Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
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6.  
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: Is she satisfied that health funding is being spent effectively; if so why? 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of Health) 
: 
 For the most part yes because health outcomes are improving. At least half of New Zealanders are now paying less for their doctors’ visits and most now pick up their prescriptions. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Can the Minister explain why the 21 district health boards now have incorporated into each of their statements of intent a commitment to acknowledging the treaty principles—all different and costing millions to the taxpayer—and what are those principles? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: The principles of the treaty as required to be implemented within the health sector are outlined in the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act and they relate to the relationships the district health boards are required to form with the Maori community. They are based on relationships that were formed under the previous Government when it set up things called Maori provider organisations. 
Opposition Members 
: Ah! 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: Those members do not like this one. They were built on the relationships that were formed under the previous Government called Maori provider organisations and those relationships are about what principles they are required to implement under the Act for health. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I seek leave for the Minister to be given an extension of time so that she can outline what those principles that I asked her about are. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? There is not. If the Minister wants to add to—[ 
Interruption 
] There is objection. [ 
Interruption 
] This is the members’ own private day so they are in their own time. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I sought leave for the Minister to be given an extension of time so that she could enunciate with clarity for the whole country and for this House what the Treaty of Waitangi principles that the 21 district health boards are following are and leave was granted. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I made a mistake. Leave can be sought by a person only on his or her own behalf. One cannot seek it on behalf of anybody else. 
Darren Hughes 
: In terms of effective health funding and use of the health dollar has the Minister received the final number for operations in the last financial year and how does that compare with the year preceding that? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: That is a very good question. I happen to have the figures here which I am happy to share with Judith Collins because she obviously does not know them. The actual figures for 2002-03 show that 267374 operations were undertaken. In 2003-04 there were 272881 operations an increase of 5501 over the previous year. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Can the Minister explain how inserting the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi into legislation—something she cannot explain—and policy has created better health outcomes for Maori when health spending has increased under her by 29 percent in the last 4 years yet the number of operations has fallen by 1.2 percent in the same period; and is it not a fact that much of that extra funding is being wasted on meaningless activities the identification of which she cannot give us? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: The member did not listen to my original answer. I said the treaty section within the Act—and I direct him to the treaty section within the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act—relates to the relationships that district health boards are to form with Maori. It is around partnership and participation in particular. The member is also wrong in that the number of operations has not fallen. I have just given the latest figures. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Why if there is clarity in what the Minister says the district health boards should be following does each different health board have a different explanation for the treaty principles; and second given that the Maori purchasing organisations do not cover anywhere south of the Waikato does the Treaty of Waitangi now not apply to the rest of the country? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: That is a very good question. The formation of relationships with Maori differ around New Zealand. For example the member is correct that in the north around the Auckland area and down into Waikato the formation of Maori purchasing organisations under the previous Government was the way to form a relationship. In other parts of New Zealand the development of Maori development organisations became the forum and the way to form relationships. So they are different in different parts of New Zealand based on the way the iwi and local people want to have relationships with those organisations. I think they existed when the member was in Government. 
Judith Collins 
: Is the Minister satisfied that health dollars are not being compromised by a lack of security in hospital pharmacies particularly in relation to ephedrine; if so what does she know of reports that there has been at least one recent incident of large-scale theft from such a hospital pharmacy? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: What I know is that within hospitals staff take great care to ensure that the drugs under their control are safe. I have heard of few if any problems in terms of hospital drugs within a hospital setting. That is not to say that at some point some person who can get access would not take advantage of that. One cannot protect totally but I have confidence in the health professionals who are responsible for ensuring there is restricted access to such drugs. 
Judith Collins 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Could the Minister just clarify that she has not heard any reports of large-scale thefts? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I thought the Minister addressed the question perfectly satisfactorily. [ 
Interruption 
] She did. Please do not interrupt me. 
Judy Turner 
: Will the Minister commit to urgent action to address the funding crisis faced by after-hours clinics around the country or is she content to send those patients to already overloaded emergency departments that struggle to meet their triage times? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: Yes I can give that assurance to the member. A lot of work is being done by the Ministry of Health the Independent Practitioners Association Council and the primary health organisations to ensure after-hours coverage. I suppose that one of the successes of the primary health organisations is that patients are now going to their general practitioners during working hours because it is now affordable and fewer are going for after-hours service when it is much more expensive. So that means the funding that clinics used to get by charging more to patients seen after hours is not there but urgent work is being done on that matter. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Has the Minister had any representations from the ACT party as to the adjustment of the health spend; if so would she like to elaborate on those? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: Like the Minister of Justice I think I will decline to elaborate.