Opposition jousts make for compelling duel

Annette King.

Exchanges between Jonathan Coleman and Labour's deputy leader and health spokeswoman Annette King have become compelling.

That's not for the fireworks. Dr Coleman's repeated taunt that Ms King sent cancer patients to Australia during her time as Health Minister ensures there is real feeling.

But his flat, croaky delivery and penchant for citing statistics ensures questioning rarely boils over.

There is pressure, however. Ms King has highlighted a string of negative health stories in the media, a recent example about cuts to home-help for the elderly.

Other attack lines have included patients waiting in the hallways of Dunedin Hospital, and people sent back to their GP without a specialist assessment.

Health funding has fallen in real terms, Ms King said, and those pressures meant Dr Coleman will fail to keep a lid on the portfolio.

"What Coleman faces is the $1.7 billion that is missing in the health budget ... you can't constantly not meet the cost pressures in health without it bubbling over."

Ms King queried her opponents' vision and enthusiasm: "There is a slightly bored approach to him".

Dr Coleman said negative stories were a long-standing reality of the portfolio, and cited statistics (17 in the interview) to underline why National's spending is working.

"We are doing 50,000 more operations per year.

"There are 110,000 more specialist appointments per year, 5500 more doctors ... it is hard to say that we are not doing more."