Adjournment

I move, That the House do now adjourn. Mr Speaker, it has been a long political year, and we admire the equanimity with which you have helped to conduct the business of this House—considered, reasonable, sometimes not quite correct in your views about what is happening, but perhaps less so than previous Speakers. Thank you for your considered judgment, Mr Speaker.

Can I, along with others, acknowledge on behalf of the Government the staff here in Parliament—the cleaners, the security and catering staff, the library staff, the Hansard staff, the Cabinet Office, our research units, and particularly our office staff. Not only do they carry out their functions, but, in my experience, these are people who do it with some real cheerfulness and, quite often, kindness to politicians who maybe do not always deserve it. But nevertheless they do that, and I want to thank them for those little extra human touches that they bring to the operation of the House and Parliament.

I want to acknowledge all those MPs who have joined the House following the recent general election. They will have time over the holidays to ponder just what an impact it has had on their life, but they will find it an interesting and energising time—getting back here next year.

I want to acknowledge, in his absence, our Prime Minister. He is a political leader who has made history this year, with the strongest third-term victory of any Government in the last 100 years. With his upbeat and aspirational approach, and his fundamental belief in the capacity of New Zealand and New Zealanders to do better, that positive leadership through tough times has been rewarded in a way that politicians appreciate more than anyone else, and that is with a mandate to continue governing—not exactly in the same way, but with the same attitude, of course, when dealing with the circumstances as we now find them, which are significantly different from what they were in 2008. I also acknowledge the relentless energy, effort, and cheerfulness that he brings to leading a team as well as the country.

Can I acknowledge that team—my colleagues in Cabinet and in the National Party caucus. This is a team that remains cohesive, focused, and energetic. Let me put to rest any assumption the Opposition may be making about a third-term Government running out of energy. If anything, the problem is a bit too much energy, in my experience. This is a remarkable tribute to the people whom the National Party puts in here but also, more important, to a governing party that reflects the new energy and confidence of New Zealanders. That is what it is about. It is not as if this party is off on its own. The election campaign, the election result, was built on a New Zealand population that has become more resilient, with a stronger belief in their capacity to handle both good times and bad times, and this caucus here reflects that.

Can I also acknowledge our coalition partners. We have had this coalition arrangement together now, which is coming into a third term—the Māori Party, ACT, and United Future. It is an open and transparent relationship that has contributed to and, in fact, underpinned the stability of government in New Zealand. We welcome particularly the newer members of that coalition who have joined us through the Māori Party and ACT.

I also want to wish the Opposition parties a happy Christmas. The reason for that is that they have had a very unhappy year. So I hope they have a happy Christmas and, in particular, a happy Christmas to the new leader of the Labour Party. In fact, when I was thinking about wishing him a happy Christmas, I thought: “I have done the adjournment debate before, and I think I have wished the Leader of the Opposition a happy Christmas before—I had better go back and just check.” So here it is. Phil Goff got three Christmases. David Shearer—

💬 Carmel Sepuloni: How many did you get?

All my Christmases have come in the National-led Government. Phil Goff got three Christmases. David Shearer got two Christmases. David Cunliffe got one Christmas—we hope Andrew Little makes it to Christmas.

Here is what they say about Andrew Little. This is just a bit of commentary: “He’s done well. He looks like he could be the goods. … you’d have to concede that … [his shadow cabinet changes] …. made a lot of sense.” And here is another one: “Little might be the man in the right place at the right time. … He just needs to be competent, assured and authentic— … so far—he’s passed the test.” Well, that is pretty positive. I thought: I wonder whether that has happened before. So I went back to commentary on David Shearer: “His opponents are at risk of underestimating him. Behind the affable exterior and ready smile are a steel-trap mind coupled with a steely resolve.” So he was good. On David Cunliffe: “Cunliffe delivered the ‘wow’ factor. As he sat down from his first big speech, conference delegates gave him a standing ovation.” So it has all been said before.

You know, it will not matter how well the new Leader of the Opposition does if the Labour Party does not change—that is, change its policies that it has been giving us since 1996. There are a couple of things they will be discussing over the barbecues in the Labour Party. One is: who shot Grant Robertson? That will be the top topic. Whose was the one vote that changed, which meant that Andrew Little got four caucus votes when actually he was meant to get three? That is what happened. He got four caucus votes when he was meant to get three. Grant Robertson and Jacinda Ardern will want to know that. One of the challenges for the Labour Party is unity. As a Labour friend of mine told me, Andrew Little was the last man standing in a circular firing squad. Someone missed him, and so he is the leader.

The Labour Party is going to have to catch up with aspirational New Zealand. This is a party that still believes that parents should not know how their children do at school. It still believes that. It still believes that no asset should be sold anywhere for any reason under any circumstances. Even the Christchurch City Council has gone centre-right on recycling capital.

The National Government goes into Christmas on the back of a pretty good year, but, more important, with a very solid-looking outlook for the economy. Three percent growth per year over the next 3 years—that is roughly where we are headed—means more jobs, higher incomes, and more opportunities for New Zealanders to get ahead, not because we are a rock star economy but because we are a rock-solid economy that is underpinned by New Zealanders who understand what it takes for this economy to succeed.

We will also be back and will continue improving our public services—value for money for all those people who work hard all week and give us their PAYE. It is our job to make sure that there is more educational achievement, that prisoners who come out of prison do not go back, and that more children are protected from violence. I want to congratulate the New Zealand Public Service. Several hundred thousands of them have worked very hard for 6 years to produce more for the same or less. Public confidence in public services today has never been higher—never been higher. Public servants have done an outstanding job of serving the public and the Government of the day. They can only do that because we have a strong economy with a well-led Government, an outstanding Prime Minister, and a New Zealand that wants it that way.

Well, we have heard it all now, in the great spirit of Christmas: “recycling capital” from a deputy leader who has been recycling his political capital for the last several years.

I want to begin by thanking all the people around this very important institution for working so hard to not only keep us occupied but keep this House running. I want to thank Mary Harris, the Clerk of the House, and all the Office of the Clerk staff, including the Table Office, the Bills Office, Hansard, interpretation and translation, Select Committee Services, parliamentary relations, policy, legal education, organisational performance—which I did not know existed until now—and information services. They are all those who make sure that our job is easier to do every day.

I want to thank Alan Mumford, the buildings team, and all the contractors who support buildings. They have been a frequent occupier of the third floor of the parliamentary building—it is true—moving offices around. I want to thank the Serjeant-at-Arms, Brent Smith, and the security staff who work so hard to keep us safe even when the security risk rises and we have fewer doors to come in and even fewer to leave by. I want to thank Heather Daly and the tireless messengers who have been the focus of attention from at least the Paul Henry Show this year and, of course, ourselves.

