Doctor MPs plug private care

Dr Jackie Blue (left) and Dr Jonathan Coleman

The two Auckland medical doctors in National's new crop of MPs have used their maiden speeches to Parliament to call for more private healthcare.

List MP Jackie Blue, a breast physician, said by using private healthcare providers, the burden on the struggling public sector would be lessened.

And the new Northcote MP, Jonathan Coleman, urged New Zealand to avoid "ideological blindspots" by the refusal to contemplate alternative ways to deliver healthcare.

Jackie Blue Dr Blue suggested tax incentives for those who take private health insurance could be one way to encourage private healthcare.

"The public health sector, despite having billions of dollars poured into it, has become bloated, overly bureaucratic and bogged down with ever-expanding waiting lists.

"We are losing our precious medical staff overseas. We cannot compete with international medical salaries. That is a fact of life."

Dr Blue said by boosting the private sector, many health professionals could be enticed back home.

She also attacked the availability of drugs, saying access to more effective breast cancer chemotherapy treatments must be opened up.

"But these life-saving drugs are expensive. New Zealand is Third World when it comes to access to new, effective drugs." Jonathan Coleman Dr Coleman said universal access to healthcare was now a "fundamental tenet of New Zealand life". But he said as medical advances meant there were more treatment options available, the state's ability to meet the reasonable expectations of its citizens was lagging further behind.

"We have to be open to the opportunity to deploy alternative funding models in state-provided healthcare where we need to." Jacqui Dean Mrs Dean, the new National MP for Otago, promised in her maiden speech to be a "warrior" for her electorate and revealed herself to be a supporter of hydro dams over windfarms.

"I'd rather look at a hydro lake than the hills in Manawatu, which now looks like a scene out of War of the Worlds with these great white sails rotating through the sky and completely dominating the landscape."

She said new hydro initiatives on the Waitaki River were "without doubt necessary" to provide for present and future electricity demand.

New hydro development on the river had the potential to not only make a major contribution to future energy needs, but to provide ongoing benefit to the local community and enhance the riverbed.

Jo Goodhew Mrs Goodhew, the new National MP for Aoraki, said in her maiden speech she would make it her crusade to ask questions about the value of new legislation and whether it would "make the boat go faster".

She said the strong sense of community of volunteers in her electorate were threatened by "bossy, interfering, patronising governments".

"The lawmakers are running the risk that they, just as surely as high fuel prices, threaten the goodwill of New Zealand's volunteers."