Tena koutou katoa.
Tena koutou ki a Te Arawa, te mana whenua.
Tena tātau katoa.

It is a great honour to be opening such a prestigious event today that draws attention to the importance of research, and turning evidence into practice. When I practiced medicine myself I always had an interest in mental health and so it's now really rewarding to be able to follow through on that interest as a Minister with responsibility for mental health. 

I understand a number of eminent international speakers are here today.  I would like to welcome from the World Health Organisation, Dr Saxena, I would also like to welcome Professor Norman Sartorius from Switzerland, Professor Wolfgang Gaebel from Germany, Professor Sir David Goldberg from the UK, Professor Luis Rohde from Brazil, Professor Ahmed Okasha from Egypt, and Professor Robert Robinson from the USA.

This conference creates an opportunity for transfer of knowledge, discussion and debate about diagnosis and classification of mental disorders and how this applies to shaping mental health services to better meet the needs of people with mental illness.   It's a great opportunity to hear world leaders in the field, and I think conference participants are in for a real treat.

I would also like to acknowledge that New Zealand's experience in indigenous mental health and primary mental health care is part of the reason that this conference is being held in New Zealand, and why my address is occurring on this significant marae.

I want to begin by telling you about the work the Government is doing at home, in mental health.

We are putting a lot of our focus into early intervention. Early intervention is vital when people are experiencing mental health problems, which is why this government is investing in primary mental health services.

In the May 2009 Budget, the Government invested an additional $20 million in mental health funding.  We also committed an extra $26 million funding over four years for national eating disorder services.  While to our international visitors this may not sound like a lot of money, in the New Zealand context it is.

The increase in funding will go a long way towards improving mental health services across the whole spectrum, from developing residential eating disorder clinics to improving mental health services for older people.  I know its especially welcomed in the area of eating disorders, where up to now most New Zealanders have had to go to Australia for residential treatment.

At the same time, the Governments commitment to improving primary health care will play an important role in improving the provision of mental health services in New Zealand.  Our focus over the last decade has been to improve access to, and quality of, services for the most seriously unwell.

Today, we need to look more broadly, to make sure we are doing the best we can do across the continuum of care.

If we intervene early, the impacts of severe illness can be eased.  It is clear then, that mental health care services must be more comprehensively integrated into primary care.

The implementation of the Government's Better, Sooner, More Convenient Primary Care policy provides an opportunity to do this. To date, the Ministry of Health has allocated $24.4 million per annum to primary mental health.  If primary level mental health services are affordable and accessible, a substantial burden of ill health throughout the community can be reduced as well.

The Government is working to establish multidisciplinary primary care environments, such as Integrated Family Healthcare Centres - meaning that patients can get the help they need, when they need it.  We want to create a more patient-centred approach; by giving doctors and nurses the time to interact properly with each patient, mental health issues will be detected and treated sooner rather than later.

Increasing knowledge and understanding of mental health is also important.  A website dedicated to primary mental health and addiction care has been created www.primarymentalhealth.co.nz.

This site will provide information about the tools available for those working in our primary health organisations, non-government organisations and district health boards.

At the same time, it is important that patients are kept informed, and have the ability to support themselves.  That's why the Ministry of Health, through the National Depression Initiative, is currently developing a programme that provides online support for people experiencing symptoms of depression.

An electronic self-management tool is also being developed for people with mild to moderate depression, and for people recovering from more severe depression.  The e-tool, expected to be up and running by June 2010, is fronted by John Kirwan, Dr Simon Hatcher, and Dr Lyndy Mathews.  This very exciting project is consistent with our commitment to early intervention, and providing people with self management options.  I commend them for their work.

As well as this, the New Zealand Guidelines Group is working to establish best practice guidelines for identifying common mental health disorders, and managing depression in primary care.  These guidelines, combined with the website, will help ensure that the best care is being provided to New Zealanders.

One of the fundamental challenges facing Health today, and psychiatry in particular, is workforce.

New Zealand currently relies on overseas trained doctors and nurses more than any other country in the OECD, something we are working to change.

In February 2009, as part of the Government's "first 100 days" action plan, a new Voluntary Bonding Scheme was introduced.  The aim of the scheme is to encourage health graduates to establish careers in hard to staff specialities and communities in New Zealand.  Psychiatry falls within this definition.

The scheme has proven very popular.  At the beginning of the year we expected 100 doctors and 250 midwives and nurses to apply for the scheme.  In fact 115 doctors, 95 midwives and 680 nurses have applied.

As well as encouraging medical graduates to stay in New Zealand, we are working to increase the local medical workforce from the bottom up.  We have therefore decided to boost the number of medical student places by 200 over the next five years.  This will increase the total number of funded medical student places from 365 students a year to 565 - an increase of over 50%.

Globally, clinical leadership is recognised as a fundamental driver of better health outcomes.  This Government inherited a health system in which the influence of clinicians on patient outcomes was less than it had ever been before.

Stronger and more direct clinician involvement means more services that are a better quality.

The Government is committed to a strong and enduring public health service but the health service in turn will need - more than ever - to ensure a strong and ongoing focus on value for money, with resources moving from administrative overheads and low priority spending, into more important frontline services.

Clinical leadership is about enabling our clinicians to lead our health system - which enhances job satisfaction, and of course keeps our clinicians in New Zealand.

The changes that are taking place across the broader health system therefore hold great implications for the mental health sector.  But the Government knows that, as an area that is constantly developing, attention must be given to mental health specifically.

I look forward to hearing more about the new, innovative approaches to mental health care that are possible, and which will be presented at the conference over the next few days.

The importance of research is in diagnosis and peoples perceptions of illness and mental health service delivery.  Without research there is no evidence to frame what we do.  ICD-10 classification is undergoing review internationally and being informed by research in New Zealand and overseas, to guide the next classification system, ICD-11.  It is very important for New Zealand to be a part of this and to allow the international classification to reflect the challenges and difficulties that exist for us in New Zealand.

Once again, I would like to thank you all for coming to this conference, from all corners of the world.  I wish you well in your discussions over the next few days.