I want to thank the research experts, the Parliamentary Library, the Datacom team who keep us connected and sometimes our computers working, the New Zealand Post staff at the post shop, and the Epicure staff who keep us fed. I have to say ever since Andrew Williams no longer frequents this place, my Epicure bill has halved. I think they had a policy that if it was named Andrew, they sent it to Andrew Little, but it has got easier. I want to thank the Spotless cleaning team, who, I might say, do genuinely deserve a pay rise for Christmas. I want to thank the General Manager of the Parliamentary Service, David Stevenson, and his team, and in particular Anne Smith, Jane McKenzie, Shelley Kirk, and the relationship team.

Finally, I would like to thank my chief of staff, Matt McCarten, the whips’ office manager, Emma Williams, and the dedicated and talented team of leaders, staff, executive assistants, out-of-office parliamentary staff, and issues assistants whom they take care of. I might also thank the chief of staff of the Prime Minister’s office, Wayne Eagleson, who has provided me with so many opportunities in the last few weeks, but that might not be quite in the spirit of things. I believe it is also protocol for me to acknowledge all the former leaders of my caucus, but I have only 10 minutes and I do not want to detain the House for too much longer.

There is no question that this has not been the easiest year for the Opposition, at least in the Labour Party. We have had our ups and downs, but I want to say we have ended the year on an up, and that is very satisfying. I should, as a matter of formality—and genuineness, because we are genuine people in this House—congratulate the Government and, indeed, the Prime Minister on their election victory again. They did receive, at least 10 weeks ago, a huge vote of trust and confidence from the public. They have a responsibility to live up to that.

It is true that we also received a very clear message from the election result. The public felt we had lost touch with them. They want us to keep up with a changing world. I can say we have heard that message. We are reconnecting with New Zealanders. We are on our way. I want to say also that Labour is now on the front foot. We are on the front foot.

💬 Hon Member: On your way.

Yeah, we are on our way to make a difference in this country, because people are looking for something different. People are looking for something different. They want MPs and politicians who talk straight and who talk to the issues as they are—the issues that New Zealanders care about.

We have shown New Zealanders that we can do that, and they are concerned about a Government that, 10 weeks into the job, is now showing that dreadful “third-term-itis” that some Governments show, of a bit more arrogance and a bit more contempt for the public. It is starting to creep out. Poor old Paula Bennett has to come down to question time just to find out what the housing policy is, because we all know that it is Bill English who controls it and runs it. She is screwing up her face, but she knows the truth. She does not know what is going on in housing. She does not know how many houses there are. She does not know how many houses are being sold. The Cabinet decisions are now starting to come out because people are concerned about a Government that itself has lost touch and that is out of touch.

Once upon a time New Zealanders looked to the Prime Minister and said: ‘Yeah, John—he’s a straight shooter. We understand him. We get him.” But now, 10 weeks into the third Government, they no longer do. They used to describe him many years ago as a bit slippery. Then he kind of got pretty good—pretty cute. And now they see him as slippery again because he has ended the year covered in whale oil, and that is not going to end any time soon—that is not going to end any time soon.

I want to say, in the spirit of the occasion—there are a couple of announcements that I want to make. I have been leaked a copy of the New Zealand Film Commission’s recent list of movies that it has funded. In fact, it is about to release the list. These movies might make useful stocking fillers for many people—looking at those who are interested in politics. The commission has released to me the list of movies, which are adaptations of favourite New Zealand movies but with a political context applied. Those movie-makers know where their funding has come from.

I will just go through a random selection of movies from the list. For example, there is the newly titled “The Whale Oil Rider”. It is a touching story of two New Zealanders in search of bromance, a spiritual bond, a clean environment for blue whales, and a decent mobile package with free text messaging—filmed on location in the heart of Wellington and suburban North Shore. Then we have “Goodbye Pork Barrel”. It is a road movie in which a Minister of Transport turned Minister of Defence undergoes a road to Damascus conversion and realises that grandiose public works projects designed to win votes actually take money away from other areas, like defence spending.

Then there is “The End of the Golden Weather”. No, it is not the press gallery Christmas party. It is the story of an economy where commodity prices fall, income tax receipts fall, the Government deficit grows, and the marginal character in the whole story is left to mindlessly run up and down Parnell Rise wishing he was important. Finally, we have “Heavenly Features”. It is the story of a Leader of the Opposition who, armed only with his rugged good looks and a new pair of glasses, takes on a Government that is tired, out of touch, out of ideas, and out of time—and wins.

💬 Hon Member: Who’s in that?

The mystery guest star in that one is—we will soon find out.

💬 Hon Annette King: What about “The Return of the King”?

Oh! There is a special extra one, a Lord of the Rings movie called “The Return of the King”. And she is sitting next to me. We are on our way back. This has been, as I say, a very difficult year.

We are on the cusp, of course, of a very important year—2015. If I could just take a moment, because 2015 is a year in which we will celebrate and observe two very, very critical moments of history for this country. One is, of course, the centenary of Anzac and the disaster at Gallipoli. We, of course, will take time as a nation and, indeed, as a Parliament to observe that. That was the old campaign of the Dardanelles led by, of course, Winston Churchill—that Winston. It was such a huge cost to this country. One-tenth of our population of young men was lost over there. This will be a very important time for us.

There is another very serious and, I think, solemn observance that we have to make next year and that is the 800th anniversary of a very important document that sits at the heart of our constitution, the Magna Carta. I do not know what plans the Government has got to celebrate the Magna Carta, but I am looking forward to those celebrations. As anybody interested in the law and the constitution knows, it is a document that is about establishing the rights and freedoms of citizens in relation to the Government. We should always be concerned about that, as, indeed, this House was yesterday—

💬 Hon Hekia Parata: Thought you were gonna talk about the 175th anniversary of the Treaty of Waitangi.

No point in heckling now, Minister. It was your Government that passed a piece of legislation that was very frightening to many citizens of this country. We should never forget the importance of those principles in that very important document. I want to know, Minister of Finance, how much you have allocated for that particular celebration, because it is going to be very important to us.

The other piece of news that I want to release too, because we have had a very interesting time in the last several weeks—we have had releases of text messages between the Prime Minister and Cameron Slater. But what we have discovered through our very arduous research is that there are some text messages that were not released at the time. We have now found them—we have now found them. For example, here is one from the night of 14 June, at 11.55 p.m. It is from John Key to Cameron Slater and says: “Just putting out Moonbeam. Night, night, Camcam.” And then we have one from Cameron Slater to John Key on 31 August: “John, can I get some advice again? Girl problems. Judith’s not talking to me any more.” Then here is one from just a couple of weeks ago: “John, I haven’t heard from you in 2 hours. You OK?”.

