Strange JamieJAMIE STRANGE (Labour): Madam Chair thank you for the opportunity to take a call on the New Zealand Public Health and Disability (Waikato DHB) Elections Bill. Madam Chair can I also congratulate you on your appointment—I know you'll do an absolutely fantastic job.The reasons for the commissioner being instated in the Waikato District Health Board (DHB) have been fairly well-canvassed as the Minister in the chair said in the media. I'd just like to make a few comments on that—that the leadership shown by the Minister in terms of appointing a commissioner has certainly been very well received in the Waikato region. As a local MP I'm constantly talking with people and they highlight the fact that an aspect of stability has been brought to the DHB and I'd like to ask the Minister: was that one of the key drivers—around the instability—and bringing a sense of stability to the situation?I'd also like to highlight the fact that the staff at the hospital do an absolutely fantastic job and this decision by the Minister as I understand it was certainly no reflection on the absolutely fantastic work they do. Actually two of my tamariki were born at the Waikato Hospital and so I've obviously got a very close connection with that institution.Tim van de Molen: Likewise.JAMIE STRANGE: Likewise from another member opposite there. Actually recently my son had a fishbone stuck in his throat and we had to go to the A & E department and the service we received was absolutely fantastic. We no longer let our son debone the fish; we have a bit more oversight over that now.Just a couple of questions for the Minister in the chair. The first one was: the decision was made to cancel one election meaning that there will be an election taking place in 2022—I'd just like the Minister to elaborate on the reason for limiting it to one election. I assume he has an aspect of confidence that the challenges that had been experienced will be able to be fixed within a short period of time and I'd just like him to elaborate on where that confidence lies—the key reasons for that. The previous CEO Derek Wright did an absolutely fantastic job in challenging situations. I personally met with him a number of times. The staff certainly found him very warm to deal with and really appreciate the leadership that he showed and it's important that we do acknowledge the work that he did there. This appointment as we've heard was a reflection of some of the challenges the board had.I've got another question for the Minister which is around the board's view of the commission. I believe that he canvassed the board leading up to this decision and received some responses from board members around what they felt needed to happen. My understanding is that the board were fairly close to unanimous in terms of expressing to the Minister that a commissioner was required and I'd be interested in the Minister's discussions there and the process that led to the appointment of a commissioner.The aspect of funding of our health system is one that is continually under discussion whichever Government is in power and it's something that affects all of our lives—our DHBs. So I'd like to ask the Minister to elaborate a little bit on the funding aspect around this decision and how much of that played a role in his decision making. As I understand it the Waikato's financial performance continued to deteriorate over a period of time; 2017-18 they reported a deficit of $37.2 million and they're forecasting a $56.1 million deficit for the 2018-19 period with increasing deficits forecast in future years. Now these figures are quite sobering. They certainly highlight some of the challenges that the DHB has had in terms of their finances and I'd be certainly very interested in the Minister's view around how much that financial aspect played a role in this decision that he has made.I'd also be interested if he could highlight the fact of—under the previous regime we certainly heard from a number of people who worked in the health industry around in a way at times a lack of support. I was just wondering how the Minister would compare the previous regime and what he is currently doing as Minister of Health and how he sees the way forward to fix some of these deficits—the current deficit and the projected deficit. We've had large population growth in the Waikato region which has put a lot of strain on our health system put a lot of strain on our education system and it is a challenging environment and I'd be interested in how the Minister plans to address some of these financial challenges and how having a commissioner in place will support that. I think that probably highlights the key questions that I've had there. So the first one was around the period of the election—2022—the views of the board around the commissioner the engagement he had with the board there and the aspect of funding and how he plans to address some of the challenges there. So I look forward to the answers from the Minister. Thank you.