Roy Heather: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Roy Heather: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:613;Page:9629] 
6.  
HEATHER ROY (ACT) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: Why did the Ministry of Health make a final payment of $90665.33 including GST to the Te Whare Whakapikiora o te Rangimarie Trust when there was no contractual obligation to do so and why did the ministry pay $74146.96 excluding GST of this payment directly to the Inland Revenue Department to cover the trust's outstanding tax liability? 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of Health) 
: 
 The Ministry of Health did not make a final payment of $90665.33 GST inclusive to the trust. The trust received $5625 GST inclusive in recognition of services provided without payment from July 2001 to January 2002 while the ministry carried out a second review. A tax liability of $74146.96 GST exclusive had been identified by the Inland Revenue Department prior to the second review commencing relating to koha payments made to voluntary staff dating back to 1995. The ministry decided to pay the Inland Revenue Department directly for the outstanding tax as the trust would not have the ability to clear the debt because its contract had not been renewed and the debt did go back 6 years when the trust was contracted to operate. 
Heather Roy 
: Of the $688000 received by the trust does the ministry know how much was used to provide Maori patients with treatment by Mr Apera Clark traditional Maori healer and clairvoyant and how much was spent by him and his wife on personal rent power petrol groceries dog food digital television spa pools and cases of muttonbirds; or does she and her ministry not care how this money was spent? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: Certainly the Ministry of Health and this Government do care how money is spent. In fact the first review on this trust took place under the old Health Funding Authority starting back in 1999. It then came to the Ministry of Health in December 2000. That is when a second review was carried out. It was not happy with the services provided by Mr Huata and the trust and decided to terminate the contract. It was terminated. They received no more money after they were given—[ 
Interruption 
] They received no more money for services— 
Stephen Franks 
: You know that’s not true. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member will stand withdraw and apologise for that comment. He knows it is out of order. 
Stephen Franks 
: I withdraw and apologise. 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: They received no more money for the contract other than the $5600 that was paid out after July 2002. 
Dr Lynda Scott 
: Does she or her ministry know whether any patients were treated at Mr Apera Clark’s Maori cultural and spiritual healing clinic after the Ministry of Health contracts expired; if so how many patients and what health outcomes were achieved? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: My understanding is that yes patients continued to be treated by the trust after the contract expired at the end of June 2001. I do not know how many people received services but the trust has been providing those same services—traditional Maori healing services—from 1995. That is what it was contracted to provide—first of all as a pilot in 1995 then in 1998 it was given a year-on-year contract. 
Heather Roy 
: How come the ministry continued paying Mr Apera Clark $2076 a week for 10 months after a ministry audit revealed that patients were being treated by untrained staff patient safety was at risk there was no sterilising equipment patients’ records contained no medicine dosages and one consultation was counted as three for payment because consultations involved prayer counselling and medicine dispensing; and how can she deny that she has two standards—one for politically correct healing and one for medicine that works because any proper medical practitioner would be struck off? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: I am certainly not defending anybody who provides a shonky service. However let us get this into perspective. Traditional Maori healing was provided funding in this particular trust going back 6 years. It was done not just by this Government; it was funded over a number of years and the Ministry of Health continued to fund the trust while it was reviewing it. However prior to the conclusion of that review the ministry had given notice that the contract would not be renewed and it did not renew the contract. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Is the Minister telling us that because this trust was established in 1995 one could probably conclude that the ACT party the National Party and the Labour Party on these matters to do with one standard position for all have the same policy? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The Minister has no responsibility for other parties; she has responsibility for her own party. 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: What I can conclude is that this Government and previous Governments before us have decided that we can and should fund traditional Maori healing following the development of proper guidelines for traditional Maori healing under the National Health Committee under a National Government. Interestingly enough we also provided funding for traditional Maori healing when that member was Treasurer. 
Heather Roy 
: Is it her policy to fund Maori spiritual and cultural healing and is there any clinical evidence that such healing is effective; or is this funding just political correctness gone mad? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: It obviously is not considered to be political correctness gone mad. As I said in the mid-1990s guidelines were developed by the National Health Committee which were then used for contracting by the previous Government and this Government—[ 
Interruption 
]—and I can tell the member who is screeching over there that it is our Government’s policy also to fund traditional Maori healing so long as it meets the guidelines established by the National Health Committee. 
Heather Roy 
: I seek leave of the House to table a letter from the Ministry of Health to Mr Apera Clark asking him to send an invoice for the final payment of $90665.33 for services undertaken. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.