Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement

I want to start my contribution today, as we did yesterday in the House, by acknowledging what has been happening in the Nelson and Tasman region. It has obviously been an appalling situation for the people involved and a great deal of hardship has ensued, and there is more to come, unfortunately, as we continue to support the firefighters and those working in the area. But my fundamental emotion on this is pride: pride in New Zealanders coming together to support one another; pride in our volunteers, both within the fire service and the wider civil defence community, stepping up time and time again; and pride in the Government departments who have supported those volunteers and supported that community.

This is New Zealand at its best, coming together to help out one another—to put people first. That’s what New Zealanders believe in, and it’s something I think everyone in this House can be proud of.

It is also the fundamental thing that binds together the Government that I am proud of. The fact is that all three parties that make up this Government—coming, as we do, from different traditions—have something that binds us together: we believe that people come first. We believe that the environment that we live in needs to be protected and enhanced, we believe that we are stronger together as communities when we include people—not when we seek to divide people, but when we include people—and I am proud of a Government that is doing that.

I am proud of the leadership of this Government. As Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said yesterday, there are choices for Governments. They can govern and manage the shop—and we saw a lot of that in the last nine years—or Governments can take a choice to lead. That’s what this Government is doing, and I am proud of Jacinda Ardern’s leadership in that regard.

I’m proud of the year—or just over a year—that this Government has had. From the Families Package to record investment in health and education, funding for conservation, support for the regions—the list goes on. This is a Government that is not afraid to face up to the big issues. This is a Government that is not afraid to take some risks to make sure that we build a country for future generations, not only for them to be proud of it but for them to be able, themselves, to leave a legacy in the future.

I am proud of what this Government will do this year. We are building, from an economic perspective, on a strong base: solid GPD growth of around 3 percent a year; surpluses in our first year and forecast into the future; debt at the target levels that we are setting; unemployment hovering around 4 percent and, in the last two quarters, the lowest in a decade; and wages forecast to grow at around 3 percent. These are the fundamentals of a strong economy, and this Government is delivering on what we committed to the public in that regard. But we know that it is never enough. We know that there is always more to do, and we remain ambitious to do that.

In terms of the economy and the areas that I’m responsible for, our mission is to modernise our economy. We want to look forward to an era where we do pass a zero carbon bill, as we will this year, and have a low-carbon economy. That’s not just the right thing to do but it has opportunities for our entrepreneurs. There are abilities for businesses to make money from the fact that we can have a better planet and one that we look after for the future.

I want us to make sure that we’re adapting to the future of work. That’s why the announcement from the Minister of Education today about vocational education is so important, because we must be preparing our workforces for the economy of the future. The same applies to our well-being Budget, where we will finally look beyond just GDP—as important as that is—to success being about the health of our people, the protection of our environment, and the strength of our communities.

These are the things that New Zealanders care about. Time and time again, if members of this House asked the members of their families or people they know “What is it that you want for your children?”, the first thing they will say is that they want them to be healthy and to be happy. That’s the same thing that this Government should be saying. The first thing we should be saying is “How do we keep our people healthy and happy?” Yes, we need prosperity, but we need a Government that cares about who shares in that prosperity, and that is what this Government is focused on.

So we are looking at the economy of the 21st century: how do we set ourselves up for the middle of the 21st century? On the opposite side of the House, they’re firmly fixed in the rear-vision mirror. They rolled out the brand new, bright ideas of tax cuts and beneficiary bashing yesterday—an amazing step forward from the National Party!

But the truth is that things are not good across the aisle. The Titanic is relentlessly focused on the iceberg. They are indeed the angry dog barking at every car. And the real story of the poll this week has been lost: National’s eaten all of its friends—the ACT Party and United Future.

But they’ve devised a cunning plan. Now, when we were children, some of us had imaginary friends, but we grew out of it. Well, not National or Simon Bridges, because in the absence of any potential coalition partners, National’s found an imaginary blue-green friend—not so much an Avatar as a Tava, but we’ll come back to that. It’s like some fantasy of blue-green friends out there—they are not real.

So, in the absence of friends, they have started turning on each other, and yesterday—and I’ve seen this movie before—was a communications train wreck. It started with Matt King. Honest as the day is long, Matt could not bring himself to toe the party line about Simon Bridges. This is what he said: “I like Simon. I like Judith. I like a few of our leaders. Look, there’s a number of people in our caucus that can lead the party, and I’d be happy with any of them.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the leader, but Matt wasn’t finished. He said, “If Judith went for the job and had the support of the caucus, I’d support Judith as well.” Judith can mark him down.

Meanwhile, Nuk Korako had missed the memo completely. He said, “There’s a number of people who would make a great leader. We’ll just see.”—presumably not the leader that Nuk has got at the moment.

There were also a lot of ATMs among the National MPs yesterday—ATM being “at the moment”. Gerry Brownlee said, “The leadership was not up for consideration at the moment.” Tim van de Molen—or, as Simon Bridges knows him, Hamish; I’ll explain that joke later—said, “Simon is doing a good job at the moment.” So, ladies and gentlemen, we have a new nickname for Simon Bridges: ATM—the leader at the moment.

Meanwhile, the woman of the moment, Judith Collins, was keeping her powder dry—gunpowder, that is. She refused to rule out a leadership challenge, saying “I am very clearly not ruling out anything.”, and she was literally limbering up during Simon Bridges’ speech yesterday.

Now, Judith Collins has undertaken some academic study lately, and I want to congratulate her on that. The focus has been on a Bachelor of health and safety—that would be her health, and not Simon Bridges’ safety. My advice to Simon Bridges is not to accept an invitation from Judith Collins to visit a building site any time soon, because she knows what’s legal and what’s not.

