Ryall Tony: Budget Debate 
Ryall Tony: Budget Debate 
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Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) 
: 
 Being in Opposition provides some opportunities for some members and I have heard so much from the previous speaker Darien Fenton in the last 6 months. In the previous 3 years or so I never heard a peep from her in respect of Taito Phillip Field or the Electoral Finance Act but we now hear a lot from her. It is usually that old-fashioned Labour stuff we heard in the 1970s. 
I will talk about this Budget because I think New Zealanders recognise that this Budget is a conservative Budget appropriate for the times. It recognises that the economic situation in New Zealand continues to worsen. Although we can be hopeful that the recovery is around the corner with international signs of recovery we should still prepare for difficult times and the Budget was prepared in that context. 
Before the election the Labour Government was told there was a $3.5 billion surplus; 6 months after the election we now have an $8 billion deficit. Not only do we have an $8 billion deficit but also we are in a decade of deficits with massive increasing national debt. But against that backdrop in this conservative Budget which is appropriate for the times the Government has delivered improvements in public services and the services it provides the community. 
I certainly think that New Zealanders are very pleased with the Government’s $323 million investment in home insulation. It will insulate 180000 homes. New Zealanders will be offered up to $3000 depending on the circumstances to improve the heating of their homes. It is a winning initiative enjoying very popular support around the country. The health sector has contributed $100 million towards the $323 million for home insulation. One of the best investments we can make in the public health service is in insulating homes for New Zealanders because that will really help with respiratory disease and will help families have healthier kids. Sadly because the health sector contributed $100 million to this scheme the Labour Party said it was not good—because that $100 million had been cut from the health budget. Did members read that? That is what the Labour Party said. Ruth Dyson said that the home insulation project was a $100 million cut out of the health service. That $100 million will make a real difference to the 180000 households in New Zealand that will have warmer homes. Ruth Dyson may not know this because her Government never thought respiratory disease was an issue but respiratory disease—asthma and all those problems—are big issues in New Zealand. Respiratory disease was never a health priority under a Labour Government—never once. But this project will provide home insulation to 180000 homes many of which are occupied by the most hard-up New Zealanders. It is a winning initiative that will dramatically improve public health. 
This Government also delivered $750 million this year to improve the public health service with new initiatives to provide New Zealanders with improved services. Not only have we put over $100 million into improving maternity service for New Zealanders but also we are providing longer stays in maternity facilities and seeking greater cooperation between general practitioners and midwives with the concept of trimester meetings between the two professions and mothers-to-be. We are also looking at additional services for Well Child and as members know we have funded PlunketLine as per our election promise. 
The Government also put $60 million into providing support to New Zealand’s hospices achieving what the previous Government had promised whereby 70 percent of total funding for hospices is publicly funded. The best the previous Government achieved was 50 percent; this investment from the National Government brings hospices’ public funding to 70 percent. It is a vital community service under considerable pressure because of the difficulty with fund-raising in the economic slowdown. We think that support will give hospices the opportunity not only to provide more service but also to provide more competitive salaries for the many nurses who work in hospices around the country. 
Speaking of the contribution that our nurses make around New Zealand I know that National Party members are very pleased with the significant investment that has been made in aged care in this Budget. Not only have we provided for the 3 percent increase in aged residential care subsidies but also we have put an extra $18 million a year into aged residential care to provide better nursing quality and supervision. That money will provide nurses who work in rest homes with much more competitive salaries because they face competition from the district health board sector which pays considerably more to nurses in that sector. 
We also know that district health boards will receive $2.1 billion over the next 4 years. That is $530 million a year going into our district health boards to provide much-needed services for New Zealanders. That funding includes an additional $40 million or so to improve access to medicines in New Zealand. This part of the Budget has not had the public awareness it should have had. We know that a lot of modern medicines subsidised in Australia are not subsidised here in New Zealand. It is a fact that per head of population funding for medicines dropped every year under the previous Government. We are now on a path to restore that funding so that it meets growth per head of population. Additional funding will go into medicines and that will improve access for New Zealanders. We know that the Prime Minister funded Herceptin for New Zealand women so that they can now get the standard of care. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: What about growth hormones? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: Mrs Chadwick was in the Labour Government for 9 years and it never did a thing about it! Now she asks us what we are doing about that issue. I tell Mrs Chadwick that we are doing more than she ever did on that issue. We are putting $40 million into medicines the biggest increase for years in the funding of community medicines and it is being delivered by a Government in tough economic times. 
The biggest issue in health we face today is the workforce the workforce the workforce. We have huge shortages in many of our medical professions. There has been real pressure on nursing although a little bit of pressure has come off with the recession. But there are also pressures in midwifery. This Government is acting on that. We started a voluntary bonding initiative which has been wildly successful and we encourage young graduates in medicine nursing and particularly midwifery to work in hard-to-staff areas. We think these initiatives are very positive and we are getting a huge reaction to them. The Government also provided additional training places in the midwifery colleges and additional money to encourage rural midwives to continue training new graduate midwives in rural areas and to give those graduates an incentive to stay longer in those rural areas. 
This Government is delivering in the health sector in tough economic times. Half of all new spending in this Budget is on health because our Prime Minister John Key who is providing superb leadership for New Zealand and our Minister of Finance Bill English know that public health is fundamental to our nation. They are determined that we continue to invest strongly in our public health services so that they are there for New Zealanders when they need them. This Government is determined to improve access to many of the key areas highlighted in our new health targets in our letter of expectation to district heath boards. We back that up with $750 million of new initiatives in the health sector including a significant contribution to the home insulation project which the Prime Minister announced which will make a real difference to the health of many young New Zealanders and many of our most impoverished households. This project has the total support of the Government and its coalition partners. If we can make those homes warmer then we will deal with some of the disease the respiratory problems and the challenges faced by many families in a most difficult financial situation. That is certainly what this Budget is about. It is a conservative Budget providing the best for New Zealanders.