Verrall AyeshaHon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Minister of Health): I too want to express my sympathies to those affected by the fire in Loafers Lodge in Newtown. When I was a junior doctor it was my neighbourhood. I made a point of living two minutes from the emergency department and living there and working there I saw some of the people with complex conditions who came and went from the hospital; who were also the familiar faces we'd see on the streets of Newtown. Sadly one of those is among those reported as unaccounted for from the fire. I want to express my deepest thanks to the first responders including paramedics and those who cared and those who continue to care for people affected by the fire in the emergency department.In reflecting on this urgent debate today I want to say what an important and great opportunity we have through our reformed health system to create a truly equitable high-quality and patient-centred system. We know that our system has not been fair for everyone. It was too complex and fragmented it was orientated around the convenience of providers rather than that of patients and healthcare became dependent on where you live. On this side of the House we believe that that's not good enough. We are focused on reforms to create a more equitable system where all people and whānau and their communities are supported in their health and wellbeing aspirations. So I see this opportunity as the greatest in a generation but the difficulty and complexity of our task cannot be overestimated. Transformational change like this doesn't happen overnight and it will take time for deeper issues like resourcing and inequality to start to improve. But I want to talk about the way that we are doing it and one example is through our winter plan where we are using the power of our one national health system to commission services closer to people's homes and where we are making the best use of our talented professionals to mean that pharmacists and general practitioners and others can practise at the top of their scope and be empowered to help people in their communities more.Our health sector needs a change to do more like this and I am determined to support it to do so. Services need to work for everyone and for the wellbeing of their communities and there is a positive vision of our health system that we can realise through the reforms. But what do we hear from the other side of the House? Nothing but constant negativity white-anting and the failed policies of the 1990s that got us into this mess. New Zealanders need to know that a vote for the Opposition is a vote that puts their health services at risk. It's clear that National's tax plan—tax cuts for the highest-earning New Zealanders—means massive cuts to health to education to housing and to all the social services. National will try and tell New Zealanders they won't make cuts but without cuts their tax plan does not add up. A National-ACT coalition will cut taxes but that means cuts to essential services whereas we have increased funding to Pharmac by 51 percent since 2017 which has enabled them to purchase drugs like Trikafta for cystic fibrosis. A vote for the Opposition puts that at risk. We have increased the base rate for registered nurses by 43 percent since 2017 and we remain committed to settling pay equity claims. A vote for the Opposition puts that at risk.We have funded and developed services like Decide the national free abortion telehealth service. A vote for the Opposition puts that service at risk. We have created the Māori Health Authority. We are supporting by Māori for Māori services to reduce the life expectancy gap. A vote for the Opposition puts that progress at risk. We have funded the roll-out of primary mental health services that are available in communities up and down the country. A vote for the Opposition puts that at risk.Under this Government health infrastructure spending has increased substantially since 2017 compared to the many years of austerity with no funding of health capital infrastructure under National. That has allowed us to get on and build improved services across the country fixing and building hospitals. That is at risk with a vote for the Opposition.There is too much at risk in this election—too much at stake—and we cannot afford to go backwards. There is no doubt we are living in challenging times but we have a plan to create a more equitable health system that's focused on the needs of New Zealanders and we're getting on with the job.