Henare Peeni: New Zealand Public Health and Disability (Southern DHB) Elections Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHenare Peeni: New Zealand Public Health and Disability (Southern DHB) Elections Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 05 May 2016. Volume:713;Page:10854. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]PEENI HENARE (Labour—Tāmaki Makaurau): Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker. I find it ironic that a former lobbyist for the tobacco industry gets up and preaches to this House about health. The member Todd Barclay seems to think that food is not important in the recovery of those who need the valuable services of a hospital.Carmel Sepuloni: But Rothmans is.PEENI HENARE: Ha ha! Furthermore as my people the Māori people see rising rates of diabetes and rising rates of obesity I wonder then does that member truly think that food is not related to health?I believe that in this country democracy in communities is a right and not a privilege. I believe that this particular bill will suspend those democratic rights that belong to the communities of the deep south. This House has spoken about the voices of the people. It is important that those voices are heard. We understand the need for good financial management—we understand that. We want to see our district health boards receive the money and manage the money accordingly so that the communities those district health boards look after get the vital services that they need. That is very important and we want to see that in the Southern District Health Board. However it is with some apprehension that we support this bill knowing that it will suspend the democratic rights of the people in the deep south. We believe that their voices are important in the ongoing conversation of their health needs moving forward.This House has spoken about the submissions made by Ngāi Tahu. Members have also spoken about the submissions made by Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu. I mentioned at the beginning of my speech the critical needs of the Māori communities and it is important that groups like Ngāi Tahu and groups like Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu find a voice to advocate for their people’s needs in such important health management structures. Therefore although we look at this bill and see that there is some pressure to be applied on to the commissioner to make sure that they do find a voice we on this side of the House will be making sure that indeed that is what happens and that it is not simply a box-ticking exercise—one where we call a meeting people come in we have a 1½ hour discussion we have a cup of tea and the box is ticked. Conversations in that meeting stop right at the end as the cup of tea is being poured. It is important that voices like Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu are heard on the district health board.I feel it timely to remind the House just how critical a hospital is to a community. The issues facing Dunedin Hospital have been well recorded. This side of the House led by the members Dr David Clark and Clare Curran has pushed hard to make sure that this Government realises that—to make sure that Dunedin Hospital is not just something that is planned on paper but is actually seen by the people of Dunedin and to make sure that the people of Dunedin can receive the services that they so desperately need and in my opinion deserve.We notice that despite regular engagements by the commissioner with our external stakeholders there are still some concerns about transparency. This goes back to making sure that the voices of the people are heard in the management of health services in the southern district. It is important that transparency is there so that the debate that is currently flying across the House with regard to the quality of food contracted for by the commissioner appointed to serve the people in the deep south is clear and transparent to the people of Southland to make sure that they know the processes that took place and make sure that they are informed about the decisions made and the services that they receive. Although we understand that there will be pressure placed on the commissioner to make sure that those transparency measures are in place we on this side of the House will be making sure that that is indeed what happens.Whatever happens from here on out with regard to the suspension of the democratic rights of those people we want to make sure—and we will be keeping a very keen eye on this particular process to make sure—that come 2019 those democratic rights are fully restored. Not partly restored but fully restored so that come 2019 the Southern District Health Board will be in a strong position to continue to deliver services to the people of the deep south.To me this is about doing what is right. It is about doing what is right by the community. It is about doing what is right by those who need the critical services to make sure that our elderly to make sure that the young and to make sure that the vulnerable get the services that they so desperately need. It is important too to make sure that the district health boards across the country maintain the confidence of the New Zealand public and that can happen only when transparency is there and in place. It can happen only when the voices of the people are heard. It can happen only with strong fiscal management. It can happen only when democracy will be returned to the people of the deep south.It is not just about the deep south. We on this side of the House hear regular concerns from across the country about the critical health services that people feel they are not getting and it is important that this particular bill the New Zealand Public Health and Disability (Southern DHB) Elections Bill maintains that integrity so that the New Zealand public can have faith in the services that are available to them.We on this side of the House have faith in the processes in this particular House and it is with some surprise that we hear some of the challenges made towards the Labour Party with one recently being made by the member from New Zealand First. So it is important that throughout the entire process—I understand that the Health Committee entered into strong robust debate about this particular bill which has made us arrive at the point where we on this side of the House will be supporting it. But let me remind this House in conclusion that we will be making sure that democracy will be restored to the people of the deep south. We will be keeping a keen eye on this Minister and on the bill to make sure that the people in the deep south get what they deserve. Kia ora.