King AnnetteHon ANNETTE KING (Labour—Rongotai): It is an unexpected pleasure that I am speaking in the health Estimates debate today. I had said that my colleagues might like to take my call but of course being given the opportunity and seeing the Minister in the chair Jonathan Coleman and his smiling face once again has given me renewed energy to speak about health in the House during the Estimates debate.Can I say to the Minister that the issue that has been in the media over the last few months has been the issue of cancer services in New Zealand. I would like to ask the Minister what changes this Budget has made to the warning that was given to him in 2014 not long after he became the Minister—well actually just before he became the Minister but he would have received the warning. The warning was given by the Ministry of Health around the shortage of cancer specialists that was looming. The Ministry of Health said that by 2022 there would be a shortfall across the country of seven radiation oncologists 30 medical physicists and 25 radiation therapists. These medical physicists are the ones they are very worried about because although we are training them—about six a year—they are going straight overseas. This warning was given to this Government not long before Jonathan Coleman became the Minister. What I would like to know is what has been put aside in this Budget to address the warning that was given about the shortage of cancer specialists in New Zealand.I think you have got a lot of those specialists and people working in the cancer area particularly the Cancer Society who are already worried and have raised the issue of postcode access to cancer services. The Minister has said that he has put in place a cancer treatment plan but unfortunately the services are falling short of the plan Minister. Perhaps the Minister has forgotten what he said the plan would be but he said that he would make sure that every patient—this is what you said Minister: you would make sure every patient is treated within 2 months. That is not happening Minister. This was a commitment you gave and I have got your statement here. The Cancer Society said at the time: Well it's very aspirational but it provides very few details as to how the goals would be met." So Minister in the funding—and you like to talk about how much funding health is receiving—I want to know how much has been put in to actually meet the targets set for your cancer treatment plan.And what about a few more details to the plan? I think New Zealanders should have that because it is worrying when you read and see the differences that exist between different regions of New Zealand when it comes to access and it actually comes to those people who are dying of cancer. In fact we now know that people who are living in the Far North in Northland are 1.3 times more likely to die of cancer than Kiwis living in the Minister's own electorate. That is not a fair system in New Zealand. In fact what it shows is that for every 100000 Northlanders there are 33 extra cancer deaths. For some of those "big four" cancers—the big killer cancers: lung breast prostate and bowel—the variation is even greater across New Zealand.Now the Minister to his credit has actually started the roll-out of the bowel screening programme—started it. It could have started in 2007 Minister—not your fault; your predecessor had his head in the sand or somewhere else but he did not start a roll-out when he could have. It is now happening but I have to say Minister I am surprised that it did not start where the highest death rate was. We can now see that the highest death rate for bowel cancer is in the southern part of New Zealand.With the roll-out the question I would like the Minister to answer is why he is expecting district health boards (DHBs) in the funding they receive in their annual budgets to pick up the treatment costs. That has not been factored into their budgets. The Minister may remember that I asked this question at the Health Committee a few months ago and was told by the ministry that it did not factor in the cost—DHBs must absorb them."