Williams PotoPOTO WILLIAMS (Labour—Christchurch East): Kia ora Mr Chairman. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak in the appropriations debate. I want to talk about a couple of issues with regard to the Canterbury District Health Board namely mental health children with special needs and elective surgeries.Immediately after the Kaikōura earthquakes there was a request put in by the district health board (DHB) for some support particularly into the area of mental health. The district health board asked specifically for $12.8 million. What it was hoping to provide with that funding was support into the areas of Kaikōura Hurunui and Nelson-Marlborough—specifically 30 additional community support workers councillors and clinical staff and 12 months of free GP visits and medication for residents of Kaikōura. What the Government actually gave it was $3.7 million for Kaikōura and the Government actually funded eight additional health staff and 6 months of GP visits. But what also occurred within that $3.7 million was a $2 million debt write-off for the new health centre. So in effect the Kaikōura area actually got only $1.7 million in additional support for mental health post-earthquake. That comes on the back of what we in Canterbury know to be the real long-term sustained effects of a natural disaster on a community which is why the district health board took the unprecedented step of requesting $12.8 million. It was a response that my colleague Hon Annette King labelled as miserly. We know that in Canterbury post-disaster it is important to get some resources and some support up front but actually what is also important is the long-term sustained support for people who experience trauma. It is not just the trauma of the main event; it is all the aftershocks it is dealing with houses that have been damaged and then it is dealing with trying to rebuild businesses trying to find work and trying to rebuild homes and communities.Within Canterbury we know that there has been some pressure on our community with regard to its mental health and its mental well-being. The Government under duress actually provided some extra support to our community but we know that even now 6 years on the number of people experiencing distress even at this late stage after the events is increasing—but not only that; the acuity of this is increasing as well. Also a result of this is not only children who experienced huge concerns around their behaviour but also children who are impacted by disability living in our community who are not well supported by this Government. Every week I am finding families coming to me saying that their children with severe autism are not well supported by mental health services because of the pressure that is placed upon these services because of the increased stress experienced by the rest of our community.Just in my last minute I want to say that at the same time our community is ageing. We are one of the oldest communities in terms of our ageing population. This is also putting pressure on our health system without the relief that has been requested from our Ministry of Health. We are finding that our DHB is under pressure to provide services that are not being well supported by this Government. We would really look to substantial and significant increases to support the increasing pressures that we are feeling not only with regard to mental health but also elective surgeries and for those children who are experiencing some real issues with regard to their special needs.