General Debate

I move, That the House take note of miscellaneous business.

After a long winter, spring is here, and I would like to begin today with an acknowledgment of all those who have worked tirelessly over the last 2½ years on the front lines of our response to COVID-19. We are, as a country, indebted to those people who have gone to work every day, striving to keep New Zealanders safe during a global pandemic.

We now come to the point where we are past the emergency response, and we can look back on our COVID-19 response, as a country, with a great degree of pride. We have achieved one of the lowest case mortality rates—when it comes to COVID-19—in the world, and the credit for that belongs to all New Zealanders: all those working on the front lines, those working in our health systems who have gone the extra mile to keep Kiwis safe—New Zealanders who did their bit, whatever that bit may have been, over the last 2½ years, in order to ensure that we achieved that remarkable result. As I say, thank you to all New Zealanders for that. I hope we all have a good summer—Wellington’s spring is a typical Wellington spring; some nice days and some bad days, and you never quite know which is going to be which—but I hope that we will have a summer where New Zealanders can relax and reflect on the last 2½ years, and they can do so with a degree of pride.

We said, when we entered the COVID-19 response period, that we believe that the best public health response would also be the best economic response. And the numbers that we are seeing now, and the record over the last 2½ to 3 years has shown that that is exactly the case. Our GDP rose 1.7 percent in the past year. Unemployment continues to be at a near-record low of 3.3 percent. We said as we went into the COVID-19 response that we wanted to keep New Zealanders in jobs and we have done that. New Zealanders kept their jobs during COVID-19, and they did that because the Government backed them and backed the businesses that employ them.

It is interesting to note—now that the Government is being criticised for untargeted spending—that most of that untargeted spending was things like the wage subsidy, which kept people in jobs. So two years ago, 18 months ago, even a year ago, we were being criticised for not doing enough, and now “Captain Hindsight” and his team have decided that we wasted money by doing those things—that’s not what they were saying at the time. And I am very proud of the track record of this Government when it comes to keeping people in work. We kept New Zealanders in jobs, and our economy is that much stronger as a result of it.

We also kept our apprentices on the job; not only did we keep apprentices on the job, we grew the number of apprentices who are in training during our response to COVID-19. That is a stark contrast to the global financial crisis, when the last National Government cut the number of apprentices. We see the results of that today in the shortages that we’ve got—particularly in areas like building and construction—where firms are crying out for skilled labour, and the skilled labour is not there because the last National Government didn’t train them. They chose to cut during the global financial crisis. At the very time when we should, as a country, have been investing in upskilling our people, they decided that that was the time to cut that level of investment. That is not a mistake that our Government’s making. We are very proud of the fact that we’ve got more apprentices in training now than we did at any point during the last National Government’s tenure in office; that’s something that should be celebrated.

We have also used that opportunity to invest in critical infrastructure. The last National Government was more than happy to add another million people to the New Zealand population—they didn’t build the houses required for that. They didn’t build the infrastructure required for that; we are. We are catching up. We have built record numbers of houses during the tenure of our Government, and we are incredibly proud of that. It is going to take some time to undo the damage done by the nine years of neglect that we inherited, but we are making good progress. We are building houses; we are building houses and getting Kiwis into homes.

Our agricultural experts have reached a record $53 billion. That’s happened because of the good, sound economic management of our Government, and because of the success that we have had on the international trade circuit; far more success than the members opposite who like to talk a big game when it comes to trade but just can’t seem to close the deal.

Unlike them, I’m proud of the work of our Prime Minister and our Minister for Trade and Export Growth, who actually know how to get ink on the paper when it comes to international trade agreements. Summer is coming. We’ve got a lot to look forward to, and we have a lot to be proud of.

Starting on a slightly different tone, I haven’t had the opportunity to acknowledge the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, and I wanted to start my speech by acknowledging her passing, acknowledging the dignity with which she held her position over 70 years. I also want to commend this House for the speeches that have been undertaken here and recognise that there were a number of viewpoints expressed in the speeches, but they were expressed respectfully, and that followed the tikanga that so many of our Māori members from across the House had indicated needed to be done.

In the spirit of acknowledging the late Queen Elizabeth II, I also want to acknowledge that this week we celebrated 129 years of women’s suffrage. I want to acknowledge the many battles that have had to be fought by women over those 129 years, the mountains that still need to be climbed, the battles that have been won, and also the women who led that particular fight to earn the right, or win the right, for women to vote, and the many, many fights that have followed after that. I also want to acknowledge that we’re on the brink of, for the first time ever, having 50 percent women in this House. I have to acknowledge that a lot of that is due to the large number of women that we have in our Labour Party caucus—good women, women who are capable and have the skills to be here. I also want to acknowledge that that hasn’t always been recognised; we have gone through periods where we’ve been challenged in our attempt to have 50 percent women. At one point in time, they were calling it a “man ban” by the Labour Party. It wasn’t a man ban; it was a “women can stand”—women can stand. And here we are.

I want to acknowledge the challenges that are ahead and the work that’s been undertaken. As I said, there still are mountains to climb, and we know what they are for women. They are about our participation in the workforce. They are about things like pay equity. We still are disproportionately impacted by family and sexual violence. And when you attempt to climb a mountain, you need a plan and the tools to do that, and this Government has been steadfast in making sure that we have those things. I want to acknowledge the Minister for Women and the fact that, for the first time, we have a women’s employment action plan. I want to acknowledge the Government and also the leadership of Minister Marama Davidson with Te Aorerekura and the joint venture and the work that has been undertaken by many Government agencies and community organisations so that we can finally address what has plagued our country: the levels of family and sexual violence that all too often impact on women. There is much more that is in place, there is much more happening to address the mountains we still have to climb, but we are the Government to do that, and I’m very proud of the track that we are on.

