Craig LizDr LIZ CRAIG (Labour): Thank you Madam Speaker. Budget 2022 is fantastic for health. Basically it provides an extra $11.1 billion to help transform our health system into something that delivers for all New Zealanders. And there's a heck of a lot to talk about in Budget 2022 but I want to focus just on three main things. And the first of them is the $1.8 billion investment that's going to be allowing Health New Zealand and the Māori Health Authority to start their work on 1 July with a clean slate. And the second one is the largest ever increase to Pharmac's budget: so basically $191 million extra over the next two years for medicines. And then finally—which actually comes from Vote Social Development—is the tripling of the dental grant from $300 per year to $1000 a year and increasing the ability of people to come in for multiple visits which will make a massive difference to many people on low incomes.So going first to the extra funding that's going to come in so that Health New Zealand and the Māori Health Authority can start that clean slate on 1 July because a lot of the things we used to hear when we were having DHBs in for the annual reviews in the Health Committee was their deficits. And I think the issue that they were facing was after nearly a decade of under-investment by the previous Government DHBs were grappling with a whole lot of costs that they had to meet. They'd put off things like maintenance a lot of the basics and yet they were then confronted with ongoing increases in terms of just cost pressures wages etc. and we ended up with large deficits. And since coming into Government we have put in billions of extra into the health system but there's also a number of structural issues that have actually underpinned the need for reform. And so Budget this year provides an extra $1.8 billion boost so that when Health New Zealand does take over from the DHBs on 1 July it will basically cancel out those deficits. And it'll also provide extra so that cost pressures for increasing population growth and other costs can be accommodated which is fantastic news. But we're also looking at multi-year funding. So then it locks in an extra $1.3 billion in operational funding over the following year. And that will again give Health New Zealand and the Māori Health Authority certainty so they can go on and plan and deliver the services they need across the country. And then from 2024 onwards we'll start with that three-yearly funding cycle which will line up with the first three-year New Zealand health plan which is due to start in 2024. So basically it means it resets the baseline and it allows our health system to move on without continually having to play catch-up.One of the other really amazing things coming through Budget 2022 is the extra $191 million so Pharmac can get on and purchase the medicines it needs. So again this is something where the Health Committee—there were a lot of petitions coming both to the Health Committee and to the Petitions Committee from people saying Please get Pharmac to fund". And then they would talk about the new transformational medicine they felt was needed. But a lot of those medications had a significant price tag. And so what we're going to be doing is putting an extra $71 million in the 2022/23 year and then another $120 million in 2023/24 year so that Pharmac can get on and purchase medications. And so basically what that means is that Pharmac's operations for investment list will be able to take on and fund a number of new medicines but also expand the scope and the range of some of the medicines for wider use that we already cover—so make a really big difference to many people's lives.And then finally the dental grant which is actually not funded by Health but it's funded by Vote Social Development. And what that sees is that dental grant increasing from $300 to $1000 a year. And a lot of people talk to me about the difficulties they're having accessing dental care and the fact that they actually tend to just put it off until they absolutely have to go. And on the flip side is then dentists are coming and talking to me saying "Actually once somebody comes in for that acute dental care because they've left it so long $300 doesn't cover the cost." And so what you're confronted with is having to have an examination x-rays and often multiple fillings over several visits. And so funding that at $1000 a year but allowing people to come in over several visits will make a real huge impact. So there's a lot of really good things in Budget 2022. I haven't had the time to talk about the extra funding for mental health specialist addiction services or the boost to our ambulance and air ambulance services and extra funding for workforce development but this is an absolutely fantastic Budget that will make a real difference to many people's lives. And I'd just like to have a shout-out and thank our Minister of Finance for the investments he's put into Health."