Clark DavidDr DAVID CLARK (Labour—Dunedin North): I admire the member Simon Bridges for his levity and for making the most of the situation. In a Government that seems content to manage decline that was a pretty good effort he made at spinning the benefits of a growing economy. But we all know and New Zealanders know that where the economy has been growing the benefits have not been shared fairly. We know that real wages have been dropping that many New Zealanders are living in cars that New Zealanders are not getting care in the hospitals and that they cannot afford to pay the school fees or go on the school trips. We know that New Zealanders are missing out and that only very few are doing well under this Government. Most New Zealanders are working hard. They are working hard to get ahead but unfortunately they are struggling to stand still.That is why in this election there will be a very clear choice for New Zealanders. People can choose the tax cuts the Government is offering—that tax package that is targeted at the top 10 percent who will get the $400 million that Steven Joyce is promising. He will get a thousand dollars a year in his pocket because of those tax cuts. He says everybody in this Parliament needs a thousand dollars a year and that is the priority right now. That is where Government members' heads are at right now. Well those tax cuts are not a priority for most New Zealanders. Most New Zealanders want to be able to afford to go to the doctor. Most New Zealanders want their kids to have a world-class education at their local school. Most New Zealanders want to be able to have a dream of affording their own home and we have the lowest homeownership rates in New Zealand since the 1950s.Today in the House we saw where the Government's exclusive focus on the short term leads. The elective surgeries that the Minister of Health was trumpeting turn out to be little more than eye injections and skin lesion removals that could be done outside of a hospital. The Minister had no answer for the fact that in Auckland Counties Manukau Bay of Plenty and Waikato—in all of those growing populations all of them—the actual number of surgeries being performed in hospitals is dropping once you remove the eye injections and the skin lesion removals that could have been done outside of the hospital environment.Healthcare is dropping in this country. The level of unmet need is growing. Last year 60000 New Zealanders were sent back to their doctor because the district health board (DHB) did not have enough money to send them to a specialist that the GP requested. The GP did not send that letter as a joke. Saying I think you are sick; you need a cancer scan." or "I think you are sick; you need a hip operation. Go and see the specialist."—it is not a joke. But the DHB said: "We don't have the resource to even see you in the hospital. Go back to your doctor and when things get worse come back again." That is what is going on in this country. That is why the Labour Party in Government will focus on making sure that public services are funded adequately.The amount of underfunding in the health system is $2.3 billion. It is not just about putting money in right either. It is about putting money in but it is also about making sure that money is well spent and currently that exclusive focus on short-term targets is sending money in the wrong direction. It is making the DHBs focus on making the Government look good like in The Wire pumping up the statistics instead of getting on with meeting need where it presents.We have also seen in the last 24 hours stories told of what is happening at Dunedin Hospital where the ICU beds are limiting the availability of spaces for elective surgery patients to go through. We heard the stories of Amber Gibbs; Alan Sutton whose surgery was cancelled three times; Merv Telfer whose surgery was cancelled seven times; and Owen Glover who died—died—waiting for surgery after having his surgery cancelled four times.I have learnt since then that yesterday afternoon at one point there was not a single ICU bed available in the whole of the South Island of New Zealand. I put that to the Minister; he said he would have to check on that. He is not across his portfolio. If he does not know what is going on in our hospitals and in our health system that is a Government seriously out of touch. It is crowing about what the Opposition may or may not be doing this week; it does not have any policies itself. It has lost its way. We need instead of investing in tax cuts focused on the wealthy a Government that focuses on making sure ordinary regular everyday Kiwis who are working hard can get their doctor's appointment can get the education their kids need can afford to save for their retirement and so on.In closing we need a hospital rebuild in Dunedin. That has been promised since before the last election. We do not even have a business case and now we are told it will not be till midway through next year. We need some urgency on that matter."