King Annette: General Debates 
King Annette: General Debates 
[Volume:617;Page:13321] 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of Health) 
: 
 I move  
That the House take note of miscellaneous business 
. This Government has shown consistently its commitment to health since it came to office. The health sector desperately needed that commitment because throughout the 1990s it suffered neglect neglect of workforce planning and most of all underfunding. It needed stability long-term planning and policy. I ask members to compare that to the National Party and the ACT party approach. Their approach is knocking and nagging. They are the parties of knockers and naggers. That is all we hear from them day in and day out. In fact their policy is one of “it will be gone by midday”. That is their policy. It does not matter what it is it will be gone by lunchtime: nuclear ships—gone by lunchtime; primary health organisations—gone by lunchtime; Pharmac—gone by lunchtime. That is the policy of the knockers and the naggers. I ask members to compare that to this Government. 
This Government has turned round those problems of the 1990s and we are now spending over $9 billion on health. That is a 50 percent increase in funding since we became the Government and there will be another big boost in the next financial year that will take it to over $10 billion. This Government has shown it is committed to ensuring that the people of New Zealand have a good health service. Today I was proud to be able to announce the orthopaedic project which will see the number of knee and hip-replacement operations being done in New Zealand double over the next few years. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: Why wasn’t it done years ago? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: That is a commitment that should have been made years ago. I agree with Dr Hutchison—one of those doctors who does not make one well but makes one sick. Dr Hutchison asked why it was not done years ago. Well this Government has worked with the Orthopaedic Association something the National Party was never able to do. We worked through a policy and an implementation of that policy so that today the association has come out in support of the Government and said that what we are doing is the right thing—not just for today but for the future. We are future-proofing it because we know that New Zealanders are living longer and longer and we welcome that. We compare that with Dr Brash who could not care less if some New Zealanders die earlier than others. He said that if we want to improve the health of the whole population it must be race-based policy. We say that all New Zealanders should have the right to good health and they should have the right to access to major hip and knee-replacement operations—and they will get them from this Government. 
We have committed a lot of money to primary health-care in order to ensure that it is affordable primary health-care. I know there are many members of this Parliament who would back up that policy. But what did the National Party say? It said primary health organisations would be gone by lunchtime—they would be all over. National is not committed to primary health-care. It will just give some money to doctors. Well if National Party members know anything about primary health-care they will know that it is not about just doctors. It is about doctors nurses pharmacists specialists podiatrists and many many other health professionals. This party has committed itself to reducing the cost of primary health-care and the barriers to accessing it. I know that that is welcomed by New Zealand First which in its own way made an attempt to reduce the cost for under-6-year-olds. That would not have happened had it not been for New Zealand First and we know that if we do not remain the Government it will not continue in the future. It will be scrapped by a National-led Government. If New Zealanders want affordable primary health-care then they know where they ought to look in terms of support. 
 There are parties in this Parliament whose commitment to health is so little that they do not even make it one of their priorities. If I read what Dr Brash has said I can see that health is not one of National’s big priorities. Its big priorities do not include health—tax cuts maybe but not the health of New Zealanders. National thinks so little of health that its spokesperson on health does not even sit on the front bench any more. The National spokesperson on health used to sit where Nick Smith sits but that spokesperson has been taken off the front bench and put on the second bench. Health is not important enough but it is to New Zealanders. They know that this Government is helping to improve the health of New Zealanders. This Government will look at those things that lead to poor health and it will put in the investment of money to ensure that improvement happens. I am very proud with what we have been able to achieve in a very short time.