So we end this year, from this side of the House, very pleased, very happy. We have a direction. We know what the issues are for New Zealanders. They are concerned about what this Government is doing and, more important, what it is not doing. We have been reminded just in the last 24 hours about the issues of inequality in this country and we stand ready to take on that fight and to take on that battle.

Mr Speaker, I want to conclude with a very important message. The spirit of the occasion leaves me to say to all members, and indeed to yourself, in the words of the great crooner: “If you can’t beat them, join them.” And, in terms of making fun of your own surname: “Have yourselves a Merry Little Christmas.” Thank you.

It is a great honour for me to speak on behalf of the Green Party in this adjournment debate—[Interruption] Calm down, fellas—calm down. I thank my colleagues for the privilege. I became an MP only 12 weeks ago, a period of time that seems both very fleeting and also very long. I would like to talk about some of the things I have learnt about Parliament and politics during those weeks. The first thing that I have learnt is that although many of the things that we have provenance over are deeply mundane, such as Parts 1 through to 4 of the Accounting Infrastructure Reform Bill, some are indeed matters of great national and international import, such as the Countering Terrorist Fighters Legislation Bill, which was passed in this House yesterday after several minutes of careful consideration and thoughtful debate.

That bill is designed to stop New Zealanders from going to fight for the Islamic State, which is fighting the Iraqi Government, which we support. We will shortly be sending the military over to help Iraq fight the Islamic State, which definitely will not have any New Zealanders fighting with them because we said so—yesterday. We also support Saudi Arabia, which also supports the Islamic State, which is fighting the Government of Iraq, which we also support. The Middle East is a very supportive environment right now. Our military will feel well supported when they get over there. I will tell this House whom we do not support, and that is President al-Assad in Syria. We do support some of the freedom fighters who are fighting against President al-Assad, who are primarily led by the Islamic State, but we do not support the Islamic State. We also do not support Iran, which also does not support the Islamic State, and which does support the Government of Iraq, which we do support. This mess was largely created by a coalition of the willing, which we were unwilling to support. It invaded Iraq for two reasons: to look for weapons of mass destruction that did not exist and to drive out terrorists who were not there until the coalition went in to drive them out. Into this hornet’s nest, the Beehive proposes to send a contingent of the New Zealand Defence Force, perhaps under the Anzac banner, which may be appropriate because, as far as military adventures go, this one looks like a real winner. It may be just as well that we are passing legislation that is designed to keep us safe from ourselves.

I have also learnt that journalists do actually ask questions like: “Have you ever smoked cannabis?”. My answer to that was: “No. Absolutely not. Never.” Of course, I was answering generally rather than specifically, but it is true; I have never inhaled in my capacity as a list MP. My office may have taken drugs in the past—I do not know; I am not accountable for it—but, at the end of the day, what I can say is that I am extremely relaxed.

The people here have been very friendly. To the people at Parliamentary Service, who put on an excellent induction programme and who set up our offices, our IT, our finances, our travel, and our accommodation; the staff at the restaurants who feed us when we are in a hurry; the ushers who look after us in the House; and the cleaners who tidy up after us at the end of a long day—on behalf of all of us who entered Parliament for the first time this September, and on behalf of my Green colleagues, thank you.

The National Party MPs have been especially warm. Almost every time they mention me in the media they talk about me as a leadership contender for the Green Party. It is very gracious of them to do that without any trace of malice or ulterior motive, especially since Metiria and Russel have led the Green Party and doubled the size since 2008 and I can barely make it into this House with a tie on. I would particularly like to thank the Hon Chris Finlayson for his praise, and I return the favour by asking the National Party to consider that member as its next leader, after the current one steps down early next year. The Hon Chris Finlayson has great integrity, a respect for parliamentary process, precision, a sharp mind, and a clear memory—characteristics that we are looking for in a Prime Minister. Minister Finlayson has other qualities too that many people do not see: a great tolerance for chit-chat, humility, empathy, and a connection with real New Zealanders. He can speak to and for the Kiwi battlers of Huntly. As the Attorney-General himself might say: “Fecisti patriam diversis de gentibus unam.”

The House is about to rise for the summer adjournment, which revolves around the tradition of Christmas. I imagine that after this speech, I for one will be begging for forgiveness, and it is on that theme I would like to conclude. I said in my maiden speech only 7 weeks ago that we must transcend and transform our petty politics and our partisanship. I said that to get unstuck we will all need to let go of some things and to be more committed to finding the answers than to being right or to others being wrong. The intervening weeks have not disillusioned me of that belief; they have reinforced it. To a new observer it may seem that we are stuck in a never-ending downward spiral of attack and defend that serves only to revolt the public at large and to turn them off participating in the political process or even bothering to vote. One of the four principles of the Green Party charter is that of non-violence. This is not simply an absence of physical violence; it is the method of social change given to us by Mahatma Gandhi, who preached ahimsa, the lack of desire to harm or to kill, and by Martin Luther King, who drew from the Christian tradition. It is through these principles and practices that we can transcend and transform the stuck situation we seem to find ourselves in. Let us take the summer adjournment to consider ways we might work together to fix this, to bring integrity and functionality to our political process, and to restore New Zealanders’ faith in who we are and the work we do here.

As this most sordid of political years draws to a close and the House rises for the Christmas break, I offer this. In the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus is reported in the Gospel of Luke to have said “But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

New Zealand First wishes to thank all of the hard-working people in Parliament who make this place tick, for what they contribute to our nation and to our democracy. Thank you, Mr Speaker—and thanks also to your assistants—for your efforts to ensure that this place runs fairly, or, to be more accurate and to quote Mr Joyce, “pretty fairly”. Thank you also to your staff, particularly the Clerk and her office, the select committee staff, our fantastic library researchers, the messengers, the cleaners—who, by the way, still need a fair raise—the travel office, the Copperfields staff, the IT gurus, parliamentary security, and the Hansard staff. To all of you, a happy Christmas.

Thanks also to my dear friends in the press gallery. We know that you play a very fundamental role in our parliamentary democracy. Sadly, it has become increasingly clear to us that the under-resourcing of those in the gallery by their respective organisations is having a negative impact on their ability to report the news. As this new-found obsession with speed shows, haste makes waste, and thoughtful consideration is better than a breaking news banner—but we know where the blame lies.

To our New Zealand First staffers in Wellington and out around the country, and to all of our supporters, thank you for a great year. With a fraction of the money these other parties had—a bare fraction of what they had—we increased our vote by almost 62,000. Had the election been in November, when it should have been, it would have been “all over, Rover”. There is an ominous warning for some of you over there in that last statement.

