Hayes JoJO HAYES (National): I'm angry I'm gutted I'm in complete disbelief over the latest statistics around the meningococcal W outbreak in Northland—24 cases nationwide or so they would like us to believe but it's more than that as my colleague Dr Shane Reti has outlined in his speech today. There have been six deaths half of those in Northland—and one in particular our youngest 7-year-old Alexis Albert—so why didn't the Northland District Health Board (DHB) tell the rest of the Northland population about this outbreak when it sent an internal memo to its staff? Why didn't they say something? Why does it take the death of people of a gorgeous little girl like Alexis Albert to actually bring this disease to the head of everything that this Government is not doing for Māori?Alexis Albert had her whole life ahead of her. She had a beautiful life ahead of her. She was one of the lead people and won a number of athletic competition prizes. She had a beautiful life ahead of her and it was cut short. It was cut short because those that have the knowledge those that have the power those that have access to the resources to have helped this little girl did not come forward early enough with the vaccination treatment.It is because of this—and I might add for Māori health and also for Pasifika health under this Government—we find Māori are always last on the list. We're at the bottom of cancer treatment we're at the bottom of vaccinations; you name it we're right at the bottom. And it takes a big-mouth steely person like myself to actually stand up to such horrible and misinformed information that comes out of our DHBs.When the Labour Government was last in power my mother needed to have a hip operation. I went to the district health board and asked the district health board why she wasn't higher up on their list. Did you know all the Māori patients that were supposed to have hip operations at this district health board weren't even on the list? So I had to fight to get her on the list to get that operation and a number of her kaumātua friends missed out until she got it and then they came on the list. That was under the previous Labour-led Government.What is up with Dr Lance O'Sullivan? Why is he so concerned? Why is he calling for a Minister for Māori Health? Why is he making moves to iwi asking them for $5 million a head to set up the Māori unit? It's because he is so disillusioned with the way this Government is treating Māori families in this country. Education and health—they are really key to our survival and those are the two main areas in which this Government is letting Māori down.I can tell you now for each Māori life lost goes the richness of Aotearoa and the culture that we have here—every Māori life that is lost because of the inability of this Government to actually service them. We have lost that culture. If international communities actually recognise and support Māori culture then why doesn't this Government? Why doesn't it recognise the beauty and the richness that Māori bring?Northland has the largest Māori population in this country. The next one is the East Coast of the North Island and third is Lakes District. So why hasn't there been more investment of health dollars from this Government in those areas to combat these diseases? Today might be the first day that women were able to vote in Aotearoa New Zealand and yet our babies are dying. They are dying from diseases that if they had access to those medications they would be alive today.Are Māori lives not worth saving? This is the question that I ask this Government. This is the question that I ask this Minister. This is the question that I lay on the floor in this House for everybody within the Government to respond to. Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker.