Calder Cam: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Calder Cam: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 09 May 2012. Volume:679;Page:2095. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr CAM CALDER (National) 
: 
 We will be very sorry to lose you Mr Mallard after a wonderful discourse on the significant issues facing the country today; I think we heard about rampant lesbians trips to Puhoi and we discussed old school mates. Mr Parker said that on this side of the House we were refusing to engage in the big issues and yet the discussion has centred on health and welfare. If these are not big issues in the forefront of everybody’s mind in New Zealand today I do not know what are.  
This is a principled and pragmatic Government a Government that keeps its promises. In the face of global uncertainty it is crucial that we are fiscally prudent custodians of the public purse that we create a more productive economy and that we develop new markets. I want to pay credit to our Minister of Trade the Hon Tim Groser who has been pivotal in exploring new markets and negotiating new free-trade agreements around the world which can only be in New Zealand’s interest as we work towards creating 40 percent of our GDP from exports. We have committed to rebuilding Christchurch—it is a significant contributor to our GDP—and of course we are demanding more effective more efficient high-quality public services.  
We are on track to be back in the black in 2014-15. That does not sound very sexy but why is it important? It is important because once we get back to surplus we can start repaying debt. This is no small achievement in the face of the difficult conditions that this economy has been facing in the last 3½ years. It has come about only through disciplined fiscal policy by this Government—a willingness to make trade-offs.  
We have a plan to rebuild the economy. We have a plan to strengthen the economy and strengthen our country. We are sticking to it and it is working. If you want to see what happens when there is no plan you need only to look across the water to Europe to Greece. The two major parties were able to garner only a fraction of the votes. There is a patchwork of small parties from a rainbow of colours if you like from the rabid left to the ultra right. At the time of speaking at this stage nobody has been able to form a Government. There is every possibility that there is likely to be another election and of course there is a possibility too that Greece may in fact be evicted from the eurozone.  
We are a Government that keeps its promises. We keep our promises. In the case of health care—better sooner and more convenient health care—we promise and we are delivering. Health services are a public service dear to the heart of every New Zealander. Every New Zealander demands better health services. In fact we have spent $1.5 billion more—in the face of these difficult financial circumstances—on our health service over 3 years. We are growing and protecting our public health service during these tough times. I have to say that as the National Party member based in the vibrant and diverse electorate of Manurewa I am very very proud of what we are achieving.  
It was a huge shock to me when we came into power to realise the ravages that rheumatic fever was making in many of our communities. We have heard about Porirua Hawke’s Bay the far north the lakes area but particularly in the communities that I work in and I am seeing every week—Clendon Weymouth Finlayson Park and Roscommon—these are areas in Manurewa where a huge problem exists with rheumatic fever. What are we doing about it? We have rolled out a pilot scheme in Wiri Central School. I went along there last year visited the school spoke to the principal and saw where the school nurses work. This will be the pilot that will inform the roll-out of other programmes in other schools around New Zealand but particularly in the area where I am based.