We have had a great year. The question now becomes: why are we rising now? Why, when there are zero hours for some people on contracts, the 90-day exploratory period, and the lack of smoko, would this Parliament and every other party but New Zealand First want to go and have an early holiday? They should be here to handle the crisis that this country faces. Why? Overnight the OECD irrefutably pointed to the disparities between the wealthy and the poor in this country.

You know, the only thing we have in surplus right now in this country is political dishonesty. Mr English has been holding out for a surplus. For years he has been saying it is imminent. All he has ever delivered, of course, is deficit after deficit after deficit. What we want, Mr English and the National Party, in 2015—which is going to be a seriously tough year; all the omens are there—is the unadulterated, plain truth about the state of the economy; not the on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again deficit we have had for the past 6 years. As for the growth rate, every forecast has it severely down, and it is worsening with the latest forecast from Fonterra.

What attention to the deficit does is draw the public’s attention away from some of the really scary numbers. As I said, we have $150 billion of national debt, and our debt as a Government is up over six times, to $65 billion. It reminds me of those lines from Dusty Springfield’s song, where she said: “a-thinkin’ and a-hopin’ and a-dreamin’ and a-prayin’ ”, I think it went—

💬 Hon Member: Thinking and wishing.

Yes, “a-thinkin’ and a-hopin’ and a-wishin’ and a-prayin’ ”—on and on; no plan at all. Out in business New Zealand, there are a whole lot of people who think that this Government has no plan, because if we knew what it was, we would not have the Government trying to defend it so many times. Tracking up the figures around the deficit surplus in successive Budgets and fiscal updates has become an art form for this Government.

Before the election, all that mattered to Mr English was to claim a surplus in 2014-15. There is no surplus. As soon as this House rises, he is going to go on trying to soften people and blame everybody else but National’s own claim to be good financial managers. They are not; they are appalling. If we were in Government borrowing at six times what our borrowing rate was in 2008, they would be over there screaming blue murder. But, of course, there has always been for National members, of recent times, one rule for them and a different rule for everybody else. Look at their personal and staff expenditures. They screamed about the number of civil servants we had, and now we have got more. Keith Holyoake used to have five people in his office; Mr Key has got 55. Holyoake had five; Key has 55. And then bodyguards everywhere as well, like some sort of South American drug lord—bodyguards everywhere. Maybe it makes him feel great and important.

Then we have the Government’s boast of massive immigration being good for New Zealand, massive housing—

💬 Hon Member: Oh, here we go.

Oh, yes, here we go again. For that junior, wet behind the ears, been here 5 minutes: here we go, all right—all the way to the next election. We have a net gain of 47,000 right now, mainly going to Auckland, and we have got Mr English and others talking about consents: “Oh, we’ve got 11,000 consents.” Have you ever tried to live in a consent? Are there any bathrooms in a consent? Are there any kitchens or bedrooms in a consent? No. It is a joke. We should be here, all the way to Christmas Eve, to give it our belated attention. Leastways, that is what New Zealand First says. We are happy to do the hours, the yards, because we know what poverty feels and tastes like, and that is why we understand the condition of so many New Zealanders now.

Look at today’s New Zealand Herald. All these people were surveyed by Massey University and Westpac, and the mass majority of them said that they had no hope as renters of ever owning their own home. I can recall in this great country when we were No. 1 in the world, and when we took people from dirt floors and tents and poverty to make us the highest homeownership country in the whole wide world. National’s proud boast at the time under Holyoake was that we were a property-owning democracy. These people here do not care—“I’m in the boat, Jack. Too bad for you. Pull up the ladder, we’re off.” Oh, yes—but I tell you, you nervous backbenchers, that I hope you enjoy it, because it is not going be very long-lived. I do not think you are going to make the 2017 election. I do not think you are going to make it. I think there are going to be massive protests when people realise the promises of growth were so fragile as to be a mirage. It is all in today’s paper. We call for a house and land register, and they say: “Oh, no—that’s not necessary.” Except that if you look at today’s paper again—

💬 Phil Twyford: That’s racist and xenophobic.

Oh, xenophobia, they call it. I can recall when New Zealand First was referring to the housing crisis, massive immigration, and what is going on Auckland, and every other party shouted: “Racism and xenophobia.” Now they want to pick all the low-hanging apples. Oh, yes they do. We might have a concern, because right now we have discovered that the Overseas Investment Office is working on a register of foreign ownership of New Zealand.

Did he know that—the backbencher over there, smiling? Did Mr Bishop know about it? No. He smiles at two flies going up the wall. Did his Prime Minister know? No, he did not know. It is all in this article. Mind you, this is a Prime Minister who said this—also in the New Zealand Herald of 20 November—“But when it came to assess the sale of the Crafer farms to Shanghai Pengxin, not a single other farm could be found with Chinese ownership.” What planet is this Prime Minister on? Look at the man up there yawning, from Rodney. He knows there is a whole lot up in his area—one woman owns four farms up there. And here is the Prime Minister bull-dusting around the country saying that it does not exist. Well, we are going to make sure that everybody in 2015 gets to find out who was telling the truth all along. Our message to those people going to Christmas, and it will be very grim for a lot of people, is that I know it is difficult, but hang on—New Zealand First is on a dramatic rise; it is the fastest-growing party in this country—help is on its way. Help is on its way.

The sad thing, of course, is this: we are off to war. This country, as soon as this House rises, will find out that we are off to war, having never—

💬 Hon Anne Tolley: Rubbish!

I know it is rubbish. I will get around to that member especially a little later. But let me tell you this: we are off to war, and she will never apologise next year when it happens. The National Government never learnt anything from history—never learnt a thing from it. I was in Cabinet in 1991, and I was the only Cabinet Minister opposed to going to that war. Then we had the second engagement, and thank God the Labour Party would not go. But no, no—these new green, wet behind the ears people are off to the Middle East one more time, having never learnt a lesson from history. Even, going down the years, the words of Alexander the Great would have told them to stay away from it. That does not help them. I want to say to the people around this country that I hope they have a better 2015, but the warning is that it is going to be very, very difficult.

I want to close by saying—being the only party that believes in traditional values—have a happy Christmas, be safe on the roads, make sure you use your life jackets, especially those over there who cannot swim, and have a better New Year. Thank you.

I am just struggling to get some composure after that comedic effort. At 11 a.m. on Monday, 20 October the 51st Parliament introduced a new convention—a karakia taunaki to gather us together under the mantle of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It was a really special occasion—an occasion of kotahitanga in this House of Representatives, a place to place our faith and respect in Te Tiriti as a founding document of this country. I was proud that the Māori Party was able to contribute to the evolving sense of traditions in this place. I look forward to our ongoing discussions about our maturing nationhood—perhaps a new flag; discussions about perhaps a new national anthem, which might go a long way; discussions around relationships between the rangatiratanga flag and other symbols of national identity and shared priorities that reflect the relationship between tino rangatiratanga on one hand and kāwanatanga on the other.

