Dyson Ruth: General Debate 
Dyson Ruth: General Debate 
[Volume:656;Page:5463] 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Labour—Port Hills) 
: 
 The Minister of Education has the audacity to come into this House and celebrate success by re-announcing Labour Party initiatives and at the same time say to disabled children—constituents of Clayton Cosgrove—that they will not get the physical therapy support that has been funded year in and year out enabling them to keep going to school because she has put $35 million extra into what is clearly her priority over disabled kids which is private schools. That is the choice this Government has made. It is taking money off disabled children and putting it into private schools. That is a total disgrace. 
Paul Quinn 
: Rubbish. 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: Mr Somebody or Other whose name escapes me— 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Quinn. 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: Mr Quinn said that is rubbish. Well I do not think Brittany who lives in Kaiapoi and whom Clayton Cosgrove talked about in the House today is rubbish. But that is how that member and his party are treating her and that is the way she feels. She knows she might not be well enough to keep going to school in the future because the Minister has cut her funding. 
Paul Quinn 
: Ha ha! 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: The member laughs at that. Well I challenge him and Minister Tolley to go to Kaiapoi meet Brittany and her mother and say to their faces that they are rubbish and do not deserve the very small amount of financial support they have been getting. For the whole country that fund is only $2.5 million. That is such a tiny amount out of the entire education budget. Out of the entire additional funding given in the same Budget to private schools $2.5 million is a tiny amount. But for those children it will be the difference between them being well enough to go to school and staying at school or being ill and staying at home. 
Those are the sorts of priorities that this Government has now made clear to the public. Day after day I hear people saying “That’s not what I thought we were going to get under a National Government. I didn’t think Kate Wilkinson who campaigned in Waimakariri would not front up to Brittany and her mother and tell them that they are rubbish in the view of the National Party. That is not what any of those members said before the election.” People will remember in 2 and a bit years’ time just what the Government has done on its promises in the same way as Tony Ryall revealed in the House today how little substance there has been to his commitment of better sooner and more convenient health services. Seven times today the Minister of Health was asked to justify health cuts to front-line services and staff being cut in different district health boards around the country. All the Minister could say was that National inherited a terrible situation. Then he started washing his hands and saying “I didn’t make the decision; it’s the terrible terrible district health boards. They made the bad decisions.” Tony Ryall gets to announce all the good decisions and the district health boards are to blame for all the bad decisions. Frankly that just will not wash. 
MidCentral District Health Board had to cut $10 million out of its budget. It was a very high-performing district health board in the past. It is now carrying out a line-by-line review of services and has said amongst other things that the standard of health services may have to be reduced in order for it to balance its budget. It is predicting job losses on the front line not that there are many backroom people in the health system. If there are people in the backroom they are doing the clerical work for the doctors and nurses so that they can do their health work. They all work together as a team in the health system. There is not a lot of fat to prune in the system. MidCentral District Health Board has just announced that it will not be able to contract out its private hospital elective surgery procedures because of the health cuts. That is something National has been promoting as the answer to so many questions. But with Tony Ryall’s health cuts MidCentral District Health Board has had to cut back that decision. These are not better health services; they are cuts to health services.