“We’re investing in new and extended urgent care services across the Central region to ensure people can get the right care, at the right time, closer to home,” Brown said.

“These improvements will make it easier for New Zealanders to get help when they need it – whether late at night, on weekends or in more remote communities, while also reducing pressure on emergency departments,” he said.

Luxon has also responded to allegations from Labour that women working in the funded sector were unlikely to get pay equity. The funded sector refers to services funded by the Government but delivered by someone else, often a private provider or a charity.

Labour had agreed to underwrite these pay equity settlements when it was in Government, accepting the funded sector could not pay for them itself.

Labour pointed to comments made by Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden in Parliament last week, in which she said last year’s pay equity reset undertaken by Finance Minister Nicola Willis “suggested that the funded sector would not be funded by the Government for pay equity”.

Labour’s workplace relations spokeswoman Jan Tinetti accused the Government of “stringing women along for months before the law change two weeks ago”, saying without Government support, “pay equity in these sectors is unlikely to happen”.

Luxon said that under the new regime, people would be entitled to take a claim against their employer whether they worked in the public or private sector.

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