Swarbrick ChlöeCHLÖE SWARBRICK (Green): E Te Māngai tēnā koe. Tēnā koutou e Te Whare. I rise to speak today to the health Estimates debate and I'd like to particularly address the two issues of mental health and also drug and alcohol abuse and addiction.I'd like to note straight off the bat that this is evidently an emotive topic as I think it's something which touches the lives of far too many New Zealanders. I also just wanted to address in particular the points made by the speaker previous to me Matt Doocey. I don't intend for this to be a tit-for-tat sparring session because I think that the issue of mental health and drug abuse and addiction are things which are much bigger than politics. But when we're talking about cost and productivity in the context of this space I get really dubious. The reason for that is that we're not talking about economic units here; we're talking about people's lives and the quality of people's lives. Yes absolutely I don't think anybody on any side of this House would argue that we shouldn't be talking about the efficacy of treatment but I think that we should be careful about the language that we're using because I think that a lot of the context that has led to this spike in mental health incidents—particularly amongst young people—is absolutely a culture of competitiveness where we are all out fighting against each other as opposed to coming together as communities. We're incredibly individualised so I think that that's something which we can work to fix from the get-go and doesn't necessarily require a change in legislation or structural funding or otherwise to begin with but so too it would provide a space and environment for people to feel more welcome to speak about their issues and their troubles.So to turn now to the Estimates as were heard by the Health Committee and the questions that were put forward. On the point of mental health I actually wanted to refer to the confidence and supply agreement between the Greens and Labour. I quote from No. 16 in that agreement which reads: Ensure [everybody] has access to timely and high quality mental health services including free counselling for those under 25 years [old]." Allocated under this Budget for the next three years is an integrated therapy pilot for 18- to 24-year-olds. I think that this is an incredibly exciting starting point and I will note that this is just that—it is only a starting point. It is focused explicitly on those who are currently falling through the cracks and missing out which I think is incredibly important because I personally know far too many people who haven't been able to access the mental health services that they need when they need them. It's focused on ensuring that we end up with the recommendations as to how to make mental health services in this country more affordable and more accessible. I note it's an interesting choice of words but it's referred to in the outcomes and objectives of the pilot as being more acceptable and attractive to young people. I think that's important because it's about not just the services being there but people actually engaging with them—those services being fit for purpose.I so too note that there is funding in this Budget for the Mana Ake services for rangatahi in Christchurch who have obviously been affected by the trauma associated with the earthquakes and so too $17 million for the school-based health services expansion. I also—with the final bit of time that I've got left—refer to the issues around alcohol and drug addiction services which are obviously also referenced in our confidence and supply agreement at No. 19: "Increase funding for alcohol and drug addiction services and ensure drug use is treated as a health issue". Critical to that point is the $16 million which is being allocated to Auckland City Mission for the use of their beds for those with drug abuse and alcohol addiction and abuse issues as well.I think as I kind of alluded to at the beginning of this speech the point around cross-party collaboration is incredibly incredibly critical. Mental health issues do not happen in a vacuum. They are informed by culture. They're informed by the behaviour of the leaders in our society. I think that we in this House have every opportunity to stand up and to grasp that leadership and to show some political will to solve these problems because it is as much important that we instigate a cultural shift as a structural one."