Dean Jacqui: General Debate 
Dean Jacqui: General Debate 
[Volume:638;Page:8420] 
JACQUI DEAN (National—Otago) 
: 
 Gee the rising note of panic in the Government benches is almost palpable. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Is this a member of Parliament? 
JACQUI DEAN 
: I mean for Trevor Mallard the rising note of panic as one goes around the press gallery is almost palpable. There is a reason why. Do members think it is because our excellent new leader John Key is now within 2 percent of the Prime Minister in the preferred Prime Minister stakes? Is that the reason Government members are panicking so much? Maybe it is the fact that hundreds of people turned up outside Parliament to express the view shared by 83 percent of all New Zealanders that they do not want this Government to tell them how to raise their children; they do not want this Government to come into their kitchens and tell them whether they can smack their children for the purpose of correction. Perhaps it is the fact that the so-called 20 hours’ free education scheme for preschoolers has been a disaster. Perhaps it is the fact that the whole corrections ministry is in a state of continual and increasing disaster— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I bet the member wrote this speech herself. 
JACQUI DEAN 
: —or perhaps I say to Mr Mallard it is because the Ministry of Education and the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) are an unfolding disaster with more and more schools deserting NCEA to go over to the Cambridge exams. 
Maybe it is not that. Maybe it is the fact that the Government’s climate change policies are a disaster. What did I hear my colleague Nick Smith the spokesman for climate change say? Did he just ask: “What climate change policies?” He would be absolutely right because all we have is discussion papers and they are a disaster. 
But that is not the worst of it. That is not the reason why this Government is panicking. It is panicking because of the appalling state of health in New Zealand. Who is accountable for that? It is certainly not the Government if one listened to Government members today. No it is not the Government that is responsible or accountable for the appalling state of health services in New Zealand; it is actually Paul Hutchison—go figure that. 
Let us start from Southland and work north. A group of 45 general practitioners working in Southland have just written to the Southland District Health Board expressing their lack of confidence in the ability of the board to do its job. Why would they do that if the Ministry of Health was doing such a good job? They did that because there are huge delays in Southlanders getting treatment. There is a high level of resignation amongst general practitioners. There is huge pressure for maternity services and elderly care services in Southland. 
Let us move a little bit further north to the Otago District Health Board. We thought things were bad enough in Southland but in the Otago District Health Board we have a decrease in services for the people of Otago because a senior information technology manager has allegedly stolen $16 million from the district health board and nobody noticed. Where is the accountability in that? So the people of Otago and Southland will get less in the way of health care because of the lack of accountability within this Government which lies directly at the feet of the Minister of Health. 
Let us move to Auckland where there is a half-billion-dollar contract to provide services to the people of Auckland. These services are critical to the people of Auckland; it is not a minor matter. If we go through the players in this issue we have the ministry’s special adviser who had free access to all information who attended all the committee meetings of the Auckland District Health Board and who was responsible to Gordon Davies Deputy Director General District Health Board Funding and Performance. So one would think that person would know what was going on. Then we have Dr Tony Bierre the pathologist. He was privy to all the information and was actively involved in setting the terms of the contract for the district health board. While this was happening Graham Aitken was right amongst the affairs of the district health board but what did he see? He saw nothing. Where is the accountability from these Government-appointed people? The chairman of the Auckland District Health Board was right in the middle of this. The chair was a Government appointee with huge experience. What did he know about what was going on with this conflict of interest? He knew absolutely nothing. Where is the accountability? It is certainly not with this Government.