Ryall Tony: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
Ryall Tony: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:671;Page:17469] 
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) 
: 
 The National-led Government continues to grow and protect the public health service in New Zealand. The Government continues to grow and protect the public health service in New Zealand as we move public money into the areas of priority. In the last 2 years under this National Government we have employed over 500 extra doctors and over 1000 extra nurses in our public hospitals and we are close to having a thousand fewer administrators. We are employing 500 extra doctors 1000 extra nurses and close to a thousand fewer managers. We are also investing very heavily in the New Zealand health service. We put in an extra $750 million with our first Budget keeping up with population change and inflation. Last year we put an extra $512 million into health keeping up with population change and ageing and using the benefits of reprioritisation within the health service. 
We are delivering for New Zealanders. Every week 400 extra New Zealanders are getting elective surgery compared with any week under the Labour Government. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: It’s all about counting. 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: The member says it is how we count it. Four hundred extra people are getting operations. Labour members do not like that. The more they do not like it the louder they get. We are also treating more and more patients faster than previously in our country’s emergency departments. People will remember that on the North Shore and in many parts of the country old people used to languish for 3 days on end on hospital trolleys under bright fluorescent lights. North Shore Hospital was described as the weeping sore of the public health service. This Government pushed aside the Labour lackeys in Waitemata and put money into a new emergency department—$50 million that Labour said no to. We said yes and we are speeding up the emergency department in Waitemata.  
What is more we are providing cancer radiation treatment for New Zealanders. When the party opposite was in Government it was not unusual for New Zealand women to be sent to Australia for radiation treatment and they were waiting 12 to 13 weeks. We had women Labour Ministers of Health defending 13-week waits for treatment for breast cancer. Women Cabinet Ministers were defending that situation. In the last quarter not one patient who was ready for treatment waited more than 6 weeks. In fact right now most are being treated within 4 weeks. 
We are also investing very heavily in preventive health. We have the highest number of 2-year-olds being immunised in the history of New Zealand. Here is my favourite bit: do members remember the Labour Government’s plan about closing the gaps which became about reducing disparities? The Labour Government never did anything about the gap between Maori and the rest of the community in immunisation. We have closed that gap under a National Government. What is more we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in a home insulation programme that has benefited over 80000 New Zealanders. The programme is having a real impact on the health of a lot of low-income New Zealanders. The health ministry put $25 million—members should wait for this—a year into that home insulation programme and Labour members described that as a cut to the health budget. We put $25 million of health money into the single most effective public health initiative in this country in the last 10 years and Labour called that a cut to the health service. 
What is more the timid party opposite put the price of smokes up by 10 percent once in its 9 years in office. It put up the price of smokes with a 10 percent increase once in 9 years—once in 9 years. We have done that three times in 20 months. Doing that three times in 20 months resulted in the single-biggest increase in the price of smokes in the history of New Zealand. Those members had one 10 percent increase in their very first year in office hoping that no one would remember it but we have put a 30 percent increase on the price of smoking in 22 months. What is more let us remember the Labour members saying: “We have a little smoking-cessation medicine here.” We have provided more people with more choice and with more smoking-cessation medicine than ever before.