Moroney Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Moroney Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:633;Page:5052] 
2.  
SUE MORONEY (Labour) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: What progress has been made in work to improve the oral health of New Zealanders? 
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Health) 
: 
 Last week the Government announced that over $100 million will be invested in a major reform of our public oral health system. The policy includes the revitalisation of the school dental service and provision of community oral health facilities. 
Sue Moroney 
: Has the Minister received any reports about the public discussion on the Government’s oral health policy? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I have seen reports that members of the oral health community have been angered by comments from Tony Ryall about the Government’s plan and National’s record on the issue. I have a copy of a letter sent to Mr Ryall from a registered dental therapist reminding him that it was National that foolishly made hundreds of dental nurses redundant that it was National that nearly destroyed the school dental service that it was National that closed down dental therapist training and that it was Labour that moved early in its first term to start repairing the damage. 
Barbara Stewart 
: How long does the Minister estimate it will take to fully implement the strategic vision for oral health in New Zealand and what dental care is accessible to children and teenagers who are missing out in the meantime? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I hope the member enjoyed her briefing on the topic this morning. It will of course take a number of years to fulfil a strategy as broad as this. However we are off to an early start; the first business cases will be coming in from district health boards in November of this year. 
Hone Harawira 
: Tena koe Madam Speaker. Why does the Government’s press release of 20 August hold National responsible for the worst oral health records for 5-year-olds in Northland since 1990 when today’s 5-year-olds have only ever lived under a Labour minority Government in charge of their dental health; and what will he do about the tragic statistics for Maori 5-year-olds in Northland today—only 14 percent of whom are cavity-free? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: My predecessor the Hon Annette King herself a dental therapist had restarted a dental therapy school in New Zealand had staffed it had the curriculum up had the funding and had students in the classroom within 15 months of a change of Government. That is what rapid repair looks like. She then opened a second school not in Dunedin but in Auckland. Both those schools are now churning out graduates. Finally we have started to lift the number of dental therapists in this country. It had fallen from 1000 to 550 and now that we are repairing the damage wrought by National we are building dental facilities so that these new dental therapists can go to work. 
Gordon Copeland 
: Can the Sisters of Compassion who generously fund a dental clinic for children in the Hutt expect any Government support any time soon from these initiatives—indeed from any of the $100 million tag for oral health—giving some help to those who unselfishly help others? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I am afraid I do not know but I can say that if they are an integral part of the local district health board’s dental health services they will already be receiving funding. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: Is the Minister standing up in the House today and saying that it will take another couple of years to see any progress in the improving of oral health for young New Zealanders considering in the last 7 years of the Labour Government there have been one two three four five six seven eight nine 10 and 11 strategies visions and reviews which this Government has done absolutely nothing on? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I now get a chance to rehearse the history again and I will enjoy it. The long and short of it is that there used to be more than a thousand dental therapists in this country but they got the sack from the previous Government. People stopped going to dental training schools. The schools closed and we ended up with an implosion in the workforce. That needed fixing and one cannot teach a dental therapist in 3 weeks; it takes 3 years. One cannot open a dental therapy school in 3 weeks; that took 15 months. If the National Government had only kept the dental therapy workforce up—if only it had done that—none of those reports would have needed to be written. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: I just remind members that gestures with hands can be misinterpreted. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: I seek leave to table the  
Oral Health Service Review 
 released in 2000. 
Document not tabled. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: I seek leave to table the  
Review of Publicly Funded Oral Health Care in New Zealand: Final Report 
 March 2001. 
Document not tabled. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: I seek leave to table  
Improving Child Oral Health and Reducing Child Oral Health Inequalities 
 May 2003. 
Document not tabled. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: I seek leave to table the  
School Dental Services Facilities Discussion Document 
 September 2003. 
Document not tabled. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: I seek leave to table  
Improve Oral Health 2004 
 edition 2. 
Document not tabled. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: I seek leave to table the Dental Therapy Technical Advisory Group Ministry of Health  
Recruitment and Practice of Dental Therapists 
 June 2004. 
Document not tabled. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: I seek leave to table the  
National School Dental Service Review: Final Report 
 December 2004. 
Document not tabled. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: I seek leave to table the  
Review of Maori Child Oral Health Services 
 December 2004. 
Document not tabled. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: I seek leave to table the  
Business Case Guidelines for Investment in Child and Adolescent Oral Health Services 
. 
Document not tabled. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: I seek leave to table  
Community Oral Health Service: Facility Guideline 
. 
Document not tabled. 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I seek leave to table a letter—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Madam SPEAKER 
: There will be silence during points of order. During the last point of order there were interruptions from both sides of the House. You are on your last warning. 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I seek leave to table a letter from Barbara Moreton registered dental therapist to Tony Ryall which states in part: “Annette King put in place some very good long-term planning which has been carried on by Pete Hodgson. When a service has been badly run down over many years as it was under National it cannot be fixed overnight.” 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Jo Goodhew 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. Unfortunately the Hon Tony Ryall has forgotten one. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: I have not called the member. I call Jo Goodhew. 
Jo Goodhew 
: Unfortunately the Hon Tony Ryall forgot one. I seek leave to table the 36-page latest strategic vision:  
Good Oral Health for All for Life: the Strategic Vision for Oral Health in New Zealand 
. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is objection. I remind members when they make points of order that they do not make any other comment but their reference to it.