It was a good start to the year and there have been other signs that create reason for optimism about our future as a nation. The Māori Party was so pleased to sign up to a relationship accord with the National Government, called Te Tatau ki te Paerangi—a doorway to our horizons. The relationship signalled the momentum of moving forward, the promise of ongoing investment in Whānau Ora, the ongoing mahi of the ministerial committee on poverty, our focus on Māori economic and regional development and encouraging greater participation in the electoral process, and an engagement strategy with whānau, hapū, iwi, and Māori organisations and businesses.

A famous writer, Wīremu Shakespeare, once said that action is eloquence. We heard last night one of our own—our whanaunga—the late Parekura Horomia, who, although he liked to play with words, was also very concerned about action. My esteemed colleague Te Ururoa Flavell and I are determined to be elegant in our eloquence, active in our advocacy, and passionate for our people. In the 2 months since that relationship accord was signed we have initiated two nationwide consultation exercises. The first is to return to the people to gauge their views on how best to take up this political opportunity. The second, led by Te Ururoa, is to listen, learn, and familiarise himself with the people and priorities of his ministerial portfolios. We take engagement seriously. We have thrown open our doors and we have invited our colleagues and friends in, so that we might find kotahitanga in this place that symbolises our new nationhood.

💬 Tracey Martin: You haven’t invited me, Marama.

Hey, I sat down and had a long conversation with you, Tracey. You can come to my office any time you like. That is why it is a matter of great pride for me at the start of this week to be able to promote the amazing leadership demonstrated by Andrew Judd in recommending that under the Treaty mana whenua have a claim to 50 percent of the seats on council tables. Oh my goodness! There were cries around the country of injustice and one rule for all—something that my friends over here do not like to talk about too much. So I was absolutely delighted to take up—

💬 Tracey Martin: Who’s your young man sitting next to you?

This is Rāwiri, he is my friend. This is our opportunity to look at leadership. It was a matter of such despair last week to see the retrograde step taken by the Wanganui City Council in overturning the Minister’s decision to spell Wanganui with an “h”. The iwi have told us that the correct interpretation of the name Whanganui is “the long wait”—whanga meaning “wait”, nui meaning “large” or “long”—but surely the long wait for justice to correct a typo should not take 166 years. We must be vigilant in continuing to work together on these matters to ensure synergy between local and central government, an open relationship between iwi and the Crown, and a dialogue within communities.

Nowhere is that dialogue and leadership needed more than in the area of violence, and I am proud that Te Ururoa, a White Ribbon ambassador, and I are totally determined that the elimination of harm is our top priority. We want to see all our whānau supported to be the best they can be, to live without fear, to be courageous in their ambition, and to live their own dream. Last week we stood on the steps of Parliament and unveiled the Māori men’s stopping violence handbook, using kaupapa Māori practice as a framework for ensuring Māori is value added in this country. That is where Whānau Ora is, and always will be, the opportunity for our greatest transformation to occur.

As we approach the season of goodwill we must ensure that our whānau are encouraged to take back control of their lives and live in a way that enables them to truly realise their potential. We want all our children to feel the gift of love, to know the world awaits them, and to be excited by that possibility. We want our parents, our aunts, our uncles, our kuia, and our koroua to always know how important their strength is to our pā harakeke. We want our whānau to stand up for their own, to enable our whānau hauā to determine their own lives, our whāngai to know their whakapapa and experience the joy of connection, and the diversity of whānau to be supported and know that their greatest opportunity is to create the sense of belonging that makes us all strong.

We are resolute in our drive to eliminate poverty and ensure that debt and deprivation do not define the limits of our world. We will continue to place a premium on housing. Homelessness must not be a part of our present or our future, and I pause at this time to think of all those who this year for Christmas will be experiencing that in a car, on somebody else’s couch, or not anywhere at all. We are absolutely committed to creating real jobs to enable the Māori economy to thrive, and to take due care and action in protecting our beautiful natural world from exploitation or abuse. We will do all that we can to sing our songs, let our language live, and enable all of our whānau, hapū, and iwi to know their tribal richness. We will ensure that all children understand the history of this nation—not just Māori children but all children—and to create an expectation that all public servants must be culturally intelligent. We will continue to place priority on whānau doing for themselves, tending their māra kai, taking responsibility for educational outcomes, and investing in health and well-being as their greatest asset of hope. In doing all of these tasks, we know that we have the greatest privilege and responsibility in answering the call from our constituency to bring the strong and independent voice of Māori into every debate.

Although this 51st Parliament has really only just begun, already we have been overwhelmed by the incredible dedication and commitment of the team within the parliamentary precincts: the Office of the Clerk, Mary Harris, the Deputy Clerk, the Table Office, the library team who help us to pull magic out of the hat through its extensive support, the efficiency of Hansard, the interpreters, of course—tēnā koe, Matua Wīremu—the fantastic security team who keep us safe with a smile, the hard-working and wonderful cleaning staff, the staff of Copperfields and Bellamy’s, the IT team who have helped me keep in touch with the world out there and remind my children what I look like, the building staff who look after our offices, the finance staff, the human resources team, the VIP drivers, the people with the white gloves, the messengers, the telephonists, the parliamentary and ministerial staff, the travel team, and of course our very own Māori Party team—our advisers, our electorate infrastructure, our president, vice-presidents, and national council. Here I make special mention of our very own Helen Leahy.

I look around all of our parliamentary colleagues, and for some of us we share whakapapa. Ron—

💬 Ron Mark: Hey, cuz.

—I meant to vote for you when you were put up for the Speaker, because I thought that might be only vote you will ever get. But that is OK—that is OK—you are still my cousin. We thank you, Mr Speaker, for your team. We acknowledge the Prime Minister, my new-found friend; Mr Brownlee, the Leader of the House; the new Leader of the Opposition, Mr Little; fellow party leaders; and all the elected representatives. In the spirit of the season we wish you all goodwill. My colleague and I would like to finish with a little Yuletide waiata.

On the twelfth day of Christmas Māori Party gave to me,

Twelve tweeters tweeting,

Eleven sizzling fried bread,

Ten fattened pāua,

Nine Fox-y children,

Eight juicy kinas,

Seven seats awaiting,

Six pois a-twirling,

Five Whānau Ora navigators,

Four burning questions,

Three Iron Māori,

Two smart co-leaders,

And a Meri Kirihimete ki a koe.

