Ngarewa-Packer DebbieDEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori): Talofa lava manuia Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa. Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. I want to take the time in today's Budget debate to talk about the kaupapa of health specifically the Māori Health Authority Whānau Ora and Pharmac. The inconvenient truth is that the health system fails Māori. Systemic racism plagues our health sector and sees Māori dying approximately seven years earlier than Pākehā. The failure to ensure equality in access and outcomes for Māori in the healthcare system is a mirror image of the degrading way we have been treated by successive colonial Governments. Tinkering with the broken system will never achieve the transformative outcomes that tangata whenua desperately need and are owed.Te Paati Māori have stayed cautiously optimistic about this year's Budget. It is the first Budget to accept the need for a targeted approach to funding rather than a universal one. Te Paati Māori recognise that this Government is resourcing a system that kick starts Māori ability to look after ourselves in the Māori Health Authority. There has been $98.1 million budgeted in establishing funding provided to set up the Māori Health Authority and we acknowledge the significance of this and established funding. Many Māori health experts have been calling for a proportional approach to funding the Māori Health Authority—one that would look at per capita Budget health entitlement. This is also Te Paati Māori's policy. Therefore budget for the Māori Health Authority funding should be $5 billion. That would be about 20 percent of the 2019-20 health budget. So in our opinion this falls slightly short.We are concerned why we would spend $98 million when we have pre-established models of success in Whānau Ora and its commissioning agencies. We are concerned that money may be and is going to be poured into bureaucracy at the cost of quality care at the cost of attention to growing health disparities and inequities. That is why our position is that the funding for the Māori Health Authority should be channelled through the Whānau Ora commissioning model rather than through Pākehā structures or the Ministry of Health. The model of Whānau Ora which is by Māori for Māori according to Māori is an ideal kaupapa Māori model for success. No more cash for Whānau Ora in this Budget is a major blow. We are particularly puzzled that Whānau Ora received no additional funding given that the Minister is on record saying it is the highest-performing portfolio in Government. We need to invest in what works and Whānau Ora has proven itself to be delivering life-changing outcomes for our whānau.Another area of growing disparity in health that is needed is Pharmac. People are struggling to survive as they can't even afford life-saving drugs such as for cancer and spina bifida which are publicly funded in similar countries. These people are disproportionately Māori who are even less likely to afford drugs that aren't funded by Pharmac. In this Budget Pharmac received $200 million of new funding over the next four years. We acknowledge this as a step forward; however the call has been loud to double the Pharmac budget with an increase to $400 million a year. Many of our whānau including Patient Voice Aotearoa and chair Malcolm Mulholland who I mihi to have been among those leading this advocacy. On 12 May just a few weeks before the Budget we heard the karanga of patients and advocates in delivering a 100000-strong petition calling for the doubling of Pharmac's budget. I think of young 13-year-old Casey with spina bifida and this Budget has fallen short.Our unapologetic voice in Opposition has given Māori in Government the kaha to fight for more and this Budget is a reflection of that. In the bigger scheme of things this Budget presents a significant win for Māori. The fact that it is such a great Budget is the very problem because we are building from a shockingly low baseline. Whilst this Budget is a significant move in the right direction we will continue to apply pressure to keep the Government accountable to encourage you to keep being bold to end disparity to end poverty and environmental destruction. Nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.