. Ours is not going to be pink I understand but we have a wonderful cycleway going from Glen Innes through to Tāmaki Drive. We have had about 45 new classrooms for our schools promised and more money for Mandarin teaching.So there is I suppose a positive amount of real positive work going on particularly in the education field. I am very conscious that today in the gallery there is a young lady who is now out of school but was formerly of Glendowie College here to grace us and that actually we have got amazing young people who are in our communities. I see that day after day and I certainly see it when I go to the high schools and colleges in my electorate be it Selwyn Tāmaki Glendowie or Sacred Heart—remarkable young people doing remarkable things. This Government is behind them it is behind our education system and also—as I was indicating earlier—it is really strongly behind the health sector.So I think we have a very proud record as a Government. I think the Prime Minister himself has articulated things very well and clearly in his statement. We are a Government that talks about the things that matter. We are a Government that remains very much in touch with the people of New Zealand. We are a Government that is going to continue working hard because we are doing that listening. And if we need no better proof it is just to look at the polls of where we are and where the Opposition is.