The previous speaker, the Hon Chris Hipkins, spoke about the economy. We need to make sure that the economy is working for women, because that’s when our economy really will fly. But I am very proud of the fact that when we look at the very difficult period of time that we have been through, what we are seeing is that productivity is up, we’re seeing that exports are up, we are seeing that tourism is returning, and we’ve got a GDP of 1.7 percent in the last quarter, compared to Australia’s of 0.9 percent. We have near-record lows of unemployment at 3.3 percent. We are seeing the gaps close for those groups who have been plagued persistently by this increased, or disproportionate, level of unemployment, and we are making a difference as a Government.

We are focused on the future, we are securing our recovery, we have got through better than many other countries a pandemic which has had huge impacts on the world, and we are doing that to ensure the future for New Zealanders is bright. As Minister Hipkins said, summer is on the horizon. We have just come through a very difficult winter. The future is bright. With regard to Wellington weather, though, I did say yesterday that it’s really good when it doesn’t suck.

Last week was a fantastic week because it was Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. I was really encouraged by the positive crowd out on the forecourt who came here to remember the 50-year commemoration, or anniversary, of the petition for te reo Māori. In that vein of te reo Māori, and so that we don’t lose momentum, as I notice all of my colleagues around the House post on their social media fantastic Māori words and phrases, let’s continue with a few other Māori words this week, outside of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.

The first one is “ka rawe”, which means “awesome”. Ka rawe, sir—awesome. And that’s exactly what’s happening as we’ve looked towards the economic growth in this country. It is awesome. We compare ourselves to other countries, and I can tell you, our GDP and our economic recovery is favourable on a world standard. I want to thank our Minister of Finance for the work that he did and highlight too the point that was made by Minister Hipkins when he was right in saying that on the other side of the House, we were told we’re not doing enough; we need to invest more money into our businesses. So we did that through the COVID response. Now we’re hearing from the other side, “Oh, no, no, you need to cut back on that. Actually, we need to make sure that we don’t waste the money.” Well, I can tell you, every business that I went to, in particular Māori businesses in Tāmaki-makau-rau, said to me, “Ka rawe.” That’s another word for us today.

The next one is “ngākau rorotu”. For those who don’t know what that means, that means “optimism”, and optimism is really abundant in our communities. Why? Because we’ve come through COVID and they felt supported through COVID. We looked towards a summer where—for example, just yesterday at the Whānau Ora conference, the optimism there was huge because our whānau are better off, having come through COVID with the support. We are far better connected to the services that we need, we are doing the mahi to make sure that that momentum isn’t lost, and the optimism amongst those families and those people that work with those families is absolutely huge. And I want to thank them all for their mahi through COVID-19. So that word again just for the House is “ngākau rorotu”—optimism.

The next one is “mahi”. Some translate that as “work”; I’m going to translate that today as “employment”. And what we’ve seen from this Government and its stewardship of the economy is record low unemployment. In fact, when I started—in fact, you and I, sir, started in this House at the same time; class of 2014, kia ora.

Hon Carmel Sepuloni: It’s your anniversary.

Hon PEENI HENARE: It sure is. And I can tell you, sir, that Māori unemployment rates when you and I started in this House were double digits—double digits. Today it is record low unemployment numbers for Māori; record low unemployment numbers across the country. And that’s because of the strong stewardship of this Government with our economy, with our employers, with the sectors right across this country that continue to employ our people, to support our people and our communities, and I’m proud of those numbers.

But we’ve got more work to do and we don’t deny that fact. We know that there are lots of places screaming out for kaimahi, screaming out for workers. I want to reiterate the point of Minister Hipkins: training them, our workforce, and training our own people is really important, and we’ve got to invest in that, and this Government has done that. Apprenticeships, training, upskilling—we took the opportunity through COVID-19 to make sure that we can have an opportunity to train and upskill our workforce, and we’re doing that. But I want to be clear on this: yes, we might look towards immigration to relieve some of the pressures, but it cannot be the only answer for the future of this country. We believe in investing in our own people to make sure that they can meet those demands into the future.

The next phrase is “haere tonu”, or “get on with it”. Just last week, I attended the 75th birthday of Hawkins Downer, one of the large construction companies in this country. They said they’re getting on with the mahi with the support of this Government. And I want to point out the Ōhākea build that’s happening at Ōhākea base right now. Over $250 million into that local economy, over 450 people employed through that entire project, and it’s on time and it’s on budget and we’re really excited for the first arrival of the P-8 in December. So that’s the phrase, “haere tonu”—just getting on with the mahi.

The last one is “whakapono”—belief. Whakapono is important because I believe that this country coming into summer is going to enjoy a very good summer. Tourism numbers will rise, the optimism will continue to grow, and our people will do well. We look forward to enjoying the summer and I look forward to celebrating it with our communities right across this country. Kia ora.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. And I say “kia ora” to my fellow class of 2014 mate, or team member, Peeni Henare.

I was astonished yesterday to hear that Grant Robertson feels threatened walking around New Zealand. I say that because the ACT Party frequently holds hundreds of street corner meetings, town hall meetings, and door knocking events up and down New Zealand each year. And we find that New Zealand remains a fantastic place to do politics.

Let me say to anybody who thinks they are going to win a political point by threatening a member of Parliament: politics is ultimately about persuasion, and you can’t be a very good persuader if you have to threaten someone with a lamington.

