Salesa Jenny; Little AndrewPart 2 Key roles and health documents CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jenny Salesa): Members we come now to Part 2. This is the debate on clauses 10 to 59 Key roles and health documents" and Schedule 3 relating to iwi-Māori partnership boards. The question is that Part 2 stand part. Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): Thank you Madam Chair. I'll just make some sort of opening remarks if you like. This really is the meat of this legislation apart from the Hauora Māori Advisory Committee which is the subject of a different part of this legislation. This sets up the new health entities Health New Zealand and the Māori Health Authority. These will be the new beasts if you like that will be the engine room of our health system not only providing greater coherence and better coordination across our public health system but also really driving a better equity performance than we've seen in the system. We know that Māori have been under-served by our health system for decades and decades and decades and we know the Crown has obligations under Te Tiriti that we owe better. We have an obligation to do better but it's more than just doing better. It's also recognising and incorporating as a partner the voice of Māori into our health system. The Māori Health Authority does that. The Māori Health Authority is not a Crown partner but it is the vehicle through which the Crown's obligation to meet its obligations to Māori are met. The Māori Health Authority also draws on the input of the iwi-Māori partnership boards. The iwi-Māori partnership boards are a product of iwi. That is where the nexus between Māori and Te Ao Māori and the health system really sits and they are involved in helping to establish or at least to appoint the board members of the Māori Health Authority. The Māori Health Authority carries the mana of iwi Māori and urban Māori as it prosecutes its task of working with the rest of the health system to drive good performance for everybody and better equity for Māori. That's what that does and these provisions clauses 10 to 59 set out the obligations of each. It should be pointed out that the Māori Health Authority is not a Crown entity for the purpose of the Crown Entities Act but as a statutory entity it will observe many of the obligations of the Crown Entities Act. But it is its own thing. In addition to that the Māori Health Authority and Health New Zealand have an obligation to put together a range of documents. They have to agree on those documents. If they cannot agree there's then a process for dealing with any disagreements largely by coming to myself as Minister of Health and for the Minister of Health referring to the Minister for Māori Development and the Minister for Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti. So that Māori influence in the Māori decision-making—the Māori voice—is strengthened at every step of the way.This is the part of the legislation that incorporates a number of strategies and we've now added through my Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) 169 a rural communities strategy. I should add my SOP reverses a piece of work that the Pae Ora Legislation Committee put in place which was to change the order on the document of the Government Policy Statement (GPS) and sort of everything else. The GPS is the principal document that the Government produces to set direction for the health system so we've put that back into its rightful place through my SOP. But otherwise it is all there.The other thing this part of the legislation does is to establish the requirement for localities and for the development of locality plans and although there's only a small number of provisions in the bill for this this is an absolutely crucial part of the machinery of the health system of establishing health need and engaging with both health providers and communities about how health need can be met and what health services should be put in place. So these are significant changes that will make a significant difference over time when it comes to health provision across Aotearoa New Zealand."