Guy Nathan: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
Guy Nathan: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:653;Page:2434] 
NATHAN GUY (National—Otaki) 
: 
 The Committee will be interested to know that the member who has just resumed his seat was the former chief executive of the West Coast District Health Board when its services collapsed. I just wanted the Committee to be aware of that. 
When we review the performance of the previous Labour Government I want the Committee to be aware that when the previous Minister of Health David Cunliffe got to his feet during question time and told everyone not to worry because he was running the show the health budget had been doubled yet services were deteriorating across New Zealand. Waiting lists were allowed to grow and bureaucracy was bloated. It ballooned out of control by 25 percent. There were 8000 bureaucrats in the health departments across New Zealand. That number grew not only under the previous Minister of Health but also under several former Ministers before that member. It grew from 8000 to 10500 which is a growth of 25 percent. The growth was not going into the front line where we want to get more services but into the middle and the back lines. The number of people who sit at desks was out of control and that will be a huge challenge for this Government to address in order to get services to the front line. 
We have some big challenges in the health sector. But I want to back up the very good current Minister for Health the Hon Tony Ryall for what he has done in the first 4 months in his job in Cabinet. He has announced a very good voluntary bonding scheme for doctors across hard-to-staff places around New Zealand. I want the Committee to think about and remember this fact: under the previous Labour Government New Zealand was the biggest exporter and would you believe this the biggest importer of doctors. How ridiculous it is that taxpayers across New Zealand fund doctors through their training to hopefully work in this country—and indeed they are allowed to have choice about that—but that doctors make the choice to leave New Zealand because we do not have the right incentives to keep them here. That is why now people across New Zealand with the 1 April tax cuts are saluting Prime Minister John Key and the National Government and saying: “Yes at last!”. They know we will create the right incentives for people to work harder and get ahead. Is it not an embarrassment that under the previous Labour Government there were more doctors leaving than staying in New Zealand? Thankfully we have a bonding scheme that will work across most of New Zealand. 
I also want to touch on the ambulance services and a pilot that will be provided by Wellington Free Ambulance in the Otaki electorates which will have more paramedics coming into my electorate. They will be looking after people in their homes in order to reduce the services that are required in Kenepuru Hospital and in Wellington Regional Hospital. A great initiative is to be piloted in the Kapiti community whereby Wellington Free Ambulance paramedics will see the sick and the elderly in my community and treat them in their own homes. I think this is a fantastic initiative. 
Across New Zealand there are a whole lot of other issues that the Minister for Health is also addressing. Right now we have to get on and we have to redirect the services provided by the district health boards. We have to focus on the front line and that is where I believe that the Minister is doing a fantastic job. I say “Well done!” to Tony Ryall for getting on and doing things in his first 4 months in office. He has had to pick up the pieces from the mess left by the previous Labour Government and to concentrate on the front-line services needed to look after the most needy people in our community.