Clark DavidGENERAL DEBATEHon Dr DAVID CLARK (Minister of Health): I move That the House take note of miscellaneous business. This is a Government that is committed to tackling the long-term challenges facing New Zealand and make no mistake there are plenty of them. The legacy of nine long years of a National Government is a long list of social environmental and economic challenges that were ignored for far too long. I am proud to belong to the Jacinda Ardern - led Labour New Zealand First and Green Party Government that is investing in fixing these long-term challenges. We are creating jobs we are lifting wages we are investing in our schools and we are cleaning up our rivers. On this side of the House we are not prepared to put the hard issues in the too-hard basket. We are getting on and fixing the problems we've inherited and that is no more so true than in the area that I'm responsible for: the area of health in New Zealand. I won't talk today at length about the rot the mould and the sewage in the walls of our hospitals but suffice to say when it comes to looking at our health facilities in nine Budgets—in nine Budgets—that National Government invested less over the whole nine Budgets than we have invested in the most recent Budget alone in our health facilities. So it's no surprise that many of our hospitals are not fit for purpose leaving aside the rot the mould and the sewage in the walls of our hospitals. I'm not going to dwell today on the workforce shortages that we've inherited. I'm not going to dwell today on the underfunding of our district health boards over nine long years. Instead I want to talk about one of the biggest long-term challenges we face as a nation: mental health and addiction. This Government since day one has taken mental health and addiction seriously. We are getting on with addressing that long-term challenge. In our first year we rolled out mental health support to Canterbury and Kaikōura schools through the Mana Ake programme; we've delivered free mental health services to Wellington and the Wairarapa with the Piki programme for 18- to 24-year-olds; we're investing in new drug and alcohol detoxification beds in Auckland and specialist services for our most vulnerable mental health patients; we've extended the nurses in schools programme in decile 1 to 4 schools and now we're rolling it out to decile 5 schools; we've cut the cost of visiting a doctor for around 600000 New Zealanders—all of these initiatives were under way even before we received He Ara Oranga the report into mental health and addiction. We've been getting on with addressing the issues we've inherited. That report will shape our responses for many many years to come and let's be clear: it will take years to tackle these issues. But we're building on what we've already done in Budget 2019. We're going to deliver a whole new front-line health workforce to support those wrestling with mild to moderate mental health needs—the missing middle. We're building on existing services and developing new services that will get to those who are unable to access services currently. We're investing in suicide prevention including free counselling for bereaved families. We're investing in enhanced drug and alcohol services digital and telehealth services and services targeted to vulnerable parents. We're also investing in our workforce with $80 million going to existing staff and with peer support folks getting additional training and we're investing $200 million into mental health and addiction facilities directly. That's just some of the work under way in mental health. We'll have further announcements in coming weeks including announcements around a suicide prevention strategy details around the suicide prevention office and indeed announcements around the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission. Before I finish I want to touch briefly on cancer care and control. As the Prime Minister has said she will be announcing—and I will stand alongside her—our response with our cancer action plan which will be released on Sunday. I'm not about to get ahead of the Prime Minister on those announcements—that would not be career-enhancing—but what I can say is it is a comprehensive plan and it's backed up by real action. We are going across the full spectrum of cancer care and control from screening and prevention to treatment and palliative care. We'll ensure we have strong central leadership on cancer and consistent standards nationwide. We'll build on our announcement of 12 new linear accelerators in Hawke's Bay Taranaki and Northland. Hundreds more people will not have to travel so far because they'll be able to get their radiation treatment closer to home. That's what real action on cancer care looks like. We are getting stuck in and tackling the long-term challenges facing New Zealand.