King MattMATT KING (National—Northland): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. I'll change it down a couple of pegs from the previous speaker Kiritapu Allan.As the Northland MP I read in the news about the meningitis outbreak in Northland before the Government actually told us so. Actually just out of interest I had a survivor of meningitis in my office today—this morning actually: Horowhenua District councillor Victoria Kaye-Simmons. Now she was lucky enough to be diagnosed early and receive treatment but nationwide this year we started off in January with four then it went up to 10 in February 22 in March and we had two deaths. It got up to 29 in April and 39 in May. This is serious stuff.We have children in Northland dying from preventable diseases and the Northland District Health Board (DHB) asked the Ministry of Health about a vaccination programme. They pleaded with them months ago and the Government only launched an urgent programme on Monday of this week and they only ordered the vaccines two weeks ago give or take. It's just not good enough—not enough vaccines and only selected schools.So who wins and who loses in this process? We have three dead Northland kids. Take the teenage boy from Kerikeri—I won't say his name but he's widely known and loved in our community. He goes to the same school as my daughter and he is the same age as my daughter and he died a little over a month ago from this deadly disease. Now this Government says it responded swiftly to this outbreak but I don't think so. Sorry but they haven't. I know that the DHB chief Dr Nick Chamberlain said—and I quote—We have been strongly encouraging the Ministry of Health for some months to approve this campaign as it's the only truly preventative measure for our population." The Ministry of Health apparently have been discussing with him for some months now. They only came up with a plan in late October and only now are the wheels in motion. What does it take to get some action on this? This delay is totally unacceptable when we're talking about our children. It's going to cost our DHB close to a million dollars. Our budget is stretched in Northland; this needs to come directly from Government.The Northland DHB have been warning since May and you would think this would have stirred this Government into action. The DHB advised their own colleagues to get their children vaccinated. Surely—surely—this information should've been made public but the Government only warned us in Northland on 6 November. This is not OK. This Government claims to be the people's saviour. They claim to be the messiah from heaven but they can't even get the basics right. They made big promises to the public prior to the election: 100000 houses—that ain't going to happen. One billion trees—I hear that all the time. That's a laugh. Every child out of poverty—well let's start by saving their lives.But what about Northland—what about Northland? We are at the bottom of the pile. Our stats are the poorest in the country and if you don't believe me come north and speak to our people. I do every day and I hear it endlessly. Our children are paying the price. When our people call this Government needs to answer our SOS. This Government talked a big game. They have talked a big game and they continue to talk a big game this Government. For every child's sake they should deliver on what they promised. Thank you."