On that point, I was astonished to hear that Grant Robertson feels threatened by lamingtons. I would have thought that Grant Robertson would be a much bigger threat to lamingtons than lamingtons would be a threat to Grant Robertson.

And, actually, when I think about it, Grant Robertson and this Labour Government are an enormous threat to many other aspects of New Zealand society. It’s not just the lamingtons; it’s also the hard-working taxpayer who, under a Labour Government—since Grant Robertson has been the Minister of Finance—has seen their income taxes go up from just over $9,000 on average to just over $12,000. That’s a 30 percent increase in income tax per person under Labour; more than twice the rate of inflation. People think inflation’s going up fast; wait until you see income taxes going up at twice the rate.

Farmers are under enormous pressure from this Government. This Government is a threat to farmers, telling them that they have to get their winter cropping plans in by the end of the month and yet they haven’t done it and they won’t get resource consent and they won’t be able to legally farm the way this Government’s tried to centrally control farming with its freshwater laws.

There’s the motorists. People like to drive in this country, but the Reshaping Streets plan is a manifesto for the most ragtag activists in every town and city in this country, letting them reshape streets, taking away your carparks outside your business, putting pot plants in the middle of the road—this is serious; they call it “modal filters”—to stop people driving.

Then there’s the landlords constantly under attack from this Government for having the temerity to save up, buy a house, and offer accommodation to someone else. Here’s a tip for the Labour Government: if you think there’s a shortage of places for people to live, maybe stop attacking the people that offer accommodation to fellow New Zealanders.

Speaking of houses, there’s our neighbourhoods and a three-by-three townhouse development going up next door in any town or suburb in this country, because Labour and National got together and did a dirty deal that won’t deliver one more house than we already would have had. Why? Because zoning’s not the issue; infrastructure building and building materials are the issue. This dirty deal will only mean the same number of houses get built in different places that greatly erode the property rights that people bought into in their town.

What about small businesses? What about employers? They just got 450 million bucks put on to their expenses so we can have a holiday for the Queen a week after the rest of the world moves on. Isn’t that so typical of New Zealand, a country that’s so slow to reopen and reconnect that they just can’t get the staff? I met a shopkeeper in Christchurch last week: 156 days without a single day off to keep the doors open because this Government has closed the borders and created a labour crisis with its immigration bureaucracy.

Then there’s the licensed firearm owners, our sometimes forgotten group. The police just lost 2,500—well, we don’t know exactly how many records of people’s firearms. And this Government wants to keep a record of where every firearm in the country is kept. So it could be a steal-to-order list for the gangs, but don’t worry: they’re not going to lose it this time. We don’t trust them because if we could, they would have kept their records secure last time.

Then there’s the children. They’ve got Kelvin Davis. Anyone who listened to Kelvin Davis as the Minister for Oranga Tamariki trying to explain where $42 million went—spoiler alert: he wasn’t sure—weeps for the safety of vulnerable children in this country.

Then there’s education. We just found out there’s been a 10-year experiment of so-called “innovative learning environments” where kids were put into barns with multiple classes and teachers with no evidence or rigour to show it would work at all.

There are many dangers to New Zealanders, there are many dangers to lamingtons; and Grant Robertson is chief among them all.

Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. I want to begin my contribution with a little bit of a reflection and a word of thanks to all those who put themselves forward, those who worked on the frontline—individuals and community organisations—across all of my portfolios, to support those who needed some extra support through some very challenging times. I want to thank them. In my electorate of Maungakiekie, we had a managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facility, and when I met with those running that facility, and those who were working there, I heard some of the stories of the hardships they went through and the challenges they faced through all those years, and what they went through just by virtue of working in an MIQ facility, I want to say thanks to all of them as well.

There have been globally turbulent times and we haven’t been immune here in Aotearoa New Zealand. It’s been turbulent times with the pandemic but also with war, supply chain disruptions, energy shocks, and inflation spikes. Through that, I’m proud of the way that our Government has carefully managed and navigated New Zealand through those times. Where we are today is not by chance; it is by design. Through the last 2½ years, there weren’t really any easy choices to make. There were just tough and tougher decisions that needed to be made, but we managed that plan on this side of the House through supporting lives and livelihoods, supporting businesses—and we will continue to do this—to grow jobs and wages while also continuing to mitigate the impact of the cost of living increases on our people.

The proof points are there: near record low unemployment at 3.1 percent; incomes that have grown at the highest rate since records began; an economy that is larger than it was pre-COVID, following what was a one-in-100-year economic shock; more homes built in the last year than since records began; and more people coming off benefits and into work.

I wanted to reiterate some points that our finance Minister made recently in a speech. He said that our goods exports are near record highs because even though the global economy’s struggling, what we offer to the world is something the world needs. We have statistics from our ski season in Queenstown that show it’s up to 80 percent of pre-COVID times. International student enrolments are nearly at 50 percent of pre-COVID times just one month after reopening and months before the academic year begins. Our strong action on climate change is in part what is getting free-trade agreements over the line with the EU and the UK and what is underpinning the $53 billion record in agricultural exports. Our green credentials are growing stronger. We now have some of the highest rates of electric and more fuel-efficient hybrid cars in the world, now making up 20 percent of new imports. Tech companies are investing in New Zealand for our renewable energy sources. This includes the likes of Amazon, which is setting up a multibillion-dollar cloud investment here, following in Microsoft’s footsteps.

