Little AndrewHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): It's a pleasure to take a call after Barbara Kuriger the member who's just resumed her seat. I say to that member and to her compadres opposite that the journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. Those were the words of I think that great communist Mao—tell Kieran McAnulty he'll be very proud of that. But we are on a long journey a journey of adaptation and actually a journey of correction—a journey of closing a gap that the previous Government left right across the board of government with absolutely appalling levels of under-investment in those things that actually matter to people. I'm pleased to hear that member concerned about the need for better energy and warmer homes and all those sorts of things. The question we ask is why they didn't do it when they had a chance to do so. I am very proud of this Budget. This is a true Labour Budget and it follows the incredibly difficult circumstances that we had last year with the COVID outbreak. Ours is a country now that very much leads the way not only in addressing the impact of COVID-19—shutting it down; stopping it spreading—but now leading the way in the economic recovery that accompanies a pandemic such as the world saw last year. This Budget does that and it continues the work of lifting more New Zealanders who are in poverty out of poverty.What I'm very pleased about and very proud about are the health initiatives and yet again record investment in health because that's what Labour Governments do. Labour Governments understand that people in New Zealand need a good quality public health system and whereas the previous Government continually under-invested in it this is a Government that has put even more money in it in this Budget along with the previous three that it did in the last term in Government: $2.7 billion in cost pressure funding for the next four years. That's what this Government has done to allow the DHBs and once they are out of the picture Health NZ to be able to provide the health services that New Zealanders need.When it comes to mental health services too we're continuing the roll-out of the programme approved in 2019 because the previous Government so appallingly neglected those very important services. So many New Zealanders were left isolated alone and without any support or help because of the appalling management of mental health services by the previous Government. Not this Government: we made it a priority as we have in other aspects of the health system. So we see things like continuing the capital expenditure programme up to now $5.5 billion in capital expenditure for our hospital system—new buildings and new IT systems—because the previous Government completely neglected and failed to look after it. What a difference it makes. A good system and a safe system for patients to look forward to now because that's what Labour Governments do: invest in the things that matter like a decent health system.Even down to the things like the very specific services—so improvements in our breast-screening programme improvements in our cervical screening programme and now introducing HPV testing which has been requested for many many years and now we've got that on board. Things like cochlear implants too and what an incredible difference we know that that technology makes. We have a waiting list of about 260. The funding we have provided will provide cochlear implants for 320 and we'll continue to add to that as well. We know the difference that that sort of stuff makes and it is here in this Budget.We've increased disability support services by nearly $400 million over the four years because we've got to look after those vulnerable people—that part of our vulnerable population. We know that all those things matter. There is $200 million into Pharmac and that was a promise kept. We promised it in the election last year. There is $200 million in Pharmac now taking its budget to over $1 billion a year to provide the medications that New Zealand needs. You compare our investment in Pharmac in the time we've been in Government with increased spending on pharmaceuticals by more than 25 percent in the time we've been in Government to the less than 7 percent in the last three years of the previous Government. That's the difference. The Labour Party gives priority to the stuff that keeps people healthy and safe and provides a public health system that does the job of keeping the nation healthy and then we have the reforms. We've got a bit of money in here to start investing in new processes and new ways getting the community input—real community input—into what they need for health services as we start to rebuild and reshape our health system around the needs of New Zealanders to address the real inequities in our system and to address the real gaps in service provision right across the country. This is a fantastic Budget for the nation and for our health system.