van de Molen Tim; Brownlee GerryTIM VAN DE MOLEN (National—Waikato): Thank you Mr Speaker. It's a pleasure to take the final call I think—the second to final call; the penultimate call—in this general debate for the first general debate of this Parliament. We have been straining at the seams as a country. We have been struggling along getting by off the hard work the tenacity of everyday New Zealanders and it's no thanks to the previous Government which let this country down time after time in area after area. It's a wonder that we were able to still perform to the level we were. It feels at times like we're in a Third World country when you look at some of the terrible statistics that have been rolling out under the past Government. But help is here thank goodness. The Government has changed and the Waikato electorate and the Waikato region is well poised to capitalise on that. I wanted to take the opportunity of seeking this call today because we had a fantastic and momentous occasion yesterday where a memorandum of understanding was signed to start the third medical school in this country. Now that is a fantastic piece of progress under this Government and a clear demonstration that outcomes matter as opposed to the last Government that was all about discussion and no delivery. This Government is getting on and delivering. Quite clearly a third medical school is needed. We are seeing the numbers of GPs declining unfortunately in this country. When you look at the population dynamic within that GP sector we're going to see an increased number of retirements over the coming years.When you look at our closest partner Australia and the number of medical schools they have per capita on a similar comparison we should indeed be looking at a fifth medical school now not a third. So a third medical school is well and truly due. The innovative part of what is being proposed at Waikato University is a graduate entry programme. That is the point of difference that really adds some value. Alongside the two existing medical schools we have in New Zealand we'll now have a third medical school with a different entry pathway a graduate entry pathway so that people can come in with another undergraduate degree work through a four-year programme instead of six at the other medical schools and indeed come out the end as a GP.Now the point of this being based in the best region in the country—the Waikato—is of course to help identify and create a solution for the fact that we are seeing a shortage across rural areas in New Zealand. We hear members on the other side talking about a million dollars of consultancy but what about that last Government and the hundreds of millions chucked at light rail alone? Mr O'Connor is walking out of the room because he's scared about that. Now he's coming back—perhaps he wants to say something about the outrageous wastage the former Government brought to this country. An utter disgrace. New Zealanders were let down time and time again by overspending and a total lack of delivery in sector after sector. And sadly the health sector was one of those. The former Government let Kiwis down and rural New Zealanders in particular were really struggling. And for a member like Mr O'Connor to be opposing support for health into the rural sector is an absolute disgrace. Rural New Zealand deserves the same healthcare as anyone else in New Zealand and this medical school will help to fix that problem.What we've seen is a massive pressure point on our GPs across the country but particularly in rural areas. People haven't been able to get into their GPs. Instead they've been presenting at emergency departments. We've seen ramping up of ambulances at the hospitals; it's been well documented on the news. There have even been instances of police cars having to transport patients to the hospital because there's no ambulance available. We have a health system struggling under the negligence of the former Government. Thankfully help is here. This third medical school will be a great benefit to New Zealand but particularly to our Waikato region. It will help our GP network have a better understanding of the needs in rural New Zealand. It will grow the institutional knowledge within our region and I have confidence that it will deliver stronger better more sustainable outcomes for New Zealand and the health of New Zealanders more importantly because this is a Government that cares and we are getting this country back on track.SPEAKER: And welcome back to the House Shanan Halbert.