But it appears that Judith has done a double major in psychology, or, more accurately, reverse psychology, because this is what she had to say yesterday: “My job is to do whatever the caucus needs me to do.” If that wasn’t a hint, I don’t know what was.

Meanwhile, Anne Tolley didn’t seem sure what she wanted Judith to do. When Anne Tolley was asked yesterday what she thought of Judith Collins as leader, she said, “You either love her or hate her.” Now, Anne didn’t leave us any the wiser as to what she thought about that question.

For Judith herself—

💬 SPEAKER: Order!

For Judith Collins herself, she employed everything she had learnt in her psychology studies. She said, “Opposition leader is the toughest job in politics, and I’ve seen a few come and go.” When asked if it was a job for her, she said, “I’m a lovely, sweet person, not given to that sort of toughness at all.” Then, the final twist of the knife from Judith Collins: “The caucus has voted for the leader, and he’s doing the very best job he can.” An A plus for reverse psychology in her studies, from Judith Collins.

So while the knifing and the backbiting has only just begun across the aisle, we are a Government with a plan. We’ve got a leader who is not prepared to sit back and mind the shop, but who actually wants to lead our country forward. We know that there’s a lot to do and we know we have to take some risks, and we know everything won’t happen as fast as we would like. But above all, we know that we’ve got what it takes to give every New Zealander a share in prosperity, a place to call home, a community to be part of, and a country to be proud of. I am proud of this Government.

Mr Speaker, before I make some remarks about the Prime Minister’s statement, can I first of all say happy New Year to you and to all of the parliamentarians back for 2019. On a more sombre note, can also acknowledge the passing of John Wilson, the former Fonterra chairman, who had a battle with cancer and, unfortunately, passed away last month. There was a massive send-off for him at Mystery Creek, and my heartfelt condolences, on behalf of the National Party, go to Belinda and his four daughters.

Can I now make some comments about the Prime Minister’s statement: 2019 is supposedly going to be the year of delivery. Well, we’ll wait and see on that one, because we know that 233 working groups and reviews are going to be reporting back, costing over $200 million to establish. We will wait and see what these reports come up with.

Now, Cabinet already has in their hot little hands the Tax Working Group final report. We surmise—and I bet we’re right—that a capital gains tax is going to be in there, and, of course, the reason they are going to propose this is that the economy has already started to slow.

If you talk to businesses that are out there trying to do their best with the New Zealand economy, they realise that the signs are already there. Just in this last quarter, we have started to see the economy slow, and, of course, what’s the Government’s reaction? What options do they have? Well, the first option is to rack up more debt. They’ve said that maybe they won’t do that, but let’s wait and see. The second option is, of course, more tax—to treat hard-working New Zealanders like an ATM machine. The third option—which they won’t do—is to cut services.

So 2019, I think, is going to be an underwhelming year of nonsense delivery from the Government. I think, really, they are going to struggle to keep this economy moving, because they have policies that are actually slowing down the economy.

Also, when we look at the unemployment in the last quarter, that’s up by 10,000. If we look at what’s happened with KiwiBuild, isn’t that an embarrassment? I look across the other side of the House now, and all of their heads are down. What have they built? Forty-seven homes, and they said that in their first year they were going to build 1,000, in their second year they were going to build something like 5,000, and in their third year, 10,000. Now, what’s happened? Well, Phil Twyford said, “Oh well, those targets are pretty movable. Yeah, we think that we might get that.” Winston Peters didn’t get the memo. He said that, yes, they were going to achieve it. So I don’t think they will, and now KiwiBuild is very much a “KiwiFlop”.

Also today, talking about flops, Government MPs couldn’t get out of bed on time to make the Finance and Expenditure Committee. What an absolute embarrassment it is that they couldn’t get out of bed and turn up and do their work.

Then we have the Salvation Army report out today. What a shocker that is. The Prime Minister’s Budget in 2019, focusing on well-being—well, they came in with all this rhetoric that they were going to do more to support the most vulnerable in our communities, and this is a shocking indictment on this Government. They’ve been all talk and all rhetoric, and they’ve failed to deliver anything that has turned the lives around of our most vulnerable. The number of kids in dependent households is up, child abuse and neglect is up, and the number of people on jobseeker benefit is up, so we will wait with bated breath and see what Budget 2019 actually delivers.

But it’s got to be more than just money; it’s got to be delivery, and that’s why I don’t think they’ll be able to deliver much in 2019, unlike our leader, Simon Bridges, who’s started the year fantastically well with his speech, talking about shifting the tax thresholds, or what’s commonly known as bracket creep. Those on the middle income at the moment, they will be paying the highest tax rate by 2022. Things need to change, and, under a National Government in 2020, it will.

Can I also talk about the primary sector, because that is a big part of this economic growth. We’re just seeing the cracks starting to appear. The Federated Farmers’ confidence survey—the mid-season one—says farmers’ confidence is at the lowest ebb since 2019. What happened in 2019?

💬 Hon Member: No, 2009.

Sorry—2009. Well, it was the global financial crisis. That was biting hard then. So they’re already looking at the sentiments of this Government, wondering whether on earth the agricultural community and sectors could be the next oil and gas. They’re in trepidation, and we think now about the China relationship. That is a huge relationship for us as an exporting country. It’s our second-biggest exporting country. It’s worth about $28 billion in two-way trade.

Now, we’ve had a numerous amount of stuff-ups that have occurred under this Government, which is why we are now seeing, effectively, our relationship being in what I’m terming the chiller for the next six to 12 months. The first one is that New Zealand First Ministers waded into the South China Sea debate, which they shouldn’t have done. David Parker couldn’t get any meeting with his ministerial counterpart when he was up there last year. The Chinese Government have also noticed that the foreign investment changes by this Government have ricocheted all the way back up to Beijing. We then had the recent Huawei decision. That’s gone down like a cup of cold sick, and they’re all wondering what that means.

We now have the tourism conference that was due to be happening at Te Papa next week. All Ministers from both sides were going to be there. That has now been pulled. We heard this afternoon in the House that Minister Kelvin Davis heard on 28 January that it was scrapped, doomed—it will never happen again, in my opinion—and no date invitation has been sent to the Prime Minister.

So what should our farmers and growers think right now? The next Federated Farmers’ survey will be even more doomsday than this one. Also we have the EU. Shortly after the Prime Minister left the EU, with her meeting with the senior-ranked politicians over there, what happened? The EU’s out there, threatening to remove our preferential access for lamb and butter.

Then, of course, we have had numerous other things. We’ve got research and development that’s being halved by this Government for the primary sector, and water storage, which is a massive issue right now, particularly in Nelson and Tasman region, where actually all of those firefighters and emergency services are doing well to get on top of this fire. But one thing in how you can turn these regions around—particularly on the east coast of both islands and the Tasman region—is building water storage projects. That’s now pretty much—not the Waimea dam, but all the other proposals that we were working our way through are now doomed.

Of course, the Government also had deaf ears when people like the Mental Health Alliance and Rural Health Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand came to the Government and said “We need some more funding.”, and they said, “No way.” Also, we’ve got the looming aspect of more regulation from David Parker, already out there talking about environmental taxes. Whether it’s for hill-country farmers, whether it’s winter grazing, or whether it’s feedlots, you can bet your bottom dollar that more regulation’s coming. Then we had Damien O’Connor last year, out there arrogantly saying that farmers should get used to the fact that there will be more costs that are going to be incurred on them by this Government. There’s a hell of a lot of uncertainty under the dairy industry restructuring legislation. Submissions closed on that, so we’ll wait and see what happens as it works its way through the Parliament and what the Minister and his officials come up with.

Then, of course, we’ve got the tertiary review and reform that’s been talked about today, and it is now public for the next six weeks. I personally think that for such a big reform like this, six weeks is too tight. Then we have Taratahi, a private training establishment (PTE). Nowhere mentioned in this review—

💬 Hon Ron Mark: Who’s to blame for that?

—are PTEs. Then, we have Ron Mark chipping in there. It surprised me that he wasn’t out with his Labour counterpart Kieran McAnulty, proposing a Givealittle page this summer to support all the staff. Well, the Government had the opportunity to give a little to Taratahi and that was to find some funding, but they slammed the door shut on them. Mark Patterson’s been running around with a Givealittle page to try and support Telford. Well, the Government’s done the right thing there and supported Telford, but now Taratahi is in limbo, and now I’m hearing that Landcorp is looking at picking it up.

The National Party has had a good start to 2019. It’s been underwhelming for the Government, and I’m going to finish where I started: 2019, in my view, will be a debate all about tax and it will be a year when the Government struggles to perform and deliver anything that’s going to help grow New Zealand and grow the economy. There’s grey clouds on the horizon, and we should all be very, very nervous.

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It’s interesting. There’s so much that was either incorrect, manufactured, or something else in the contribution from Nathan Guy, the last speaker, that I could be completely diverted from what I want to say about the Prime Minister’s statement just by taking well over 10 minutes to try and correct most of the inaccuracies. But I think what’s most fascinating for me is the statement that he finished with, which was that the Opposition has had a good start to the year.

This morning at the Finance and Expenditure Committee, the Opposition set the tone for the year by deciding to play politics with the select committee process. Three National Party MPs stood outside and refused to allow a quorum in a select committee, while submitters—New Zealanders who had paid their way to Wellington to see their elected officials—waited, and those members did so because they deliberately wanted to play politics with the select committee process. This is the party that seeks partisanship. This is the party that continually stands up and says “Please, Government, work with us.”, and then three National Party MPs, the Rt Hon David Carter, Andrew Bayly, and Andrew Falloon, stood outside deliberately to make a mockery of the select committee—and to make those New Zealanders waste their money and their time—by not coming into the select committee room. Unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like it, and New Zealanders will judge that party on their behaviour around those submitters.

What did we do—what did we do? We brought those submitters into the select committee room, which was now empty, and we sat down with them and we spent the next hour making sure that they were heard and had a one-on-one conversation with the Labour Party MPs and myself, as a New Zealand First Minister. That is what we did, so that they didn’t waste their money and their time coming to this Parliament for a game—a game—that the National Party was making.

But to get to the Prime Minister’s statement—because that is what this Government is going to do—we’re not going to play games with New Zealanders. We’re not going to play games with the future of our nation. That’s not what we are paid by the taxpayers to do. I don’t know where those members find the time to think up these games, but it’s not what we’re doing on this side of the House.

So, with regard to the Prime Minister’s statement, one of the great privileges I have is I’m the Minister for Children and the Minister for Seniors. This Parliament will be judged, and this country will be judged, on how we treat our children and how we treat our senior citizens.

Madam Deputy Speaker, with your good self sitting in the Chair, it’s almost embarrassing for me to actually go through the changes that are taking place with Oranga Tamariki, because the work that set this in motion was yours, and, with as much honour as I can give it, we have continued down that pathway. So Oranga Tamariki had come into existence only in April 2017—under your guidance, Madam Deputy Speaker—and in the last year, what we have done is we’ve recruited 150 extra social workers and created a number of new practitioner roles so that social workers can spend more time with children.

