Little AndrewHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): Thank you Madam Chair. Just the last couple of contributions I think it's appropriate to respond to. To Brooke van Velden and her call for a medicine strategy—indeed there are many Supplementary Order Papers calling for all sorts of strategies and indeed as I think Ms van Velden will know at the select committee there were many calls for different strategies. One of the reasons why we're trying to chunk down and limit the number of discrete strategies is that you could have the ministry or Health New Zealand or the Māori Health Authority spending all their time developing dozens and dozens of strategies all cross-cutting all needing their own attention but it's not going to change things. Just having a statutory obligation for a strategy will take up a lot of time and resources. But actually what you want to do is get folks focused on the health services that are needed getting resource devoted to that.The member referred to elements of the Pharmac review. What the Pharmac review actually said is that the Ministry of Health should take responsibility for some medicines strategies particularly in relation to rare disorders because what they were saying was that Pharmac as a procurement agency should not be the sole arbiter of what a medicines strategy should be. And that is the recommendation we've accepted as I've announced today and we will do that.I would refer the member to the definition part—I think it's clause 4 of the bill which refers to health entities. Pharmac is part of those health entities. Pharmac is required to observe the various requirements and obligations that would apply once this bill is enacted into law. What came out of the review and what I confirmed today is that Pharmac needs to be better integrated into the rest of the health administration. So I know the member wants a medicines strategy. The Labour Party will be voting against it but I can assure the member that where we are going with the range of changes and the recommendations we've accepted from the Pharmac review is that Pharmac will be better integrated into the policy work—properly the responsibility of the Ministry of Health but contributed to as necessary by Pharmac—and Pharmac will remain with its very strong capabilities in procurement as the procuring agency. And if the member is wondering why we have fewer modern medicines she might want to talk to her colleagues in the National Party and ask why they froze funding for Pharmac for three years in a row.To Matt Doocey's contribution in relation to a mental health strategy the same sort of principles apply. We could have a statutory obligation for strategies for all sorts of health conditions and diseases and infections and they'd run to a large number. That doesn't change the ability to deliver on the ground. What changes is when you have a Government that properly funds health and doesn't underfund it that doesn't freeze capital spending that doesn't underpay staff and those sorts of things. So that just happens to be the difference between the two sides of the House at the moment.The member I think misunderstands the status and role of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission. If he looked at the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Act 2020 he would see that the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission is an independent statutory entity. It is independent because it provides a monitoring and oversight function and it must stand apart in order to play its critique role and its advocacy role; so it advocates. In putting together any planning or strategy naturally I would expect Health New Zealand the Māori Health Authority where the ministry in its revamped form might take responsibility for development of plans and strategies—they're going to engage with relevant communities with those with lived experience. And to the extent that the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission is an advocate it has a statutory right to be that advocate and to be consulted that is already provided for and isn't needed in the member's Supplementary Order Papers.