The two-year transitional package agreed through Budget 2022 begins with an investment of $1.8 billion per annum, including funding to deal with the deficits of the previous system. This will be followed by a further $1.3 billion per annum from 2023. Unlike in previous Budgets, where cost pressures for specific services have had to be traded off against each other, delayed or partly funded, this general increase will allow Health New Zealand to take a central view and identify priorities for funding across the system. The transformation of our health system will take time, but these first investments will make significant progress towards a fully equitable, sustainable, and quality health system for the future.