I know as I’ve gone out and talked with business owners that many talk about the labour shortages that many are experiencing, and I know that that is of significant concern. But there are opportunities here as well. As the world grapples with skills shortages, we have a reconnecting strategy and an immigration rebalance that is designed to attract the people that we need, to give them more certainty and fairness. More than 7,200 job-check applications have been approved, allowing employers to go out and recruit internationally for over 48,000 positions. More than 25,000 working holiday scheme applications have been approved since March, and thousands more working holiday-makers are expected to arrive in the coming months.

The point that I want to make in terms of the fact that we are moving towards summer both literally and metaphorically is the fact that we have invested in our people, and this is what diversity brings—a strategy that shows that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. The fact that we’ve invested in our young people, in our women with employment action plans that are dedicated to meeting specific needs is showing that it’s working, and that’s what we on this side of the House will continue to do—invest in our people and manage our economy in the months and years to come in the same careful way that we navigated New Zealand through the pandemic.

Finally, I just want to mention 129 years of women’s suffrage and acknowledge the women who have gone before us, on whose shoulders many of us here in the House stand. Kia ora.

You know that Labour are in big trouble when you get two Cabinet Ministers come down here as the opening speakers and they announce summer. They’ve obviously sat around the Cabinet table and they’ve said, “What can we announce? What can we deliver? Oh, summer—we’ll announce summer.” The problem is that they’ve announced it three months too early.

Then Mr Hipkins goes on to say—and he’s right in acknowledging the first responders that stuck by us and got us through COVID. But he doesn’t actually get out into the street. He doesn’t actually get out and speak to the front line.

I was with our St John Ambulance leadership two days ago, on Monday. Do you know that now in New Zealand, St John’s have had to put two ambulances on—one in Auckland and one in the Waikato—with stab-proof vests in them. That’s never been seen in this country before, and the reason why they have to put ambulances out there with stab-proof vests in them is because their officers are facing more and more violent scenes when they arrive to provide assistance. I want to acknowledge my friend and colleague Simon Watts, who happens to be one of our front-line paramedics and a St John’s officer, and who is actually in touch with what’s happening out on the front lines.

When I took over the police portfolio, there were three things that we wanted to achieve right off the bat. We wanted to make sure that there was a proper response to the rise in gang numbers. We wanted to see a dedicated task force put in place, and they did that after a lot of pushing for Operation Cobalt. That was four years too late.

Four years ago, we said to the Government to stand up Strike Force Raptor. They laughed at the name. They mocked the name and, in fact, I don’t know if you remember, but Iain Lees-Galloway stood up and he tried to be a raptor in the House. Well, that was a really silly thing to do, because he became an extinct species shortly after that. So that didn’t work out too well for him, did it?

We knew the Minister had to be changed. The Minister came here for something—she’s passionate about something, like we all are when we come to this House—but it was not the police portfolio. The Prime Minister stood up when they made the change and she said, “We’ve lost focus on the police portfolio.” We thought, “OK, this will be interesting to see who they replace the Hon Poto Williams with.”, and it was Chris Hipkins. Chris Hipkins is, I think, No. 4. He’s one of the heavy hitters—the fix-it guy. He came into the portfolio, and what’s he done? He’s brought an insipid, weak, useless firearms prohibition order through the House that will do nothing, and I promised the Minister that I’d be back in six months—by the way, that bill doesn’t even come into effect until November. They can’t even use it till November.

Ginny Andersen: After the nine years you took to do it.

Hon MARK MITCHELL: What do I hear—the nine years under National? When Labour came in five years ago, most Kiwis, if you’d asked them, would have said, “We’ve got a sense of safety in our home.” If you want to talk about records, look at your own record over the last five years, because I can tell you now that Kiwis feels less safe in their homes. Store owners and dairy owners feel less safe in their stores. Their customers feel less safe. They can’t even go into our biggest mall in Auckland—St Lukes—at 5 o’clock on a Tuesday evening without facing eight ram-raiders, or aggravated robbers, robbing a store.

The Minister of Justice herself tried to label me as someone that’s peddling misinformation when I challenged their youth crime numbers a couple of weeks ago. She said, “That is not the whole picture. That is not the whole story.”, and, as hard as she tried to get that up, it didn’t really work. It fell flat, and what did she do this week? What did she do yesterday? Her own numbers came out and were meant to be telling a good news story, and she said, “Oh well, you know, we can’t completely rely on those numbers. It doesn’t tell the whole story.”, because they know. They know that they can stand up in the House and say, “There hasn’t been a rise in gang tensions.” when you have multiple drive-by shootings.

By the way, the 23 drive-by shootings—guess what that was fuelled by? Gang patches—by the theft of a gang patch by one gang from another. Why don’t you adopt our bill, Minister? Why don’t you adopt our bill banning gang patches and insignia? There was a big issue last week, and it was exactly the same issue, but no. No, they laugh at that and they mock it. Just like with Strike Force Raptor, they laugh and mock it. Let’s watch and see what they do.

There’s a lot of noise coming from over on the other side now, so I’m looking forward to the next speaker getting up and actually speaking to the issues that I’ve raised. The reality is this: their spike in youth offending—their spike in youth offending—has been going on now for over a year. That’s a very long spike, and the reality of it is that the latest stats that came out—all they do is confirm this. No consequences.

Hon Kiritapu Allan: No, they don’t.

Hon MARK MITCHELL: A rise in violent offending—and the Minister says, “No, they don’t.” Well, stand, Minister, and tell us why they don’t. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

E te Māngai o te Whare, tēnā koe, otirā ngā mema katoa o te Whare nei, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Mr Speaker and all the members in the House, greetings one and all.]

Can I just please add my condolences on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II; I haven’t had a chance to talk on that. Moe mai e te Ariki.

[Rest in peace, your Royal Highness.]

