Talofa and as always, it's a pleasure to be addressing you all once more. Today my focus will be on ACT's health policy and the innovative responses we will take to strengthen and where necessary redevelop New Zealand's healthcare system. Coivd-19 presented an opportunity for the government to test our healthcare system, and while we seem to have navigated it relatively unscathed it revealed inadequacies within our healthcare network and key flaws that needed rectifying. ACT's plan acknowledges this and lays the groundwork for smart healthcare reform.

Firstly, ACT will boost funding to our public health, so that we can meet the demand generated by the elevated circumstances worldwide. As well as that ACT will create a new National Public Health service to facilitate better standards of care for all New Zealanders. Standardizing health services nationwide in this new entity can help us identify areas of weakness, and adjust standards accordingly to correct areas lacking sufficient support and/or funding. Creating this service will allow us to maintain the high standards that Kiwi's should expect from our medical services, whilst simultaneously making it easier for our health sector to create both regional and national plans. This will aid in pandemic response, as it ensures co-ordination is easier should similar need arise in the future as the united service would audit DHB's social care operators pandemic plans. Providing another layer of security in the planning and preparation in the event such outbreaks occur again. And in the current climate it is no doubt they will, no matter how good our border quarantine mechanisms. Uniting our system into one service is a key element in also reducing the bureaucratic delays associated with communicating across health units which plague our services currently. Crucial decisions should not be held up because a health units geographical authority starts and ends in arbitrary locations. In times like these, easier, faster and frequent communication is crucial now more than ever so that our health system can react with the speed and efficiency it is capable of. This National health service will also have its own human health border inspection service and operate a health surveillance capability independent of the WHO. Lastly to these points, this service would maintain our expanded national PPE stockpiles which were exposed in the initial and latest outbreak.

The demonization of private enterprise by the previous government, was unhelpful and indicative of the coalition of communism's penchant for maintaining an antagonistic approach to our vibrant private sector. Whilst the government does not realize it, the private sector contains significant capital ready for investment into our healthcare system and into communities underserviced by it. ACT proposes slashing red tape, and encouraging these firms to invest into our underserviced communities and provide them with their state of the art facilities, potentially at a subsidized rate. With this plan we can ensure that all Kiwis receive equal, ample and quality provision of health services that meets their individual needs no matter the requirement whilst also working to build-up the relationship between the crown and private sector which up until now has been neglected. Greater co-operation with private business is the key towards not only developing our health infrastructure, but also our needs across the country, housing in particular. Another area neglected by the current coalition. Meaningful reform can be captured by a conglomerate of both Public and Private sector activity, ACT unlike those on the left is fully aware of the benefits of such a partnership and the benefits all Kiwis can derive from it, just to be clear, we aren't saying it's time for the government to take it's hands off the metaphorical wheel, but maybe it should let the private sector to give us some directions.

Further to this, mental health is another key Facet of ACT's health policy. Among OECD nations New Zealand has the highest suicide rate for youths aged 15-19, we lost 685 kiwi's to suicide last year, our male suicide rates are some of the worst in the OECD, thousands of kiwis struggle with mental illness and this has wider knock-on affects into their standard of living and life. To put it absolutely bluntly, this is atrocious. Worse than that it's a disservice to those struggling that we don't/can't provide them with the adequate care necessary to help them combat and dealt with these mental illnesses which claim so many lives. As a government, what we have tried for the last two decades has not worked, the OECD stat I mentioned earlier, that has been the case since the mid 2000's. Which means our healthcare system has consistently failed the most vulnerable. Now I'm not going to lie, previous ACT administrations have a complicity in these failings as members of previous national-led governments. Which is why we plan to step forward with a new plan to combat this epidemic that has claimed so many lives both young and old. ACT will create a new mental health commission which will operate independently from our district health boards so that mental health can be taken seriously. We recognize that up to this point, the government has failed in its attempts to combat this epidemic, and that by putting it in the hands of an independent commission, a fresh set of eyes will open up avenues from which we can investigate proposal and more effective action to help our most vulnerable.

This cause is of considerable importance to me personally as a proud member of the Pasifika community as both Maori and Pasifika suffer from over representation in these statistics. The Maori suicide rate is at 28 per 100,000 and for Pasifika our suicide rate is at a staggering 11.47 people per 100,000. We are losing too many of our young aiga, our Tamariki to mental illness and suicide. From 2010-2016 in the stats collected, Manukau had the third highest amount of suicides out of all the district health boards. It wouldn't be acceptable in Wellington, it wouldn't be acceptable in Auckland Central, it wouldn't be acceptable if it was the family members of those in power who suffered so why should it be acceptable for us? We are being failed by an out of date, out of touch and antiquated mental health infrastructure and our fanau pay the price for it. I've heard pratterings that strong mental health is the key to success, so how come they keep changing our lock? It is our great nations biggest failing in the modern era. Which is why in conjunction to the provision of this independent commission, I will ensure sufficient community representation is present on these commissions. So that we can provide cultural context and find solutions that will work for us, because there has been a complete and utter failure on the part of previous governments to do so thus far and we, not just as a Manukau community, but as a united Pacific and Maori community should be at the forefront of such change, because it us who have been failed by the system.

In conclusion, ACT's plan for reform, focuses largely on cutting the red tape, to ensure more investment into our healthcare system. Creating a national health service and cutting the 12 medical units, and lastly fixing the woeful mental health infrastructure that has failed Kiwi's thus far.

Fa'afetai lava.