Hutchison Paul: Estimates Debate — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHutchison Paul: Estimates Debate — In Committee[Sitting date: 01 July 2014. Volume:700;Page:19090. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (Chairperson of the Health Committee):It is indeed a great pleasure to speak on these estimates in Vote Health because this year the National Government has committed to an investment in Vote Health of $15.6 billion an all-time record. National has indeed managed to achieve an increase in productivity and an increase in outputs over the last 5 years.What is really important to realise in health is that right around the world there is almost infinite demand and finite resources. And in stark contrast to the National Government’s achievements the previous Government failed on all accounts. It doubled the health expenditure decreased outputs and indeed decreased productivity. If indeed Labour’s spending record had continued at year-on-year 8 percent increases in a few decades’ time Vote Health would have made up 60 percent of the entire Government spend. It was absolutely absolutely unsustainable along that trajectory.So it is a great worry when I hear Annette King once again shroud-waving about the achievements of the previous Labour Government in this area. Just to remind you they were to double the expenditure decrease productivity and decrease outputs.Hon Trevor Mallard: That’s just untrue.Dr PAUL HUTCHISON: Yes she was. She was saying that Labour had achieved a lot. She was saying that it was not the Labour Government’s fault that women were heading to Australia for radiation therapy. Once again she showed the absolute inability of the previous Labour Government to be realistic about sustaining a value-for-dollar health system.But the record of the National Government over the last 5 years has been 40000 more elective surgery outputs per year since 2008 and I would like Barbara Stewart to take note of that. There have been 1000 more doctors and 3000 more nurses. We have heard Annette King talking about her health workforce but for the first time in the history of New Zealand there have been more medical graduates available than there are jobs in the resident hospital training programmes available in New Zealand. This is an incredible achievement. But the reality is that workforce planning is extremely difficult because international conditions change. Australia has indeed trained a great deal more doctors and now New Zealand doctors are wanting to stay here. There is still a great attraction for doctors from Britain Canada and South Africa to come to New Zealand.One of the clear focuses of the National Government has been the introduction of taxpayer-funded free access for children under 13 to general practitioner care. It was good to hear Barbara Stewart saying what a great National Government this is for introducing this policy. At the beginning of this year David Cunliffe with a blare of trumpets and sirens announced a $1 billion package of unmitigated baby bribes—a non-directed untargeted baby bonus. This was a clear example of a party and a leader that have no cognisance whatsoever of making sure that every health dollar counts. In contrast in this Budget the National Government announced a very well-directed and very practical family and children package. Amongst it of course were the free access and the $90 million that will go towards ensuring that children right around New Zealand will be able to access primary care keeping them out of hospitals.The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson): I call the honourable member Jian Yang. Ni hao ma?