The average caseload in care and protection has reduced from 31 children to 25 children, and a new practice framework sets out front-line social work practice. There are now 250 more caregivers, so children can more likely get the right type of care placement, and we know that getting the right type of care placement to give them consistency so that those placements don’t break down is better for our children. The caregivers now have access to a 24/7 support line, and the country’s first ever care standards regulations have been set. The ministry has also established a new function to improve the safety of children in care. The ministry is strengthening its relationships with the NGO sector and with iwi organisations.

Under section 7(1)(a)—I’ve got to say, Madam Deputy Speaker, on behalf of the previous Minister in this role, the Minister who set up Oranga Tamariki, that it was enlightened to put section 7(1)(a) into legislation. No responsibility like that has ever been placed on a chief executive of an organisation before. It was enlightened by that Minister, and Oranga Tamariki is working hard to make sure that we build direct relationships, co-designed relationships, and flexible relationships with iwi organisations.

Around about 70 percent of the children in our care are Māori children. We must have Māori solutions and Māori delivering for Māori, well resourced and well-supported by the Government. The last thing a family needs is for Oranga Tamariki to show up at their door. What they need is somebody that they know from their community and they trust in their community, who comes well resourced and upskilled so that they can deal with the complexities of that family.

That leads me on to the operating model. At the end of last year, I took through Cabinet six Cabinet papers, so that we could set the new operating model in place and have it up and running by 1 July 2019. Some really important parts of that need to be articulated. We have too many children in care. We have too many children in the State’s care, and one of the reasons for that is because we do not have an intensive intervention service. So that is something that we will build. We will build it. We are working right now, actually, with some iwi organisations, and I spent a day up in Kaitāia, after being up at Waitangi, to sit alongside an iwi organisation, an NGO there that has been doing intensive intervention for 20-something years, but is not recognised by the State, not resourced appropriately, and not funded. That is what we must do, and that is what we will do.

The other thing we must do is we must build a transition service, and that is where young people who are care-experienced, and so they have been in care, or young people who have been inside the youth justice facilities—when they leave care or leave youth justice, they will be walked alongside of. I don’t know about my colleagues, but I was 29 the last time I ended up at my mum and dad’s place, on their sofa in their spare room—right? So how do we expect young people out of care or young people out of our youth justice facilities to just suddenly, at the age of 18, be able to be there on their own? They need people to walk alongside them, just like any other child or any other young person who has a family that can support them, and we will create that service.

I’m going to use the last of my few minutes to shift over to seniors. It’s a true privilege to be the Minister for Seniors. For the last year, the Office of Seniors and I travelled up and down the country, refreshing what is the Positive Ageing Strategy, which was actually created in 2001. All of its targets finished in 2010, and no work had been done to refresh or update or change any of those targets or to create any new targets. A lot has changed between 2001 and 2018-19 in this nation. The diversity of this nation is completely different. Levels of homeownership among those in their 40s and 50s and 60s have taken a plummet. Many other things have changed.

A million New Zealanders will be over the age of 65 in a decade. We cannot have a million New Zealanders, with the skills and the historical knowledge that they have, just drop out of the workforce. So we must work with, and we are working with, the Employers and Manufacturers Association and other businesses to give them a tool box to make sure that they understand how to have conversations early to transition workers, because there is no retirement age in this country. People are not required to retire—65 is the age that you get a universal basic income from your Government, and then you are not required to retire. People transition, and that was what we heard on the road. We must remove the word “retirement”. People transition from paid employment to unpaid employment, they transition from full time to part time, and they transition to the next stage of their lives, and we are going to work with our communities, with our businesses, to make sure that that transition is better.

So this is a big year—a big year—but the plan is there, and I just want to mention the relationship between the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern and the Rt Hon Winston Peters. It is such a tight relationship. They constantly communicate. They work well together. The mutual respect is brilliant to see, and the relationship between the Hon James Shaw and Winston Peters is also another tight relationship. We have worked together collegially. We’re building on the successes that we have. This is going to be an awesome year for a coalition Government that’s going to take this country to the place it needs to be and give the people of New Zealand what they need to be well.

I want to take some time to address the incredibly serious fires that have ravaged my home community over the last week, and the drought conditions that have become extreme in the Nelson and Tasman communities. The fire that got started last week is the largest fire in New Zealand for more than 60 years, and I do say it is something of a miracle that there has not been loss of life and that only two homes have been lost. That is a huge tribute to Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the hundreds of firefighters from not just my own community but all over New Zealand who have come to attack this fire.

I also want to pay tribute to literally thousands of people who have opened their homes to those who have been evacuated; those who have provided food for the firefighters, the army, and the police; and the huge effort that has gone into the response, whether it’s been civil defence, whether it’s been the army, or whether it has been our schools and others responding to this emergency. I would particularly say that Fire and Emergency New Zealand have learnt the lessons of the Port Hills, and when this Parliament made the decision to merge our rural and urban fire services, it resulted in a far more robust response, and I commend both the officials and the parliamentarians who supported that reform that is paying dividends in my community.

Myself and my colleague Maureen Pugh have been dealing with dozens of constituency cases, and it is a reminder for our officials to just be a little bit flexible in these circumstances. Can I give an example: I was confronted with a situation on Monday where a parent of a special needs student—where the family had been compulsorily evacuated from Wakefield to a home in Nelson—was told that the normal special needs transport for their child could not be provided, because it wasn’t their normal home. Now, when I spoke to the official responsible, they were so focused on the regulations that they had lost their humanity, and I thank the intervention of the director of the Ministry of Education for dealing with that.

