Sio Hon Aupito WilliamHon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO (Associate Minister of Health): My contribution will be brief. I want to just simply respond to the previous speaker from the ACT Party and say that I found that inane contribution appalling. When she said about the need to address the health of all New Zealanders I did not believe that I was part of the New Zealand she was describing. In fact what came to mind was very much the rhetoric of the 1970s—the rhetoric of the 1970s—where the authorities of the time did not recognise Cook Islanders Māori Niueans Tokelauan who are part of the Realm of New Zealand as New Zealanders; where they questioned their identity in words such as They don't look like us therefore they're not part of this country." That's what was coming from them. And to make it worse they have already declared they will get rid of Te Puni Kōkiri they will get rid of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples they will get rid of the women's affairs department youth—they'll get rid of human rights that are so fundamental to the diversity of this country. The fact that she continues to ask "Why the Treaty?" indicates the ignorance of that party ignorance of where her place is in Aotearoa New Zealand ignorance of the value of the Treaty as a fundamental pillar of this nation. It also reveals the ignorance of why the reform is necessary. It is driven by expert advice. It is driven by the needs that have remained unmet for several decades. There are a number of reports. And can I also say that the fact that she's trying to claim credit for the Government's recognition of the rural—I want to thank our rural sector MPs for their championing and advocating for that strategy. ACT had nothing to do with it and so I just want to put that on the record. I think it's important that we recognise the value of evidence and the value of evidence that's driving this reform. There are a number of reports and they all highlight the inequities and the barriers that the most vulnerable members of our communities have faced. Māori definitely; Pasifika definitely; people with disabilities definitely; people in isolated rural areas definitely. And so let me just give you a quote from the Bula Sautu report which I suspect they've never read. It identifies inequities across a number of factors for Māori and Pasifika. And for Māori and Pacific peoples I want to say we have continued to live and breathe the inequities that all of these reports outline. But no one—not when National was last in they didn't take any notice of that at all. And so what this is about is to say we cannot accept as normal the inequities and that we've got to address it. Because for far too long the health system guided by certain political views has just observed the inequities growing and growing and growing. In midwifery care it's inaccessible for our Pacific mothers. Less than half of pregnant Pacific women are involved with a midwife for crucial screening and health checks in their first trimester. This leads to identified complications blood loss and for 10 years consistently higher rates of mortality for Pacific mums and their babies. Why have the system and past Governments allowed that? Four out of 10 Pacific babies in their first year of life missed out on the five core Well Child / Tamariki Ora health checks for them and their families in 2018. That's a 20 percent equity gap and 700 Pacific babies and their families in total who didn't get checked on. Subsequently between birth and age four Pacific babies end up in hospital for serious skin conditions like cellulitis at much higher rates. This pattern is the same for dental issues asthma and other issues. It's worse for Māori in many respects. You've heard the Minister Peeni Henare also address the issue of addressing bowel cancer screening bringing that in early and that's about saving lives. So this legislation is groundbreaking. It is a groundbreaking piece of legislation that will change the way health works in New Zealand and for those most vulnerable it will mean a much fairer and a more equitable system. So we can't rely on political rhetoric such as that. We have to rely on the evidence that has been collecting dust on the shelves year in year out. This Government is what is going to do something about it. So in addition to the Māori inequities in addition to the inequities faced by people with disabilities in addition to the inequity faced by people living in isolated rural areas we also have inequities faced by Pasifika people. And for me in the way that I've managed to oversee the development of this I've been wanting to make sure that for our Pasifika people and those who are in need it would mean a much fairer much more equitable system and much more responsive system to those needs. I want to see culturally intelligent people at the top of the new health structure and a Pasifika-facing policy at all levels in the new structure. This will fit into a Pacific national health strategy and this new focus on Pacific health will endure over the decades. So the line of sight is having Pasifika lead the work for Pasifika from the top all the way down. The localities where our Pacific providers are going to be are going to be crucial. We saw how our Pacific providers led the work and protected our communities in the last two years in the roll-out of vaccine. So I would say to those listening in: don't listen to the crap that you've heard from the other side; listen to the experts."