I can assure you I cannot beat that waiata. What a year. There are a number of people whom I would like to thank who have been very helpful to me as a new member, not least of all yourself and your own office, Mr Speaker, the Office of the Clerk, the security, the messengers, and the hard-working cleaners. I agree with the Opposition members who say that they deserve a pay rise. The ACT Party proposes that we give it to all workers by cutting taxes.

I would like to thank Ministerial Services and the Parliamentary Service. I would particularly like to thank my fabulous staff both in Epsom and in Wellington. I set out with a very simple goal. People said you should never be afraid to hire people smarter than you. Some people might say it was the only option I had, but I have certainly managed to discover some very, very talented people, and I am very proud of the team I have got. I should also add to the list of parliamentary people the Parliamentary Library, which has been fantastically helpful to me.

I have to thank the Opposition for the very important constitutional role that it plays—in particular, my right honourable friend and fellow Northlander from Whananaki, Winston Peters, who has really inspired me and taught me a few things. I came to the House thinking that if you wanted to come and speak in this House, you needed a detailed knowledge of what you were talking about, but, as it turns out, that is optional, so thank you very much for the inspirational leadership you have given. I would like to thank the Green Party members, with the exception of one, who have also shown me that I was wrong about the need to have a detailed knowledge of economics before coming to Parliament. With a little bit of luck, some of them will go away and discover that yes, indeed, the interest rate is proportional to risk. If that seems like a confusion, please Google it as a holiday assignment. We would all be much, much better off.

I would like to thank the press gallery, with the possible exception of 3 News, who have mostly been quite kind to me. If anyone out there really thinks that my salary is the sum of all of my office budget, I am afraid on my behalf that is not true, but it does tell you what sort of reporting you can get from that outlet from time to time.

I would like to thank my colleagues in the National Party for their immense support, particularly as a new member—in particular, the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, but also the two Ministers whom I am looking forward to serving as soon as that letter is tabled. With Minister Parata I think we have some very important work to do with the policy for which I am responsible, partnerships schools and kura hourua. I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge and thank the role that the Māori Party has played. It has been prepared to put aside ideology and focus on the practicality of a policy that will actually help kids, and for that I greatly commend the Māori Party. It is unfortunate that such a quality cannot be found universally across the House.

I also want to acknowledge Minister Joyce, for whom I will be the Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister for Regulatory Reform. We have heard a lot about housing affordability this year, and so we should, because it is a fact that the cost of housing relative to incomes is out of control in New Zealand. But as someone who has actually spent considerable time studying this problem, you cannot control housing affordability by picking on particular groups of homebuyers. It is ultimately a matter of the supply elasticity of housing and, in particular, of land upon which you are allowed to build. That is the type of challenge that I believe I can add value to by helping Minister Joyce as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister for Regulatory Reform.

I think I would reflect more generally that we actually had something of a referendum at this election. Beneath what in student politics we once called the “he-said, she-said”—the “s” of politics—there was a simple question. We had the first post-Rogernomics election in this country’s history. By that I mean it was the first time that the Leader of the Opposition had not lived through the 1980s in this House and had not experienced what happened when the Government got involved in serious intervention in the economy. So we saw an Opposition that wanted to go places with monetary policy, with the tax system, with the role of Government in the housing market, and with the electricity market that Helen Clark, Phil Goff, and their predecessors never would have gone. The people of New Zealand looked into that and they said a resounding no.

We also saw a referendum over what sort of society we would like to be and whether we would like to be a free and open society that welcomes people from all over the world. It was a real shame at this election to see Labour and the Green Party join those who know no better in xenophobic pandering against those who would like to come to our country. But, none the less, the people of New Zealand stepped up to this referendum and they said no.

Nowhere in New Zealand did the people more strongly make this statement of no to going backwards in terms of economic policy and social tolerance than in the electorate of Epsom. I have to say, as I have already mentioned in this House, that it had the lowest party vote for New Zealand First—a tribute to the sophistication of the Epsom electorate, and it also had one of the lowest votes for the Opposition parties in the party vote anywhere. And why is that? It is because the people of Epsom are aspirational people. The No. 1 industry in our electorate is education. People come to our electorate because they want to attend our fabulous schools. We are next to two universities and have another one’s campus within our electorate boundary. They are people who want to make a difference in their own lives and the lives of those whom they care about, and they know that the Government cannot fundamentally do that in the long term. It can give but only to the extent that it also takes.

So I was humbled not only by my fellow Epsom electors—the many thousands who elected me to this House—but also by the hundreds of people who actively came out and helped with my enormous ground campaign. If anybody thinks that that is an easy way to win an electorate, well, I would hate to see a tough campaign. We delivered 85,000 direct mail letters by hand with what I have to say was probably the most highly skilled and most dollars-per-hour mail delivery team that the world has ever seen. We were absolutely humbled by the number of people who were happy to help with that campaign and it was a very humbling thing to be involved in.

💬 Rt Hon Winston Peters: $48 a vote.

As I was saying, maths is not always a strong point across the House. We will leave that there.

My proposition to my constituents was that they would help strengthen the centre-right by voting for me and that I would be a very good local electorate MP. Every day I have constituents coming through my door. It is a great pleasure to help you. Please keep coming and I hope that I can help you much more over the following 3 years—because it may be a mystery to some members but that is actually the job of an electorate MP—[Interruption] It is a long time since Tauranga.

So, in conclusion, I am very proud to be here. I am very proud to stand beside National, beside the Māori Party, beside Peter Dunne, for a Government that has profited from this referendum where New Zealanders have said that they want to be a free and open society with a limited role for Government. That is what makes New Zealand great, that is what makes Epsom great, and I sincerely wish all members of all hues a very happy, festive, fabulous season over the weeks to come—because you are going to need it before next year. Thank you.

It is a great pleasure to take part in this, the adjournment debate, for the end of the 2014 year here at Parliament. I am very pleased to take part in this debate because when looking across the House, it is clear that the Government members need a holiday. They look absolutely exhausted. Looking across the House—oh! There is Hekia Parata. It is a humiliating day for Hekia Parata, of course, as she backs down on the Government’s flagship education policy. But when looking across the House, it is hard not to feel like I am stuck in front of a TV that is tuned only to the JONES! channel. There is rerun after rerun, old, lame, worn-out jokes, the same old faces, and the same old personalities. When watching Steven Joyce in the House, it is hard not to think of Mr Rumbold from Are You Being Served?, that cantankerous old know-all who really thinks that he is the one running the shop. Steven Joyce is clearly the Mr Rumbold of the National Party. When looking at Simon Bridges answering questions in the House, how could anybody avoid the clear comparison with what’s-his-name from Get Smart—

💬 Grant Robertson: Maxwell Smart.

