Dyson Ruth: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Dyson Ruth: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:664;Page:11877] 
8. 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Labour—Port Hills) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: Does he stand by all his recent statements on health services? 
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) 
: 
 Yes including the statement that the Government is investing in health the highest percentage of GDP ever at the same time as health boards are increasing their front-line services. 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: When he said on Sunday 20 June of this year that National would not be closing the wage gap with Australia for doctors as a means of stopping our doctors leaving our shores in droves had he forgotten that closing the wage gap with Australia was exactly what he promised to do in his press statement of 30 September 2008? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: The Government will not be able to close the wage gap with Australia overnight. But this Government is taking a lot of steps that will do that and one of those steps is our substantial programme of tax cuts announced last month. An average hospital doctor on $165000 a year will be better off by $7000 before GST. 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: When he promised that front-line health services would be increased under National was he excluding the elective surgery and supportive services that are not happening this week at Wellington Hospital which has closed down to save money? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: As the member would know it is up to the Capital and Coast District Health Board how it manages its staff leave. I can tell the member that elective surgery is being performed at Wellington Hospital today as it was yesterday and all acute surgery is operating as per usual. Capital and Coast District Health Board delivered 6600 elective operations last year—more than ever before. I also tell the member that its emergency department is seeing about the same number of people it saw last week. We have inherited from Labour a deficit of $60 million at Capital and Coast District Health Board and we are slowly trying to manage that legacy of failure from the party opposite. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: What other comments has the Minister of Health made about health services that he stands by? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: I stand by our comment that we are not prepared to be a Government that over 9 years doubles the amount of money in the health service and provides fewer elective surgeries for the people of New Zealand on a population basis. Under this party in Government 13000 extra people got elective surgery last year which means more hip replacements more cataracts fixed and more people who no longer have back pain. 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: When he was described as having a counteroffer for every home support cut that was described to him—cuts also described as cruel unfair and frightening—was he saying that the thousands of New Zealanders who have had their home support cut in the last 12 months were ripping off the system; if not why did he use two examples of fraud to justify those cuts? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: It is quite unfortunate that that member opposite continues to try to ignore the facts that have been made available to her particularly in Wellington where she knows in the last 9 months about 650 people have come off home support 650 have come on home support and 82 have had their home support increased. We know that every year about 15000 people come on to home support and 15000 people go off and this Government is putting more money into important front-line services including home support.