King Annette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeKing Annette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 25 June 2014. Volume:699;Page:18863. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]6.Hon ANNETTE KING (Labour—Rongotai)to the Minister of Health: What recent action if any has he taken to find the leak of information relating to Health Benefits Limited?Hon JO GOODHEW (Associate Minister of Health)on behalf of theMinister of Health: None. However the Minister of Health has been asked to comment on the document supposedly leaked but that member will not make it public. It appears to be an undated unsigned opinion piece printed on a plain piece of paper. I—[Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! The question was asked. I want to hear the answer even if some of the members here to my left do not.Hon JO GOODHEW: I invite the member to table it. The Health Benefits Ltd strategy aims to free up hundreds of millions of dollars for front-line services. It has already delivered over $200 million in savings.Hon Annette King: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! Points of order are heard in silence.Hon Annette King: They might need to leave.Mr SPEAKER: We do not need school teachers here; I just need—[Interruption] Order! OK. [Interruption] Order! Now let us get back some order. I am going to hear a point of order from the Hon Annette King and I am going to hope to hear it in absolute silence.Hon Annette King: Mr Speaker I am seeking your guidance in fact. The Minister in her answer said I have refused to provide the information. I have never been asked—Mr SPEAKER: Order! That is not a valid point of order. If the member feels—[Interruption] Order! If the member feels that in any way she has been misrepresented she knows what to do—refer to Standing Order 355.Hon Annette King: Aha! Thank you Mr Speaker.Mr SPEAKER: You asked for guidance; I am here to help.Hon Annette King: Did he say in September 2012 that he would use powers under the Crown Entities Act—powers he called “a very big stick”—to force district health boards into a partnership with Health Benefits Ltd if they did not comply with his instructions?Hon JO GOODHEW: I do not have in front of me a transcript that would confirm that member’s allegation that that is what the Minister said. However what I do know is that the district health boards have taken some time to come to the table to see the benefits of this—a little longer time than we would have wished. However they are now all engaged in the various committees that will assist Health Benefits Ltd to achieve savings for New Zealand’s health sector. These savings translate into front-line services which is what the health care public of New Zealand are asking for—Mr SPEAKER: Order! That is a very long answer.Hon Annette King: Did he threaten to withhold approval of district health board annual plans for organisations that did not overtly support Health Benefits Ltd?Hon JO GOODHEW: Again I am unable to confirm the veracity of that. However what I do know is that when this Government was elected in 2008 procurement services were very inefficient. Twenty district health boards all having a procurement service is very inefficient. Therefore gains will continue to be sought so that the health care public of New Zealand will be the beneficiaries.Hon Annette King: Is he aware that the pressure he has applied to district health boards to continue to support Health Benefits Ltd has led to “a culture of fear and distrust that is producing a range of consequences that are short-sighted at best and dangerous to patient care at worst.”?Hon JO GOODHEW: Again I would repeat an answer that I gave yesterday which is that this is exactly the sort of rhetoric that we would expect 12 weeks out from the election. However what we do know is that district health boards are engaging constructively and collaboratively in trying to achieve back-office savings to deliver more money to the front line.Hon Annette King: Could the loss of confidence by district health boards in Health Benefits Ltd be because of the fact that although 400 staff throughout New Zealand look set to lose their jobs Health Benefits Ltd has grown to have staff of 49 employees and 81 contractors a total of 130 staff and nearly double the policy staff at the Ministry of Health?Hon JO GOODHEW: What I do know and can assure the member of is that when there is significant change in the health sector—or in any sector in fact—there is always some discomfiture on the part of the people who are working through change process. However what I can tell you is that these processes are being worked through collaboratively and that the beneficiaries in the end will be the health care public of New Zealand.Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I listened very carefully to that question from Annette King because it concerned some numbers—Mr SPEAKER: Can the member just make his point of order please? What is the point of order?Rt Hon Winston Peters: I will do it as succinctly as I can.Mr SPEAKER: No the member will not do it as succinctly as he can; he will do it in accordance with the Standing Orders. What is the point of order?Rt Hon Winston Peters: I listened carefully to the Minister’s answer to a question about numbers. None of that happened in that answer.Mr SPEAKER: The member is now questioning whether the Minister answered the question in accordance with the Standing Orders. In this case the question was addressed in accordance with the Standing Orders.