Maxwell Smart. The Maxwell Smart of the National Party has to be Simon Bridges. When listening to Gerry Brownlee answer on behalf of the Prime Minister with an answer that effectively goes along the lines of “I know nothing.”—Sergeant Shultz of the National Party; that is Gerry Brownlee. When looking at poor old Craig Foss, pushed out of Cabinet and pushed to the backbenches, he is like Norm off Cheers. Things never quite work out for poor old Craig Foss. Then, of course, we have got Chris Finlayson, the Frasier Crane of the National Party, with all of that watered intellect that nobody every takes seriously there. Bill English is the Frank Spencer. If you look at the Frank Spencer of the National Party, and if you look at the state of the Government’s accounts, which are still not in surplus, that is very clear: he is the accident-prone Bill English.

Of course, sometimes you get to change the channel and you end up on The Muppet Show. I know that John Key is a big fan of The Muppet Show, and looking up the back to where Judith Collins and Maurice Williamson sit, it is hard not to think of Waldorf and Statler from The Muppet Show, up the back there passing judgment on all of their colleagues the way that they do. Or Tim Groser—when listening to Tim Groser talking about climate change, it is hard not to think about Bunsen Honeydew, the mad scientist from The Muppet Show. Although I am not sure what that makes Nick Smith; does that make him Beaker? I am not entirely sure about what that does. I think Hekia Parata actually probably has the closest resemblance to The Swedish Chef. She sort of throws things around and mumbles things that nobody can quite understand. I think that is very much Hekia Parata. Jonathan Coleman is The Great Gonzo over there—the maestro of the health portfolio. Peter Dunne—you could liken him a bit to Fozzie Bear, really. He tries very hard to make people laugh, but does not quite succeed.

Then, of course, we have the member who just spoke, David Seymour. But I realise that on the JONES! channel, they have not yet brought back Doogie Howser, M.D., but when they do I am sure that we will see David Seymour there reflected on the JONES! channel. Of course, how can I forget the star of the show? No, I am not talking about Kermit the Frog. I am talking about the Prime Minister, John Key—the man with a memory like a steel trap that prematurely closed. Nothing ever gets in there. I read in a magazine article the other day that crosswords are very good for one’s memory, so I bought John Key a Christmas present—a book of crosswords. I am going to give that to him in the House this year, because his memory clearly needs a little bit of a workout.

By giving him a Christmas present, at least we know that someone’s present will arrive this year, because I have it on good authority that 70,000 New Zealand kids wrote to Santa Claus this year and sent their letters to New Zealand Post, and New Zealand Post worked out this week that they cannot send the replies because they do not meet the new mail deadlines of New Zealand Post. That pretty much sums up the year for the National Party as all of their chickens come home to roost at Christmas time. They cannot even run the postal system so that the kids who wrote to Santa get the reply from Santa that they have been hanging out for. The National Government has stolen Christmas from the 70,000 kids who wrote to Santa Claus this year. That has to be its finest achievement as Government members go off on their Christmas break—that has to be their finest achievement as they go off on their Christmas break.

By contrast the Labour Party goes into the summer adjournment with confidence and optimism—with confidence and optimism. It may have been a rough year for the Labour Party, but we end the year with a spring in our step and with a leader, Andrew Little, who says it like it is—he says it like it is. Once you get past that bubbly personality, the effervescent smile, and the soaring rhetoric, you will find a man of great substance. He is somebody who is going to lead the Labour Party to victory in 2017, and he will have all of us behind him—a fantastic team, brimming with talent, unlike the one-man band opposite, which has only one person there capable of doing anything.

💬 Carmel Sepuloni: Who is that?

I have not quite figured out which one it is yet. Unlike the one-man band opposite, this is a good team—a solid team—working together.

I would like to finally take a moment to thank all of those in Parliament who make this possible: the Office of the Clerk, the Parliamentary Service, the caterers, the cleaners, the security staff, and all of those who make Parliament tick on a day-to-day basis. I would like to thank them for their enormous contribution to Parliament, and I wish them and their families a safe, happy, and enjoyable Christmas. Most of all, I would like to thank the staff of the Labour Party—the people who work here in the office of the Leader of the Opposition and in the offices of all of our members of Parliament. I think one of the things that is often not acknowledged is how difficult election years can be for all of the staff working at Parliament. Whether they work on the Government side or the Opposition side, elections create huge uncertainty for the people who work for us, and that is very seldom acknowledged. So I want to say thank you to all of the staff, wherever they work in the parliamentary complex.

Finally, to all of my parliamentary colleagues on this side of the House and on that side of the House and to you, Mr Speaker, can I wish you all the very best for the holiday season. I hope that everybody has a safe, enjoyable, and relaxing time, and we will see everybody back here again next year.

It is traditional for whips to end the debate in the adjournment debate, so Tim Macindoe and I got one of the Christmas crackers and we each pulled an end. He got the Christmas hat and I ended up with the Christmas cracker, so here we are—you are stuck with me for a few minutes.

In the spirit of the adjournment debate and Christmas, can I say a big thankyou to the House. Can I say a big thankyou to everyone who serves the 121 members of Parliament here. Can I say thank you to you, Mr Speaker, for the knowledge and wisdom you bring to this role. I think you have made the most crucial decision this week that you will ever make as Speaker, which is whether to keep the prayer, and the Christians of this country are very happy with the decision you have made. Can I also thank the other presiding officers who work with you, even Mr Mallard. Mr Mallard likes to keep the Government whips on their toes. He has been quite successful at that, but it has been an enjoyable ride so far, so thank you. To the Chamber and gallery staff, the people who look after us in this House, thank you for always being there, being attentive, and doing what you can to support us. I thank the security guards who keep us safe and ensure that those who wish to cause grief in this place are kept away from us. I thank the caterers, the receptionists, and all the people who are here serving Parliament. The press gallery, I am reliably informed by a little bird known as Twitter, also known as Andrea Vance, Andrew Little forgot to thank—so I do not think he should be heading down to the press gallery party tonight, having not thanked the press gallery for the work that it does on behalf of New Zealanders here. But thank you especially to the staff who support members of Parliament. They go through ups and downs just like members of Parliament do, and they all deserve to be thanked for their efforts, as well.

This year, 2014, has been an interesting year. Another year over, another election completed, another failed Labour leader disposed of, another whingeing Aussie kept away from the cheque book, and New Zealand’s grumpiest pensioner forgetting to send the cavalry that he kept promising week after week in this House. It has been a big year for New Zealanders. I actually think New Zealanders are a bit over politics and are looking forward to the Christmas break, but—

💬 Carmel Sepuloni: Nah, just the National Party.