Can I also acknowledge the passing of Maanu Paul, another solider within Māoridom that passed recently. E te rangatira, haere, haere, haere atu rā.

[To the revered chief, may you rest in peace.]

Today’s debate is around acknowledging that we have come through two years of trial and tribulation, not just in our country but internationally—through the global pandemic and the consequences of that. I too want to add my acknowledgment and thanks to the many front-line workers that kept us operating as a country. In my contribution today, I want to focus on one particular sector that kept our economy afloat—and I want to also talk about the Government’s support of that economy—and that’s the primary sector.

The primary sector, in June of this year, 2022, returned a $52.2 billion export revenue. For that member who asked about outcomes, I want to concentrate on outcomes. I want to talk about the economy and what we are seeing, but particularly focusing on the primary industries. So $52.2 billion is an outcome that we should acknowledge in this House. That makes up 81.8 percent of our trade total, 11.1 percent of our overall GDP, and 13.8 percent of the employment sector. It is our primary sector that is the backbone of this nation, and I want to stand and acknowledge the work our farmers, our food processors, everyone in the chain that has contributed. I’ve got to say, the work of this Government in determining that they were essential workers when the rest of the nation was locked down enabled them to operate and to get their goods to market. Not only did we help in that respect but we also enabled, with the contribution towards airfreight—the Government invested $831 million of money which generated, wait for it, an economic value of $22.5 billion. It meant 235,000 tonnes of goods—through the Government’s investment—was able to get to market. I don’t think that is an undesired event in terms of the contribution from this Government.

But it’s the dairy industry that got $21.6 billion, an increase of 13 percent; meat and wool $12.2 billion, up 18 percent; seafood—and we all knew that at the beginning of lockdown many of the seafood captures either had to be put back into the sea or not collected because of the closures around our domestic restaurants, but also internationally—$1.9 billion, an increase of 9 percent. So our primary industries really did us proud over this year, supported by the Government.

But the other thing I want to talk about in supporting our primary industries—because we all know, many of us in this House, as rural electoral MPs, how hearty our rural and farming communities are. But I want to acknowledge the trade agenda of this Labour Government, the Trade for All Agenda, and the particular focus on the lowering of tariffs plus the opening of new markets. That’s what we’ve seen with the work that our Prime Minister has been doing since we’ve been open to the world, supported by our Minister for Trade and Export Growth and the former Minister for Trade and Export Growth, in carving out new trade agreements.

I want to take the time to talk about the deals like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the New Zealand - China free trade agreement upgrade, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the New Zealand - European Union Free Trade Agreement, and the New Zealand - United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement. These are examples of the hard work that this side continues to do in the trade space that opens new markets for our primary producers. I’m very, very proud that we’ve still got Ministers out there on the road, right as we speak, again, forging new markets.

I just want to take the time to acknowledge the week that I’ve been in India. India is a fast-growing economy, 1.3 billion people, and having had the opportunity to speak at the International Dairy Federation, I can report back to this House that we are a reputable country in terms of the food we produce and because of our dairy, and this is something we should take forward and celebrate as a nation.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. As this is the first time that I’ve spoken in the House since the passing of our Queen, I’d like to pay my tribute to her, her 70 years of service to us as a Commonwealth: RIP, my Queen.

I just wanted to say we’ve heard some very interesting debates and backslapping from the Labour Party today, but behind those glossy stories sits a reality that most of the people that we are talking to out there at the coalface of New Zealand are giving us, and some of that stuff is not good news. One of the ones I’d like to start on is the health sector. Now, for someone that comes from the West Coast, I can tell you that we have shamefully enjoyed the highest rate of nursing vacancies in New Zealand. We are running on capacity of 74 percent. So what that means to our existing staff is huge pressure. And when you understand the pressure that these people are under, the hours they’ve had to work—our doctors and our nurses—up to 70 hours a week, and they are buckling under the pressure, the solution just seems so blatantly clear from our vantage point on this side of the House: open up the borders, get our nurses into the country, give them residence on arrival, and get them into the workforce.

I don’t know why that seems like such rocket science to this Government, but the reality is that if we don’t support that workforce soon, we are going to have the mass exodus of those professionals from our health sector. And I can tell you, from personal experience of someone who needed medical attention, could not get into a GP—the books are closed, their waiting list is long—sat for five hours in A & E trying to get urgent attention a couple of weeks later, and then finally, a couple of weeks after that, got some testing done and was found to have a serious life threatening illness. So the treatment being delayed is the risk to life and we need to get real about this. These delays and the pressure on our health system are costing people’s lives.

It wasn’t that long ago that we as MPs in our electorate had a direct line through to our DHBs, but we’ve got this mega-entity now called Health New Zealand, and I still for the life of me can’t find out how to contact the person who represents Health New Zealand so that I can talk to them. I know that Dr Shane Reti put a question to the Minister and asked: “Of the functions of the 20 former district health boards, the Crown agency responsible for leading the day-to-day running of the health system, where are the locations and contact details for these district offices?” The answer was they could be found on the Te Whatu Ora website. So, OK, I go on to the website and I go round and around—I still haven’t found the contact details. This is such an irony from a Government that said it was going to be the most open and transparent. I can’t even find the contact details.

But I want to move on to an NGO I spoke to recently. This NGO provides fantastic local services for the people who most desperately need it. So they have now been in correspondence with Oranga Tamariki (OT). Oranga Tamariki are going to focus their attention, I was told, on those very difficult 3 percent of the clients that they work with. That’s a very fine ambition and I applaud that. But the kicker is that the 97 percent are going to be passed over to these NGOs to deal with in their communities, but that comes with a little problem because, in the same letter that I’ve got a copy of, they say, “By the way, we’re going to reduce your funding by 10 percent.” So here we are. The NGOs who do all this fabulous work in our community are under huge pressure themselves, are now taking on more work from OT and having a financial reduction in their budget.

