Little AndrewHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): Well that was a very interesting speech from the Leader of the Opposition really the new Minister of People Who Have Just Given Up" because hers was a party that gave up and those members opposite are still the party of people who just give up. They never cared about people and their mental health problems in New Zealand. Their programme of police to help with mental health was never properly funded never supported people and we had a growing crisis in mental health that they just turned a blind eye to. They did not care. The reality about Government is you step up to the hard problems and I'm very proud to be part of a Government that does and has stepped up to the very hard problems not just in mental health and not just in the rest of the health sector but in a whole swag of issues that were neglected by the previous Government to the detriment of the people of New Zealand. Whether it was housing and taking on the hard issue of housing to the point now where we have record housing consents a record house-building programme and first-home buyers now having a real chance to get their first home. Whether it was on climate change and the work that we do with our cooperation partner the Green Party on actually seriously addressing the climate change challenge that this country has—totally and utterly neglected by the party opposite when they were in Government. They just turned a blind eye buried their heads in the sand and hoped that it would go away but not this Government. Not this Government because we step up to it. And child poverty: how many households did we hear of for year after year after those members were in Government where there were not only families but—worse—children who could not afford the basics? They couldn't get a new pair of shoes on their feet during wintertime couldn't get warm clothing and couldn't be properly fed. I'm proud to be part of a Government that has stepped up and we are doing amazing things. We're lifting incomes lifting benefit levels and providing food in schools for those kids who have been going hungry. That's what stepping up to serious challenges actually entails. We're dealing with the infrastructure of this country that has been run down—not just roads but the underground infrastructure as well—and then addressing those health needs. Labour has stepped up to fulfil its historical mission and that is to rebuild to restore to reshape to give hope and to build our nation. That's what we're doing and we see it in housing with what we're doing we're seeing it in climate change and we're seeing it in health. I want to talk about mental health because that is important. It is important if you're a family who's got a loved one who is struggling who is suffering or who is in crisis. You need your services to be there. They weren't there in 2017 when we took over Government because members on that side had just turned a cold shoulder to the shattered lives of New Zealanders who were struggling to cope. That's why we did a stocktake and we had a look at the gaps and we got the report. He Ara Oranga was very clear and it was the New Zealanders with mild to moderate mental health conditions who were suffering the most. That's where the gap was and so we had to address that gap. Nearly half a billion dollars over a four- to five-year period—we made the decision to put that into that programme. Right now 520 extra people on the front line of mental health that weren't there two years ago are now providing services and 10000 people a month now are being seen who could not get access to those services before. That's the difference we're making and we are not even halfway there. That's why it is a four- to five-year programme and there is more to do. Kaupapa Māori health services are getting extra assistance and Pacific health services are getting assistance because those populations suffer too and outside the $1.9 billion and the COVID-19 response and recovery package we've put even more money into mental health supported services because that was what people needed and said they wanted. This is a Government that takes mental health seriously. This is a Government whose nation-building track record actually puts meaningful grunt behind our mental health services and we'll continue to do so. An emerging gap now is in acute services. The facilities left by the previous Government across our hospitals were totally rundown and neglected with old lino floors cinder block walls—not an environment for therapeutic restoration. That's why we made a commitment for the five most neglected facilities to rebuild and upgrade and restore them: $235 million. We've started that work and there is more to come: 11 other mental health facility projects are under way. This is what caring about those suffering mental health issues looks like not the crocodile tears opposite. This is what nation-building is. This is what Labour is."