Equally, there have been situations where I say the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) needs to be more responsive to farmers. It was insulting for MPI to tell farmers they didn’t know about the welfare of their animals and that only they were sufficiently expert to be able to go on to those properties, and can I thank the Ministry for Primary Industries for changing their approach after representations over the weekend. Let’s be practical: it’s the farmer who knows where the troughs are, it’s the farmer who knows where the feed is, it’s the farmer who knows where his animals are, and it is the farmers who need access to those properties to ensure animal welfare.

There are two important flow-on issues that I would like the Government to address. We’ve got hundreds of volunteer firefighters from Richmond, from Stoke, from Wakefield, from Māpua, from Golden Bay, and from Tākaka who have been working in this fire under trying conditions for a week. Some of them are self-employed, and their businesses have financially suffered. Some of them are with small employers, and their businesses have been in touch, and I would invite the Minister of Internal Affairs to give consideration to ensuring that every volunteer firefighter—they or their business—is not disadvantaged as a consequence of their tremendous efforts over the last week.

There is also a further issue that needs to be addressed. Fire and Emergency New Zealand have, quite appropriately, created firebreaks across private property—bulldozed through people’s fences, through their driveways, through their landscaping, and through their crops. The Minister and MPI and no one from the Government are able to answer those property owners as to whether that will be repaired or whether there’ll be any compensation. Let me make plain: Fire and Emergency New Zealand have been absolutely right to create those firebreaks, but if damage has been done in the course of that to people’s private property, it is the Government’s responsibility to put that right.

Yesterday, myself and Maureen Pugh asked the Government to consider, in the same way that National did for the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes, providing financial support for some of the businesses that are just bleeding right now. Civil defence have used their powers to ban any agricultural contracting, any forestry contracting, and any civil contracting in my community, because the district is a tinderbox, which is appropriate, but those businesses, involving hundreds of employees, are now in real difficulty. None of us know when the rain is coming. My plea to the Government for those businesses is to provide a similar block of support for those employers.

I now want to turn to the issue of the drought because, in financial terms, that has now become so severe in my district that we are looking at close to $100 million of impact on my community. The council has announced today that we will be moving to stage four rationing. That means, on the Waimea plains, a 65 percent cut in the amount of water that they are able to use for their apples, for the hops, for the boysenberries, and for other crops, as well as for major vegetable producers. I want to say to the House that these are the worst drought conditions on record in the Nelson community. We’ve got large businesses like MG Marketing that employ nearly 200 people, whose jobs are now at risk as a consequence of the economic impact of this severe drought.

The last time I gave a speech in this House was last year in securing the support of this Parliament for the Waimea Community Dam. I challenge the Greens to come to my community to see the scale of that drought and to see why that dam is absolutely essential to responding to this sort of issue. But my plea, again, to the Government is to consider the extent of that drought and the financial support. I note that the Prime Minister has announced a $20,000 contribution for the Rural Support Trust and $50,000 for the Mayoral Relief Fund. With due respect, those sums of $20,000 and $50,000 do not cut the mustard. This is a Government that has provided an extra $700 million in aid internationally. This is a Government that’s provided $10 million for Tonga last year, $1.5 million for Indonesia, and over $9 million for Papua New Guinea.

Charity begins at home. Businesses in my home community are bleeding. The Government needs to provide the support for my community to be able to get through the damage that is coming from the fire and the impact on those rural contracting businesses, as well as the impact that is coming from the drought. I would invite members of the Government in any of the parties to come to Nelson and to see first-hand the extent of the issues that our community is now facing. Whether it be Mayor Richard Kempthorne, our mayor in Nelson, Rachel Reese, or whether it’s our economic development agency or our chamber of commerce, there is a universal plea from our community for the Government to recognise the scale of the challenge that is facing our community.

I don’t know whether the rain is two weeks away, four weeks away, or six weeks away, but what I do know is that the level of stress and anxiety in my community has never been so high. We have never in our history had 3,000 people evacuated. We’ve never had the level of financial stress or the extent of the drought or the scale of this fire. Today is a day on which we, as a Parliament, need to back my Nelson-Tasman community and give it the support it needs to get through this environmental and climate crisis.

I understand this is a split call—two five-minute calls.

E Te Māngai, tēnā koe. Tēnā koutou e Te Whare. I thought long and hard about the topic of this speech, and I thought about not addressing the subject which I’m about to address, but I thought that it was important, given that so much of this debate tends to operate in the abstract when we talk about numbers. I want to talk about something real, because last night I got a call about another young person in Auckland who had attempted to take their life. That’s not abstract. That’s very, very real, and what concerns me is that we so often talk about these things in the abstract. We talk about the numbers and we talk about the statistics.

I was having conversation with somebody close to me about this, and they shook their head and said that the mental health system is failing our young people. Yes, the mental health system is absolutely failing our young people, but far worse than that is that every single other piece of this system that this Parliament has built up, decade after decade, is failing our young people. Whether it’s the housing system, whether it’s employment, or whether it’s the debt that they take on to get an education, we are failing our young people.

I cannot drive it home anywhere near enough, because when people say to me that young people are lacking in resilience nowadays, our young people aren’t dying from diseases, but they are taking their own lives. There is something chronically wrong and chronically ill in the system, and we have to be bold enough to address that.

I can’t get this out clearly enough: if we cannot work together as a Parliament to solve this issue, we don’t deserve to be here—all 120 of us—we do not deserve to be representing the people of this country. I understand that what typically happens in this Chamber is the back and forth and the political point-scoring, and we all understand that that’s just the politics of it—that’s the theatre. We all go back to our communities and we have to face up to those people who are experiencing immense, immense struggle.