But I wanted to use a few minutes to mention something that is very near and dear to me, and that is the stewardship land review that’s going on. I want to get it on the record. The people in Haast that we have visited who have had generational grazing leases and run their cattle, generations of cattle farmers, and who are now at risk of losing access to that land—which will be decimating for those communities—got a report from the Otago University that over the four years they were investigating water quality on these grazing leases, their findings came back and said the water is pristine. Leave our land alone.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I got to do something last week that I haven’t done for a very long time. I went and saw my daughter sing—not just her class, not just her school but many other schools from right across the region. From as far away as Wairarapa to Ōtaki, schools came together. It wasn’t cancelled, it wasn’t postponed, and they weren’t wearing masks. They sung their hearts out and they loved every moment of that. In that time, I stopped and I felt really hopeful. I felt optimistic for our future, and I felt so lucky to be in New Zealand right now.

The last three years have not just been hard on our kids but they’ve also been hard on our businesses, hard on our workers, and hard on our mental health. The uncertainty that we have had to live with, over the past 900-odd days, has taken its toll on us, and I think it’s important that we acknowledge that. But it’s also important to acknowledge that this Government has been there, right through those hard times, and we will continue to be there as we get our certainty back.

It’s important to put it in context—as we move into a new phase where we do have our certainty back—and to acknowledge what turbulent times we have in the US, in the UK, and China, in terms of inflation, in terms of the real crisis other countries are seeing with the energy prices. In the UK alone, we’re seeing prices 10 times higher than before Russia’s war on Ukraine. Globally, diesel prices have increased 74 percent in the last year. Recently, Citigroup, projecting the inflation rates for the United Kingdom, are looking at rates around 18 percent in the first quarter of 2023. Grant Robertson made a point, in a recent speech, lately, of quoting the The Art of War and saying that in the midst of this uncertainty, in the midst of this chaos, there is always opportunity. That is what I believe: that there is always opportunity, whereas the National Party seem to think that the only opportunity that they see is creating even more chaos, and I think that’s sad. Together, we have ensured our economy has fared better than the global financial crisis (GFC). Our inflation, while below the OECD, has caused a real cost of living crisis for New Zealanders, but we have been there to help those people.

During the weekend, I was out knocking on doors with some of our excellent Labour local candidates in the Hutt Valley. I met a woman who had to give up her car in the early weeks of this year because she could no longer afford petrol prices. She told me that if it was not for public transport being half price, she would not have been able to get herself to work each day to continue and have her employment. She also told me that she took the money that she’s received so far through the cost of living payment and she has bought food for her and her son. The interesting part was that she chose to buy that food in dry goods—pasta, rice, canned goods, and frozen veges—so she could fill her cupboards and have that certainty that she could go to her kitchen and make a meal when she needed to in the future.

I’m proud to be part of a Government that paid that money to give people in our community the certainty when they need it, because this Government has been there through those hard times, and we will continue to be there as we get our certainty back in New Zealand. I’m proud of the fact that our debt is low, that our GDP is up, that our exports are in demand, and that more people are in work and they’re being paid higher wages. Kiwi families and our economy are made stronger from the good position that we are at right now.

I’d like to wind up by highlighting one point that I’m most proud of, and that’s our 50,000 apprentices. When we see that there are 20,000 more construction workers in New Zealand, those are young peoples’ lives that have been given real hope and opportunity: to earn a wage, to have a trade, and to get ahead in life. Under the GFC, they were the first to go, they were the first to be dismissed, those ones and apprentices, and we paid that price dearly, as we’ve had no workers in the times when we’ve needed to build more houses. I’m pleased to see that growing and building.

Recently, I got to visit a local construction company and their scaffolding apprentices doing a three-year apprenticeship to learn that trade. I saw the pride in those young workers’ faces at the work that they were doing and I saw how much their bosses had encouraged and increased their development through making sure that they were giving the right training to do the job properly. And I’m proud to be part of this Government.

It’s a good time for New Zealand to be getting ahead in terms of all the advantages that we have had. We’re in a strong position, post-COVID, and I look forward to continue building on our strengths as a country and making the best possible choices and opportunities for our people in the future.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I rise as the member of Parliament for Southland for the National Party and just want to take this opportunity to express my condolences on the passing of the Queen, as this is my first opportunity to speak and recognise the incredible 70 years of service that she gave.

This is an incompetent Government that is obsessed with ideology and has completely lost touch with grassroots New Zealand. It isn’t listening to what the country needs and can’t get things done. The Labour Government gives the impression of a crew of sailors who have fresh gusts coming at them across the water, are completely overwhelmed, and have taken their hands off the tiller and let go of the sails. New Zealand deserves so much more. We are a proud nation with a small population that has nevertheless produced some of the best sportspeople, some of the best sailors in the world. We know a good team and we know a good skipper when we see one. This Labour Government is not it.

From the immigration Minister, Michael Wood, who brought New Zealand the debacle of the phantom Auckland cycle bridge that cost $55 million before Labour backflipped on it, came the debacle of an immigration reset during a desperate workforce crisis which is hamstringing the economy and creating misery and enormous stress across New Zealand. An article just a couple of days ago said, “11,000 employers are desperate to import 53,000 migrant workers as the labour drought hits business growth.” What are the Labour Government doing about it? Nothing.