No, no, Carmel Sepuloni—no, no. We have just been delivered back to the Treasury benches, with New Zealand’s most popular third-term Prime Minister in about 100 years. New Zealanders are looking forward to more John Key - led Government for the next 3 years.

When we look at the Opposition we have to ask ourselves what type of year those members have had. It has been the year of the crisis for the Opposition, it has been the year of conspiracy for the Opposition, and it has been the year of the unions for the Opposition. It has been the year of the unions for the Labour Opposition because they got their man—Andrew Little—sitting there, and he is doing the work for them.

I just want to remind the Opposition about all the crises those members have talked about over the past 3 years. There was a report of a crisis in the manufacturing sector and, indeed, there was a 10-month long inquiry into this so-called manufacturing crisis. This is despite the manufacturing sector sales actually growing by 19.5 percent since 2009—some crisis going on there. There was a report of a housing crisis, despite 24,000 residential consents being issued in the year to October, which is up from 20,000 in the year to October 2008. Then there was a report of a crisis in exports, despite exports growing by 13.5 percent in real terms since 2009, and a report of a crisis in the regions, despite every region in the South Island having a lower unemployment rate than Auckland and annual GDP growth across the country of 3.5 percent.

You might ask yourself what the next crisis is going to be. Well, I hear that somewhere in a social democratic party somewhere in this country, a very matronly deputy leader will start to declare a crisis of confidence within the leadership of that party, and that matronly, nice deputy leader of that party will soon start to be declaring that it is time for a change—it is time for the King to become the queen of the Labour Party. The Labour Opposition has had a difficult year. We know that those members are tired. We know that they need a rest. As Bill English said, I hope Andrew Little makes it to the Christmas break because he deserves a break, as well. I actually quite enjoyed the speech from Andrew Little. The interesting thing about the speech is that it was really good because he did not talk about policy at all. It was really good because he did not talk about the failings and the weaknesses of the Opposition, and there are many.

Contrast this with the Government side of the House. We are pleased with how this side of the House has ended up after the end of 2014.

💬 Kris Faafoi: You should’ve let Tim have the speech. Tim would’ve been better.

💬 Tim Macindoe: I think so, too.

We have got a party with strong leadership—a whip who interjects at the wrong time—we have got a growing economy, we have got promises that have been made and promises that have been kept, and we have caucus unity. If I can give one piece of advice to the Labour Opposition, it is the fact that caucus unity is what enables the National Party to serve New Zealanders in the way that we have done for the past 6 years and will do for the next 3 years. We have a fantastic team sitting here on the Government benches. Can I congratulate again the 14 new MPs who have joined us. From the bottom of the South Island—Invercargill—all the way up to Whangarei, the talent that has joined us in this party is immense, and I am looking forward to working with those members for the next 3 years. Can I also say thank you to the talented Ministers who serve in the executive in this country. I do not think we could have a set of 25 Ministers who are better than the 25 we have right now. They do an excellent job for New Zealanders, and New Zealanders know this. Can I, finally, say thank you to the hard-working and energetic backbenchers, who also serve New Zealanders through the National - led Government. They do an excellent job in their electorates up and down the country, day after day. They do a fabulous job.

Can I also say thank you to our coalition partners. It has been good to have the Māori Party on board, and David Seymour and Peter Dunne. They provide strong and stable Government to this country. I enjoyed the speech from Marama Fox, as well. I am sure that Marama and the National Government will probably come to more agreement about the way in which votes will be cast in the future. I would just like to remind her that, you know, when we have the Budget next year, she should be voting for it. It would be a good idea. But those members provide strong and stable Government to the country, and that is a good thing. Going forward we have 3 years of strong, stable Government that will be delivering for New Zealanders.

A couple of years ago I became a father, and Christmas time becomes a more special time for those of us with families. I have to say that when we look at the family policies that this Government is pushing forward and the policies that support young people into the future, and when we have got Hekia Parata, who can bring on board the unions of the country under her education policy, the future is looking bright. I wish Parliament a very merry Christmas. I hope everyone takes a good, long break. The Government is in good stead. The Government is looking forward to working even harder in 2015. It is going to be a good term. It is going to be a good year next year. Best wishes for the Christmas break.

Honourable members, I know I stand—literally—between you and your Christmas break, so I will contain my excitement and make a brief contribution.

As other members before me have done, I also want to thank all of those who work in this place and make it work for us. So the messengers, Brent Smith as the Serjeant-at-Arms, the telephonists, the cleaners, the receptionists, travel office staff, catering staff, library staff, VIP drivers, Hansard and select committee staff, and our own staff, both here in our offices in Wellington and in our electorate offices—these are the people who make it possible for us to do our job. These are the people who are absolutely fundamental to the functioning of democracy.

To Mary Harris, Clerk of the House, and her team, and particularly Andie Lindsay, a huge thankyou to you. Mary, this will be your last adjournment debate. Your leaving this House next year will create a huge challenge for us. I know at that time there will be ample opportunity for members to acknowledge the huge contribution that Mary has made to our Parliament.

To my own office staff—to Lisa, to Roland, and to Oliver—thank you for all that you do for me. Each day they manage to bring some sanity to a day where issues start through that day that we had not perceived might occur.

As we adjourn this particular 51st Parliament for the Christmas break, I also want to acknowledge the cooperation I have received from all members of this House. To date, not one member has been asked to leave the Chamber. That could be because behaviour has improved, it could be because my patience has improved, or it could be because one particular member who has the record in the time that I have been in this House of being thrown out the most has actually joined the presiding officers team. I am, of course, referring to the Hon Trevor Mallard. I want to welcome you to that team, Trevor. You have shown an exemplary knowledge of the Standing Orders and have been a real asset to that team, so thank you. I also want to acknowledge my Deputy Speaker, the Hon Chester Borrows. Welcome to the team. Again, you have settled into your new role and are a real asset to it. And, of course, to my travelling companion, Lindsay Tisch, thank you for continuing in this role.

To all members the role of a presiding officer is a challenge, but it is one that if it is operated correctly makes a huge difference to how the democracy of New Zealand works. For the record, subsequent to the opening of the 51st Parliament we have sat for 18 days, including 7¼ hours of urgency. There have been 15 Government bills passed, and 212 oral questions, with an additional 771 supplementary questions asked and answered—although I do acknowledge that some members may not feel that the answers given to their questions have been satisfactory and I have, on occasion, attempted to keep the peace and given the odd additional supplementary question.

So, finally, to all members, I wish you a very enjoyable Christmas break. Enjoy that special time that we have with our families, for when we return in the new year I am sure there is plenty to be done.

Motion agreed to.

The House adjourned at 5.13 p.m.