I have been up and down the country, as I’m sure many of us have, and I have spoken to those who are dealing with this mental health crisis—this epidemic. It didn’t happen overnight. I said in my maiden speech that I feel as though the mental health epidemic is the pointy end of decades and decades of what—for lack of a better term—is a kind of austerity. It’s the shredding of safety nets, it’s the shredding of care, and it’s the shredding of community.

We know there is surmounting evidence—contemporary evidence—on the mental health crisis that showcases that three of the major driving factors for mental illness are trauma, isolation, and poverty, and we have set up this system to perpetuate those things. So we need to be prepared to be bold, because in going around the country and talking to people about these issues, I have not once heard people ask for tax cuts. Instead, I have heard people ask for support, I’ve heard people ask for adequate housing, and I have heard people ask for opportunity, and that is what we have a responsibility to provide.

None of this is normal, and it should not be inevitable. We need to come together as a Parliament and invest in our future, and I believe that we are all, ultimately—if our words are to be believed and if our rhetoric is to be believed—committed to a paradigm shift, and that paradigm shift looks like being bold enough to look at the problems bald-faced and see them as they really are.

I am proud that we have started on the first step, with the investment in the pilot programme in Porirua that will impact the lives of 10,000 New Zealanders. But we need to see this rolled out throughout the country, and we need to see all of Parliament coming together to see that happen. Kia ora.

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Yesterday, in the commencement speeches on this side of the House, we heard it noted again and again that New Zealand voted for change last election. With that comes a responsibility to deliver real change. For me, carrying the kaupapa of the Green Party in foreign affairs and trade and in defence, that means holding an unwavering call for New Zealand to stand as an independent voice on the world stage. We have done it before, and we know that we’re good at it.

In trade, that means the call to divest from that archaic, so-called free-trade agreement that has led to the misery of the last global financial crisis and the values that underpin the misery of inequality at record rates here in New Zealand. The Green Party called for a new style of trade—one that puts people and planet before the profits of multinational corporations—and, eventually, the Government heard our call. I got to stand here proudly as the voice of thousands out there, and finally, this Government has committed to never again enter into that kind of trade agreement, because we know that there is no such thing as free trade. Someone is writing those thousands of pages’ worth of rules. Someone is paying and someone is profiting in the billions. We know that we can’t afford to deregulate our healthcare system, our education system, and our environmental protections so that they get to profit.

So we will stay vigilant but hopeful, because the Government has committed to put people and planet first now. In foreign affairs, that means carrying forward that call—that renewed call—and we need to have a new approach. Whether it’s in national security, or whether it’s in the way that we pick and the way that we follow our allies, it’s time—as Green Party MPs have called for many, many times before—for us to review the way we support the likes of Trump in spying on our Asia-Pacific neighbours through the Five Eyes network. If we’re going to stand up to perceived threats of spying by China through Huawei, we need to do that with integrity. We need to regulate our own spy agencies like the GCSB. In defence, it means spending less on billion-dollar war planes and focusing more on what our defence force does best, on environmental monitoring in the Pacific, on disaster relief, and on supporting scientific research to combat climate change in the Antarctic.

It’s time, at this moment in global history, for New Zealand to stand apart from the nations who happily put the profits of the war industry before the misery of actual people and our planet. There is no longer any doubt that war is an industry. Instead, we should stand as an independent voice; a voice for peace. It’s time we stopped hosting the war industry, as we did in Palmerston North last year.

As a mark of our commitment to peace, I’m calling on the Minister of Defence to end our deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, where war began illegally and has now turned into a perpetual nightmare of violence. We need to be investing those millions of dollars in providing useful development and humanitarian aid and building pathways to peace, because we know that people trapped in perpetual military occupation are only going to watch their children be recruited into more and more violent militias. Instead, New Zealand needs to do things differently. Only through that independence will we be effective as brokers of peace, as we have been before.

So we need to stand as a counterpoint to the politics of hate and division and violence on the rise elsewhere in the world—supported for nine years on that side of the House. We need to do things differently because that’s what New Zealanders voted for. The rhetoric of change won’t do because, actually, lives are at stake. But I am hopeful because we have cooperation on this side of the House. The first true MMP Government is working together to change things, and we will be that independent voice on the global stage again.

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It’s a pleasure to take my first call in the House this sitting year, and might I wish you and your fellow presiding officers well for the work that you do on behalf of this Parliament.

It’s been a very good summer in the beautiful Coromandel electorate. We have been spared the extreme weather events that we witnessed and succumbed to back in January 2018, and we were not put to the test in the way that Nelson and Tasman have been put to in terms of fire. But our hearts and thoughts go out to those people.

But in the Coromandel, we’ve found that this Government is not being effective for the business people, for the families, for the individuals, and for the people—the hard-working taxpayers—of Coromandel. They’re feeling very let down by this Government. In a seat that was once held by a Green Party MP, there is a sense of utter frustration amongst Green Party supporters in particular that their Government has not been able to deliver for them in a way that they felt it would.

Actually, those two last speeches from Green Party members epitomise entirely the problem with the Green Party in Parliament these days—that is, notwithstanding that they spoke about important issues of defence and trade and, in Chlöe Swarbrick’s case, the very serious issue of suicide, there was nary a mention of the environment or of conservation. In fact, I don’t think conservation was mentioned once. Nary a mention of our marine environment and of the biodiversity threats that are so prevalent and that they are so weakly ignoring on behalf of all New Zealanders and future generations—nary a thought—and this is the problem. Now that they find themselves in Government, they find themselves impotent—impotent—to do what they thought they could do, because they’re being outmanoeuvred entirely by the other junior party in the coalition, the New Zealand First Party.

