Reti ShaneHon Dr SHANE RETI (Minister of Health): Thank you Madam Chair and I thank the members for their questions. I'd like to start with a set of questions from a member before the dinner break raising the question that as far as could be seen the only focus around the amendments to section 6 in clause 6 was with the Hauora Māori Advisory Committee (HMAC). This isn't correct. I've already identified in previous replies three functions that demonstrate obligations under section 6: (1) HMAC will be one representation of the Māori voice; (2) health service monitoring and decision making by iwi-Māori partnership boards (IMPBs)—Hon Willow-Jean Prime: Sorry what was that? Hon Dr SHANE RETI: —and (3) delivery of services as close to the home and the hapū as possible. CHAIRPERSON (Barbara Kuriger): Excuse me we've just got a question. Could you just—Hon Willow-Jean Prime: Sorry could you just repeat that? I didn't hear your one". Hon Dr SHANE RETI: Oh yeah—sure. CHAIRPERSON (Barbara Kuriger): Thank you. Hon Dr SHANE RETI: I have already identified in previous responses three ways that obligations under section 6 will be met: (1) HMAC will be one representation of the Māori voice; (2) health service monitoring and decision making by IMPBs; and (3) the intent of delivering services as close to the home and the hapū as possible. So to suggest that the response to section 6 is just HMAC is clearly flawed.If the member is also worried—and it's come up in questions from two previous speakers also—around the proposed appointment process to HMAC again that has been the appointment process and it is the appointment process today. It has been for the last two years. It was created by this Government and there's nothing different to that. It was due to change on 1 July 2024 but it is the current process so I don't think that really stands up.A member more recently raised the question under clause 8 about the Māori Health Authority and appointments—and indeed the last member did also—to Health New Zealand. Several things here: first of all I believe this is an "and and" between skills-based and representation. I would point you to one of the Māori members on the Health New Zealand board already: Dr Curtis Walker who clearly is skills-based and brings representation. So it is my intention to have that as an "and and" on the Health New Zealand board. On new section 16A in clause 13 the question was raised as to when is reporting back "from time to time" and what does that mean. At the present time metrics are currently reported quarterly and this is a feature of the ability of Health Quality and Safety Commission and others to provide robust data. So I would anticipate at this point that quarterly reporting will continue and we'll say more about that when we bring our targets forward. The Hon Grant Robertson also raised the amendments to section 6 and was the third member to review the material we've already discussed. The only extra point I would add in—and it's not "extra" because I mentioned it before the break anyway—is that yes I do envisage the Hauora Māori Advisory Committee to be proactive as I mentioned in a previous call. I've already discussed Health New Zealand's Māori representation. New section 15 in clause 11 Health New Zealand providing information to iwi-Māori partnership boards—again before the break it was raised. Well there's a different capacity for iwi-Māori partnership boards—and that's absolutely correct—and until we can power them all up there will be some who need corporate services. Well clearly there's going to need to be information passed back to IMPBs and that would seem to be self-evident. Furthermore when they are powered up to be able to do more analysis and reporting for them to be able to see where they sit in the context of a national measure is likely to be really helpful. So again Health New Zealand will be passing information back to the IMPBs."