Chadwick Steve: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Chadwick Steve: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:623;Page:18587] 
8.  
STEVE CHADWICK (Labour—Rotorua) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: Has she received any proposals to scrap universal health benefits and what would be the impact of such an approach? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Leader of the House) 
 on behalf of the  
Minister of Health 
: Yes the Minister has seen the statement made by the Opposition spokesperson that National will abandon the universal subsidies for primary care that have been announced by this Government. That would mean a return to the old discredited targeting policies. For example under the community services card regime people who earned over $19999 a year were rich enough to pay for their primary-care services. The public will also remember the failed attempt to introduce charging for hospital services that quickly had to be abandoned. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I wish to ask you to make a comparison. That Minister found himself responsible for learning when some other party made a statement but of course just prior to that when the Minister of Police was asked when he learnt something that was out of order. How can this be in order if that question was out of order? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: In speaking to the point of order I say that the question was whether the Minister had received any proposals. Had the member cared to ask the Minister whether he had heard certain things from the Prime Minister that question would have been in order. 
Steve Chadwick 
: What evidence has the Minister of Health seen of the benefits from the universal subsidies for primary health care now being rolled out through the primary health organisations? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: We are already seeing good results from the increased investment in primary health care. Preliminary figures show that people are accessing primary care based on their need and not on some arbitrary targeting tool such as the community services card. People with the greatest health needs are now using services at a higher rate. That is exactly what one would expect given their higher health needs. Under the old regime many people from the high - health need population were simply not getting adequate primary health care. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: Can the Minister of Health guarantee she will have resources available to fix New Zealand’s woefully substandard cancer services the mental health crisis the obesity diabetes epidemic and the pressing health needs of our ageing population? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I am happy to answer the question but the question was about universal health benefits rather than the issues of cancer patients etc. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No the Minister said that he was happy to answer the question and I ask him to do so. 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I certainly am. I will continue on behalf of the Minister of Health to place considerable pressure on the Minister of Finance to ensure that sufficient resources are available but in the case of cancer treatment I remind the member that in 1999 the then National Government refused to release a report on the shortcomings in cancer care and since that time the Government has been progressively building up resources in that area that were left completely inadequate by National. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I note that there are four Associate Ministers of Health in the House. In the event that the Minister of Health is unavailable why is it that those Ministers—Mr O’Connor Mr Hodgson Mr Anderton and others—draw a salary but do not stand in for the Minister during her absence? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: All I can say is that the Government determines who answers questions when the Minister is absent.