What we have seen is that in terms of the environment, almost nothing has occurred since this Government came to power nearly a year and a bit ago. So what have we seen? Well, we’ve seen plastic bags banned in supermarkets. Now, I’m not going to say that that’s not an important issue, because we have far too much plastic in our lives, but I can assure you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and members across the House, that plastic bags are the very least of our plastics issue. We’ve got far greater issues to come to terms with in terms of plastics than single-use plastic bags in supermarkets—particularly when, actually, under the last Government, a voluntary agreement had been agreed to and set in place by the two big supermarket chains to be rid of the supermarket plastic bags already. So it’s difficult for the Government in this space, where so many people had such high hopes.

But wait—help is on the way. This year, the National Party will be releasing eight discussion documents—eight fully investigated and well-thought-out discussion documents—and in the nine years of the Labour Opposition, how many were produced? Zero, zip, nada—none. So already, in the space of a short 18 months or less, the National Opposition has done more work in Opposition than the Labour Party did in their entire nine years in Opposition.

I’m delighted to let the House know that in Raglan, on 23 February, the Bluegreens of the National Party will be holding their 21st annual get-together. We’ve had a blue-green party in this House for 21 years—21 years—and I’m very pleased to be part of it. But at that meeting in Raglan on 23 February, we’ll be releasing the very first of those eight discussion papers, and it’s on the environment—our environment—because we are the party of practical, pragmatic, sensible environmentalists. In that discussion paper, we will be proposing a range of initiatives across climate change matters, across the conservation portfolio, across the environment portfolio, and, indeed, into a couple of others as well that touch on the matters that are so important to all New Zealanders in terms of our environmental assets, our environmental heritage, and our environmental future.

One of the things that I find most abhorrent about this current Government is that they actually have only three policy initiatives—only three—and they apply these three policy initiatives to every single thing they do. Those three policy initiatives are simply these: one, tax it; two, make it compulsory; or, three, make it free. Those are the only policy responses that this Government has to any single issue confronting New Zealand and New Zealanders.

Now, actually, New Zealanders want a far more sophisticated and nuanced approach to the challenges and issues that confront us as a nation, so that we can collectively, in this place, during our time here, add value for not only today’s citizens but those that will follow us tomorrow and in generations to come. So, wearing my hat as spokesperson for the National Party on workplace relations and safety—what we used to refer to as industrial relations or labour relations in the old days—what strikes me as strange is that a Government that is so wedded to the trade union movement would want to take us back to a time in our history that, actually, most New Zealanders think we have long since left.

I’m referring to the legislative initiatives, the plans, and the working groups that are all focused on taking us back to the 1970s. That was a time of aggression and adversarial angst between big trade unions and big business, when there was no ability for small-business people, individual businesses, and individual enterprises to negotiate terms and conditions of employment with individual staff members, and that seems to me to be something that is utterly wrong. When the rest of the world has been looking to New Zealand for guidance and saying “Well, how is it that a small country at the bottom of the South Pacific, under an administration led by John Key and Bill English, could be creating in their economy 10,000 jobs a month”—how could it be that a new Government, a socialist, left-leaning Government, would come into power and want to take us back to a time and a place that we all thought we’d left behind long ago?

All that will happen by giving big unions the opportunity to assert their power and influence in the way that they have been is that we’ll end up with more strikes—more strikes. Indeed, the trade union movement is already promising us more strikes this year than last year, and we know in 2018, we had more strikes, more industrial action, and more threats of strikes last year than we have had in any single year for the last 30 years. Now, at that point, the actual legislation that they pushed through the Parliament last year hadn’t even taken effect. So it wasn’t the legislative environment that had changed. The only thing that had changed was the Government—the only thing that had changed was the Government.

This is a Government that has emboldened and empowered the trade union movement, because now the trade union movement thinks that their mates are in the Beehive and they have almost tacit approval for industrial action and strikes. Earlier this week in Auckland, we had the first of what we haven’t seen for many a long year: a wildcat, no-notice strike by bus drivers on the North Shore of Auckland. Now, this is a very retrograde step in terms of the New Zealand economy, in terms of our industrial relations landscape, and in terms of opportunity for business and for business people. But in the National Party, we understand that going backwards—back to the 1970s—isn’t actually going to take us forward as a nation, and it seems strange that the Government wants us to go there.

In the National Party, we have a view that people should be accountable for their own actions and inactions, that they should have freedom to organise their lives and their businesses in ways to grow those businesses and to enrich their lives, and that there is little place for big government, big unions, or big, heavy-handed regulation or legislation in their lives. We like to think that New Zealanders are imaginative enough, witty enough, and nimble enough to get on with most things themselves and that, actually, having less government is probably a good thing.

So, Madam Assistant Speaker, as I draw to an end in my first contribution in the House this year, I just want to wish you and other members well, because this has been a start to the year that the Government—

I apologise to the member. I’m sorry, your time has expired.

I want to start today with some congratulations. I believe, from being an avid member of the Hansards, that it is the Hon Michael Woodhouse’s 26th wedding anniversary today. As he is my counterpart from Dunedin and also my counterpart as the Opposition health spokesperson, I want to wish him all the very best. From reading the Hansards, I also know that he begrudges spending too much money on flowers for these anniversaries because around Valentine’s Day, the price of flowers goes up. But I want to say to that member, the Hon Michael Woodhouse, congratulations—26 years is no small feat—but I also think he should buy his wife an extra large bunch of flowers this year to celebrate that anniversary. His wife—whom I’ve met—is a lovely person, and she will now be having to endure him being around the house a little more. So an extra big bunch is in order, and some congratulations at the same time.