From the environment Minister, David Parker, who brought New Zealand the debacle of the KiwiSaver tax, which Labour backflipped on in less than 24 hours, comes the winter grazing regulations, which will cost farmers up to $100 million to apply for a consent to farm, because the Government hasn’t sorted our freshwater farm plans despite having two years to do it.

Australia announced two weeks ago—the Australian Labor Government announced two weeks ago—that it will increase its permanent immigration intake by 35,000 to a total of 195,000 in the current fiscal year as the nation grapples with a skill and labour shortage. What is the Labour Government doing as New Zealand grapples with a labour and skill shortage? Nothing. In fact, for just one example, chefs who have experience working in some of the best hotels across the world cannot get into New Zealand because they don’t have level 4 equivalent experience.

The Minister Michael Wood, who’s in the House, was told about this. I know he met with Hospitality New Zealand at least a month ago, and what has he done? It just needs a simple flick of the pen where he can change it to level 4 or equivalent experience to take into account the experience chefs have had working in the best restaurants in the world so they can come and help our workforce crisis in New Zealand. What has he done? Nothing. I’m talking with hospitality providers in my region who are literally in tears because of the stress on them and their staff. Their staff are leaving because of the stress that they’re being placed under. What is the immigration Minister doing? Nothing. It’s absolutely shameful.

In terms of the winter grazing, let’s not forget that this is the same Minister who piled the KiwiSaver tax on to the country. Now it’s $100 million of unnecessary compliance costs on farmers because of freshwater regulations over a year overdue. On 1 November of this year, David Parker expects thousands of farmers to apply for resource consents after he has failed to complete the regulatory framework allowing farmers to certify their freshwater farm plans. These regulations require farmers to have a certified freshwater farm plan for winter grazing on sloping land. They must obtain a resource consent if they do not have a certified programme. However, two years after regulations were passed—two years—there’s still no framework. To make matters worse, officials indicated that the framework would not be ready this year. These regulations have already been delayed by David Parker twice. The worst part is that forcing farmers to apply for consent is unlikely to achieve any environmental gains.

Now, what is winter grazing, for those who are listening? Well, just one example in my electorate is a farmer who grows 27 hectares of fodder beet to feed 570 cows for 72 days during winter. That’s a period when grass doesn’t grow in Southland because the ground is too cold and there is limited sunlight. You need to feed your animals. Fodder beet grows 15 times the feed that grass does. If that farmer tried to feed their cows on grass during that same period, they would need 410 hectares of grass instead of 27 hectares of fodder beet. That 410 hectares would turn to mud, and the grass would take two years to grow back naturally. So they take a very sensible approach to protect their animal welfare and to protect the water, putting in buffer zones, putting in catch crops to absorb nutrients to let the water go past without taking the top soil with it, break feeding, having at least three backup systems. This is an excellent example of what farmers do. What is David Parker doing to recognise that? Nothing. Instead he’s requiring up to 10,000 resource consents, and each application costs up to $10,000—so more cost, no outcomes, and a complete failure by this Government. This is a Government that is failing New Zealand and is failing to listen, and we deserve better.

Kia ora te Māngai o te Whare. Labour people often quote Norm Kirk’s famous words: “Kiwis don’t ask for much,” he said. “Somewhere to live, somewhere to work, something to hope for.” But it’s the less famous words he said after, on his election night, that echo for me: “And now comes the job of making dreams come true.”

The job of a Government is to create the conditions where people can build a secure future, where they can build their dreams. There’s no doubt when you look around the world at the global situation, this is a challenging time to build dreams.

I come from a place where for a lot of people it’s been tough to think about dreams; it’s been tough to even think about building that future for a long, long time. Whangārei has been coming first at the wrong end of statistics for decades. And yet, as I look around Whangārei, even now, everywhere, I see the foundations for dreams being built. There’s a secure future unfolding. There is ngākau rorotu.

Many years ago, I attended Tikipunga High School, which then—and now, to use the old numbers—would be called a decile 2. It’s a place that’s been stigmatised for a long time in my community. It’s a place people associate with all the tough things in society. The truth is, it is harder to do better when you don’t have much to begin with. Even dreaming of better is a luxury people in survival mode can rarely afford, and that has been true of a lot of my community.

But when I visit Tiki High these days, I see a shift. I meet kids who now, thanks to this Government, eat a solid, nutritious, and delicious lunch every day. I talk to parents who tell me what a difference that makes to their weekly budgets. I talk to teachers who tell me how that food means those kids can now concentrate and focus like they never have before.

These are kids who now look you in the eye with confidence. They talk about the multitude of positive futures they are dreaming into existence—kids who are planning on nursing and know exactly what courses and what grades they need to get them there, and young men and young women talking knowledgeably and enthusiastically about the trades training they’re going to enter or, in many cases, are already in. I meet kids all over my town who are part of the 50,000 Kiwi apprentices and 200,000 in trades training thanks to the Government support we’re giving. We have their backs. We’re creating the conditions in which they can build a future, and they are.

Thanks to this Government, I know that when these kids come out of their training, those same young apprentice builders and electricians and plumbers will have a steady stream of work because this Government has chosen to meet the challenges of tough times not with the retrenchment we saw in the global financial crisis but by action to reboot growth.

In the last two years, this Government has made the biggest investments in Whangārei infrastructure in my lifetime. My hospital—the oldest, most rundown in the country—has seen the building of much-needed facilities for maternity and paediatric health, cardiac and oncology services, and best of all, we’ve committed to fully funding the first and biggest stage of our main hospital rebuild.

