Although the Special High Cost Treatment Pool is supposed to fund minuscule numbers of reassignment surgeries for New Zealand transpeople, surgeons aren't even doing that. Moreover, the story risks becoming an international scandal unless something is done urgently about the crisis in surgical access. The Special High Cost Treatment Pool is carried out after transpeople have undergone at least two psychologists or psychiatrist reports and have lived within the context of their desired gender for about two years or so. Access to the programme is governed by requests from local District Health Board specialists, but the number is minuscule, funding three transwomen's reassignment surgeries and only one transmale reassignment surgery per year. Given the somewhat rudimentary nature of phalloplasty compared to orchidectomy when it comes to transmen and transwomen respectively, transmen often have to seek overseas genital surgery in Thailand or Australia. Unfortunately, however, many transwomen are in exactly the same situation. And when asked about the situation by the Labour Opposition in 2015, Health Minister Jonathan Coleman vapidly dismissed the call for more funding of reassignment surgery as 'nutty,' despite admissions from his own ministry that current funding is grossly inadequate for increasing demand for such services. Commendably, the Fairfax media website Stuff brought it to public attention that real people were being affected by his lack of action in this context. Moreover, the situation risks becoming a national scandal. Both the Manchester Guardian and Independent (21-22 April), as well as British LGBT publications Attitude and Pinknews covered the story after it was first broken on Television New Zealand earlier that week. Both stories related the insufficient nature of the Special High Cost Treatment Pool funding situation, but also noted that cosmetic surgeon Dr James Walker (Auckland DHB) had recently retired, but not before blasting the Key administration about the lack of properly qualified reassignment surgeons and surgery in New Zealand. As a consequence of that, there are about fifty people waiting for reassignment surgery in New Zealand and the backlog may take forty two to fifty years to fill. At the moment, the New Zealand Association of Plastic Surgeons is asking the Ministry of Health for funding to train two young surgeons in the practice. At present, the only option that many New Zealand transpeople have is access to private surgeons in Australia and Thailand should they need reassignment surgery. Low income transpeople cannot afford that expensive option. While the transgender movement argues that it is a choice whether or not to undergo reassignment surgery, and while some Maori and Pasifika whakawahine, fa'afafine, faikaleite and others do not feel it relevant to their cultural context, that option needs to be there for those who feel that their body is incomplete without genital surgery. Recommended: Gender Reassignment Health Services for Trans People in New Zealand(Ministry of Health, October 2014):https://www.health. govt.nz/system/files/ documents/publications/gender- reassignment-health-services- for-trans-people-in-nz- v3oct14.pdf Matt Peyton: "Transgender New Zealanders face a thirty year wait for reassignment surgery after country's only specialist retires" Independent: 22.04.2016:http://www. independent.co.uk/news/world/ australasia/transgender-new- zealanders-face-30-year-wait- for-reassignment-surgery- after-countrys-only- specialist-a6995966.html Fabio Crispim: "Transpeople in New Zealand can face a thirty year wait for surgery" Attitude: 23.04.2016:http://attitude. co.uk/trans-people-in-new- zealand-can-face-a-30-year- wait-for-surgery/ "The Government needs to come to the party- call for more funding for gender reassignment surgery" TVNZ News: 19.04.2016:https://www.tvnz. co.nz /one-news/new-zealand/ government-needs-come-party- call-more-funding-gender- reassignment-surgery Jo Moir: "Sex change surgery policy nutty"Stuff.co.nz: 19.05.2015:http://www.stuff. co.nz/national/politics/ 68670002/Sex-ch ange-surgery-policy-nutty Ben Heather: "Sex-change surgery delay hits youth"Stuff.co.nz: 16.04.2015:http://www.stuff. co.nz/national/health/ 67759291/Sex-change-surgery- delay-hits-youth Craig Young - 26th April 2016