Boyack Rachel; Salesa JennyRACHEL BOYACK (Labour—Nelson): It's a pleasure to rise and take a call this afternoon about one of the biggest and most important projects in Nelson and that is the new Nelson Hospital.Growing up in provincial New Zealand in the 1980s and 1990s I spent a lot of time at provincial hospitals. Thankfully it wasn't because I was sick; it was because my father Jonathan held senior management roles at New Zealand hospitals throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s. He finished his career in New Zealand as the chief executive of the Manawatu-Wanganui Area Health Board before moving to the UK to take up senior roles in Birmingham. As a young girl I would spend time visiting has offices attending marae for consultation with iwi about Māori health initiatives and going to what I thought at the time were very boring openings of new buildings. In fact I look back with great pride now on a photograph of myself aged eight alongside my father and Sir Paul and Lady Beverley Reeves at the opening of a new building at Wanganui Hospital.My family aren't known for our medical prowess. My father wasn't a doctor; he has accounting qualifications. My mother is a doctor but definitely not the kind you would want to call on in a health scare—sorry Mum. What my family is known for is getting things done. We take great pride in making projects stories and events happen. My formative years as that young girl observing people like my dad and then health Minister Helen Clark getting things done for the people of New Zealand definitely stirred in me a desire to get things done for our community.As the MP for Nelson the biggest project I have on my list of things to do is the rebuild of Nelson Hospital. It's the biggest capital project in a generation and we've been waiting decades for it. We are approaching one of the biggest milestones for this project: the final stage in the project's approval process. The programme business case is going through the Te Whatu Ora board for approval and then to Cabinet within the next two months.Nelson is at the top of the list across New Zealand for a new hospital and I want to acknowledge one of our former health Ministers David Clark for the groundwork he laid to make this project happen. David Clark commissioned a study of all hospitals across New Zealand and it was found that Nelson Hospital was in the worst condition of all of them. That has helped us make the case for this important funding. The George Manson building—most of it will come down. The Percy Brunette building will be refurbished. I'm really proud that prior to the Budget James Shaw announced that all coal burners at New Zealand hospitals will be replaced by 2025. I know that Nelson Hospital is working very steadily towards a new energy centre in 2024 as part of our rebuild.I spoke to a former member of the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board who said to me how important it was that we don't cut corners on this project—that in previous years funding was given but it was not enough for what was needed to ensure that Nelson had the best facility possible. I'm really proud as the local MP to have secured the first funding for this important project in Budget 2022 after decades of waiting for it. Very shortly we will have the full story in place. I hope my dad will be proud of me when we get to turn that first sod for our amazing new hospital. But most importantly I know that Nelsonians will benefit from having the best facility possible and will celebrate when the first baby is born in our new hospital when the first surgery is performed and when the first patient walks through the new emergency department.Labour is the party that builds hospitals and I'm proud to be the local MP that has secured the first round of funding for the most important project that our community will see in a generation.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): The time for this debate has expired.