We’re also—and this is worth a speech in itself—building 166 new State houses, with 500 more in the pipeline. There’s nothing quite as wonderful as going along to something like Puriri Park, where we are building 38 new homes, and meeting the first residents and seeing a little pair of two-year-old twins in their matching Ray-Bans heading into their very first house.

My young Tikipunga High School apprentices will have work to build that hospital, to build those houses, and, in due course, my young Tiki nurses will have a hospital fit for them and fit for the future.

It’s been a long, cold, lonely winter for Whangārei, but here comes the sun. Ka rawe, ka rawe. And it is wonderful to be standing here on this day celebrating suffrage, celebrating the spring, and celebrating good things for Whangārei.

E te Pīka o te Whare, ko te reo te mauri o te mana Māori. I tērā wiki, nā te kore noho o tēnei Whare i kore ai tātou i mihi ki ngā kaihāpai o te reo Māori. I kore ai tātou ngā mema Pāremata i mihi ki Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori i roto i tēnei Whare, ā, tēnā taku tino kaupapa i te tautohetohe nei.

Ko te mea tuatahi, me āta mihi tātou ki Ngā Tamatoa me Te Rōpū Reo Māori, ngā wāhine toa pērā ki a Hannah Te Hemana, Dr Linda Smith, Rīpeka Evans mā, arā ko rātou katoa i whakarite, i kōkiri, i whakatakoto hoki i te petihana mō te reo Māori ki te Whare Pāremata i te tau 1972. Āe, ko taku pāpā tētahi o rātou i taua wā. Engari i taua wā korekore, kīhai te katoa i tautoko i te kaupapa. Nā te patu o te Karauna te mataku o ngāi Māori kia kōrero i te reo rangatira. Nā tēnā pāmamae kīhai te katoa o te ao Māori i tautoko i te kaupapa, engari i haere tonu a Hannah Te Hemara mā.

Ka tae ana te tekau mā whā o Hepetema 1972, ā, ka tau mai te wairua kaha me te kotahitanga. I tērā wā i kōrero taku pāpā ki te hunga pāpāhō. Ko te mea nui e hiahia ana mātou ko te kitenga a te marea i te oranga o te reo Māori, ka mutu, kāhore e tūpono nei ka mate; kei te ora pai te reo Māori.

[Last week, because the House was not sitting, we did not acknowledge the champions of the Māori language. We did not, as members of Parliament, acknowledge, in this House, Māori Language Week, and that is the subject of this debate.

Firstly, we should openly acknowledge Ngā Tamatoa and the Te Reo Māori Society, the powerful women such as Hannah Te Hemana, Dr Linda Smith, Rīpeka Evans and others—that is, all of those who organised, championed and presented the Māori language petition to the House of Parliament in the year 1972. Yes, my father was one of them at that time. But, at that time, not everyone supported the issue. Because of Crown subjugation, Māori were frightened of speaking their noble language. As a result of that trauma, not everyone in the Māori world supported this issue either, but Hannah Te Hemara and others persisted.

By 14 September 1972, there prevailed a strong unity of spirit. At that time, my father talked to the media. The main thing we wanted was for the public to see that the Māori language was alive, it hadn’t just disappeared and died; the Māori language was alive and well.]

Mr Speaker, I talk to mark Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, as I mentioned in my tribute to the Queen’s passing last week that the House was not going to get to that once-in-a-50-year opportunity to mark the te reo Māori petition and all those who have fought and continue to fight to uphold te reo today. Directly relevant to this time and to the fight for te reo is the focus on the monarchy, right at this very moment, here and around the world.

For here in Aotearoa, as I have said, the conversation is for constitutional transformation. What would Aotearoa look like if Te Tiriti was recognised and honoured in our constitutional arrangements and throughout our communities and society? The work to decolonise and re-indigenise Aotearoa is the conversation for this place, regardless of what is happening on the other side of the world. It is not a new conversation. It is one that we have to be brave to continue to have, and believe in the hope of constitutional transformation—the proper sharing of power.

Simeon Brown: That’s not what the Treaty says.

Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: That is how Māori understand constitutional transformation. In Parliament, we have to remove the fear and ignorance about Te Tiriti which is eliciting and highlighting itself here today in this very House. For far too long, Parliament has had years of being misinformed—

Simon Watts: He was giving you some advice.

Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: —and I’m hearing it right now on this side of the House. So the Māori experiences of powerlessness, we also know, are not the only ones, and that is the political discussion to be having. There is so much hope and guidance and wisdom in Te Ao Māori values that will soothe the pathway of a constitutional transformation, to keep building allies and the message of working together.

I want to acknowledge Ka Tū Kotahi Tātou, a solidarity movement standing outside the Christchurch District Court right now, to stand with love and to fight Islamophobia with a current case that is going through for people with deep hatred and ignorance, sharing some of the most heinous footage about a white supremacy terror that happened to our earth here, to our whenua here. That is manaakitanga in action. Those are the values that Matike Mai and the work of transforming Aotearoa have always held up. That is the beauty of Māori-led conversations about what Aotearoa can truly look like if it acknowledges He Whakaputanga, the tino rangatiratanga and mana motuhake of Māori over our whenua.

Earlier before, I heard a colleague from the National Party, Ms Pugh, talking about “Leave our land alone.”, and I go way further and say give our land back—hoki whenua mai. If we want to be clear about Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, hoki whenua mai—give our land back as part of the process of constitutional transformation. And for what? To be able to care for it, look after it, share it in a way that upholds all of our mokopuna, not just a few. Kia ora, Mr Speaker.

The debate having concluded, the motion lapsed.