Clark DavidDr DAVID CLARK (Labour—Dunedin North): Did that not sound like pulling teeth? Did that not sound like pulling teeth? The words coming out of the Minister of Health's mouth said one thing; his body language said something completely different—completely different. That Minister was not comfortable delivering that message.This is a day of celebration. Finally—finally—those low-paid workers have some justice. I agree with the Minister that this is a historic day. This is a really significant settlement. He talked about the constructive relationship over 20 months in getting to this point. He did not mention 5 years—5 years—since the court cases began to get to this point. He did not mention that lawyers whom he instructed whom his Government instructed fought this tooth and nail every step of the way. That Minister has said the things that should have been said but he has not meant them. I think we can see that in this House. I think the body language gives it away.My congratulations first and foremost to those who took the case. Let us say a thankyou for the TerraNova case to Kristine Bartlett and to the Service and Food Workers Union which took this case and made this happen. This is a very special day. This will have implications that will continue for some time to come for low-wage workers in this sector and also in other sectors.I want to cover briefly a little bit of the history. We know that this industry the care and support industry is mostly made up of female employees with a high proportion working part-time. A 2015 workforce survey by the Ministry of Health indicated that the average wage rate was between $15 and $16 an hour.I remember when I was doorknocking before I was a member of Parliament—out doorknocking in the streets of Dunedin North—coming across somebody who worked in the sector who had recently given in her notice. She was reluctant to do that because she loved the work she was doing and she was good at it but this woman concluded that she could no longer afford to feed her family in doing this work that she was good at and doing the caring that she believed in for people who really needed it. That woman was going to stack shelves in a supermarket at night a job for which she did not have any particular qualification but she was grateful for the few extra dollars that would mean she could feed her family at the end of the week. It is a disgrace that we ever got to this situation and so it is a really good thing that we are working out how we can move on from there.The pay equity claim as I mentioned was filed 5 years ago in 2012 in the Employment Court—TerraNova v Service and Food Workers Union and Bartlett. The plaintiff's claim was that because the work is predominantly performed by women care and support workers are paid less than would be paid to a man performing work involving similar skills responsibilities conditions and degrees of effort. The Employment Court and subsequently the Court of Appeal determined that the Equal Pay Act of 1972 did allow for such pay equity claims to be pursued. The Government fought that all the way. In June 2015 after the Supreme Court refused leave for TerraNova Homes and Care to appeal a Crown negotiator was appointed to facilitate a negotiated settlement.That is how we got to where we are today—a position where some skilled workers will get $5000 more in their hands. They would not have got that had they not taken that case. This Government opposite is the same one that threw out a bill I had when I was a new member in this House to take the minimum wage to $15 an hour because it thought it was too much. Now today it is here saying that it is glad this has been settled but let us not forget—let us not forget members—that it fought this tooth and nail every step of the way.The $5000 more I mentioned—it will be different for different workers but the workforce will get between 15 and 49 percent more depending on their qualifications and experience. For example an aged-care worker on the minimum wage will now take home around another $106 a week from July. And that is what they should always have been getting. That is what they should always have been getting had it not been for the Government fighting this all the way.This is not a victory for the National Government. This is a victory for the workers and for the union that generously took this case and shared the benefits across the industry with those who are union members and those who are not. This is a victory for low-wage workers. This is a victory for the labour movement. The members across there were dragged kicking and screaming trying to fight the 55000 low-paid workers who benefited from it trying to fight it all the way appealing at each and every stage. The Government came to an agreement finally because it realised it had no choice. The public was not on its side.This is matched today in the announcements around funding for the health system. The Minister mentioned them in his speech. He talked about record amounts going into the health sector but it is simply not keeping up Minister. We know that $650 million was required for district health boards (DHBs) just to stand still to deliver the same level of services that they are delivering now. The Minister gave them $439 million—over $200 million short in this Budget alone. That adds to the $1.7 billion—$1.7 billion—that the Government has cut out of the healthcare sector over the last 6 years.Treasury published a report that has recently been released—it was written in February this year—that says that there have not been productivity gains in the sector. That leaves only one conclusion: if there have not been productivity gains in the case-weighted discharges that means that services are being cut. If you fund less and there are no productivity gains you deliver fewer services. That is unfortunately what this Government is delivering for healthcare generally.Then the Minister talked about mental health. The Minister talked about the money that he is hoping to put into mental health. Let us not forget that 2 weeks ago the Minister delivered a speech that said that he was going to take a paper to Cabinet shortly for $25 million a year—part of the social investment package so-called. That $25 million a year is a drop in the bucket and the Minister announced that only when the pressure came on from the Labour Party saying that we need more money in mental health and need to put extra money in with specific initiatives. The Minister still does not know what he is doing. His press release today said that he still has not taken the paper to Cabinet and that Cabinet has still not even considered what it is doing with mental health.There is a growing crisis in this country and the Government has no answer. It tried to beef up its press release by saying that there would be an additional $100 million over 4 years which was within the DHB baseline funding—i.e. that $439 million announced which was short of the $650 million required would also be tied up in part with mental health funding. So it has tied the DHBs' hands further and announced money that is already being spent. That is the best it can do. I am not surprised Mike King walked away from this Government's efforts to look at mental health.I want to read some words from the press release announcing that particular flagship: $100 million for a new cross-government social investment fund that will target innovative new proposals to tackle mental health issues." Does anyone in this House know what that means? I hear silence. I do not think anyone in this House knows what that means and I do not think especially that the Minister knows what that means. That is gobbledygook. That is rubbish. That is the best this Government has got for the mental health crisis in New Zealand—a 60 percent increase in people using mental health services and today all that was in the Budget was a few words that said "a cross-government social investment fund that will target innovative new proposals to tackle mental health issues." That was the best it could offer. It has no vision. It is out of ideas. It has been here for 9 years and that is 9 years too long.What we need is a fresh approach. A Labour Government will deliver a fresh approach in health. It will deliver that fresh approach in mental health. We have announced school-based services already; we have announced a pilot where there will be community mental health workers available free GP consults and so on. A fresh approach will come from a Labour Government.But today I do want to say that Labour will support this settlement because finally the Government has got there 5 years on fighting it tooth and nail at every step. It is a victory for the labour movement. My congratulations to Kristine Bartlett my congratulations to the Service and Food Workers Union and thank goodness that the Government has finally settled on this and that those workers will get the pay they should always have been getting."