This Government is motivated on ensuring that we are tackling growing inequalities and that we are improving incomes, housing, health, and education in this country. We know that one of the symptoms of a growing gap between rich and poor is an increasing number of children living in poverty. It doesn’t sit right with us as Kiwis to read reports from the OECD like the one that came out in 2014. There was a recent one that confirmed that growth in inequalities in New Zealand over recent decades has outstripped other Western countries. It’s something we can do something about. It’s why we’re so proud of the Families Package that we brought in as a coalition Government, because it’s at the heart of tackling inequality, which does not sit well with us as Kiwis. We are absolutely committed as a Government to building a fairer society, and we will lead because we are committed to making change that matters.

I want to speak a little bit, of course, about our healthcare system. I want to speak about primary care. I want to speak about critical facilities and mental health. These are the priorities that this Government is taking forward.

It is hard to understate the importance of primary care and early intervention for good health outcomes in our health system. We have as a Government already made doctors visits more affordable for around 540,000 community services card holders. We’ve made them more affordable by about $20 to $30, on average, because we know that in this situation, where we’ve had this growth and inequalities under the previous Government and where they haven’t looked to make sure that prosperity is shared, around 585,000 New Zealanders—according to the New Zealand Health Survey—can’t go to a doctor for reasons of cost, and that’s not right. That’s not right. We know that if people get to the doctor and intervene early with health conditions, they can get the help they need. It keeps them out of hospitals and it means that they can enjoy better health. So we are absolutely convinced that introducing that on 1 December will make a real difference for New Zealanders in terms of making sure they can access our health system and get the healthcare they need and deserve.

We’ve also advanced other initiatives, including making healthcare free for 13-year-olds—for 56,000 thirteen-year-olds. I want to thank New Zealand First for that, because that’s a part of our coalition agreement as a Government. New Zealand First and Labour—we have made free doctors visits for 13-year-olds. That is a step forward. So for around 600,000 New Zealanders last year, doctors visits got either significantly cheaper or were made free.

We’ve also put more nurses in schools because that makes sure that needs are met early, when we see the first signs of trouble. But we’ve got further ambition. New Zealand First, again, have put forward a free health check for seniors, so that’s something that we’re working on as well. We’re making primary care more accessible because we know it leads to better health outcomes for New Zealanders.

💬 Hon Ron Mark: It’s for Nick Smith.

Oh, I can’t comment on that one, Mr Mark.

Of course, when people do need hospital care, we need to have hospital facilities that are up to scratch, and, again, the underfunding under the previous Government’s watch means there is a big job to do right there. In our first Budget, we put forward $2.2 billion of new funding to make sure that those hospitals were able to operate better to actually meet the need that has been growing in that underfunded environment. But the buildings—the buildings—sadly, we know many of them have struggled. We’ve heard about the rot and the mould in the walls at Counties Manukau, and so we’ve allocated some money to address that issue. We’ve heard about leaks in operating theatres in Dunedin Hospital. When it rains, they’ve had to cancel surgery in the past. It is absolutely outrageous that we’ve come to this point in our health system, and we, as a Government, are determined to get on and fix the mess that we have inherited.

In our first Budget, we put aside $750 million worth of capital to start addressing those critical infrastructure needs in our hospital system, and so far we’ve spent money. There has been money allocated, including $275 million for Auckland District Health Board (DHB), to address significant infrastructure challenges; $200 million - plus for a new elective surgery unit at North Shore Hospital; $80 million for four projects at Counties Manukau DHB, including the one I mentioned to get the rot and mould out of the walls; $45 million for the new Wellington Children’s Hospital; $24 million for endoscopy and cardiac capacity at Whangarei Hospital; $20 million for the new Buller Hospital integrated family health centre; $8 million for a new secure mental health unit at Porirua for our most high-needs intellectual disability and mental health patients; and $7.1 million for the second phase of development at Bay of Islands Hospital.

One thing that we also need to do—and we are getting on with—is planning longer term. We are going to make sure that we don’t end up long term as a country where our infrastructure is run down every time we have a Government that takes its eye off the ball. We as a Government are committed to putting in place a national asset management plan—in fact, it’s outrageous that as a country, we haven’t had one for our health system—and while I’m not about to make any Budget announcements today, I can assure this House that this Government is committed to making sure our health system is funded better, that we’re addressing that historical underfunding that the previous Government brought in, and that we will address the mess we’ve inherited with our buildings that were neglected under their watch.

We also want to do some things in the area of mental health. We know that we need to. Every person in this House and all New Zealanders, I would hazard, know someone in their family or in their circle of friends who has wrestled with a mental health challenge. Demand is one measure of what’s been going on, and demand on our mental health services increased by 70 percent during the previous Government’s time, but funding went up by less than half of that amount. So we know that the demand is there and the pressure is on our system.

It is a personal priority for me—mental health—but it’s also one of the Government’s priorities for the upcoming well-being Budget, and, of course, we had started with this journey before we were even in Government. All of the parties now in Government campaigned on having an inquiry into mental health. This coalition Government has been concerned about mental health for some time, and the inquiry was launched in our first 100 days in office. It has made substantial and considered recommendations and our response will be substantial and considered, and I expect to make announcements about that next month.

But, in the meantime, we have got on with investing, because the need in mental health is so great. We’ve put an extra $200 million in our first Budget into DHB services. We launched the Mana Ake programme in Canterbury and Kaikōura to make sure we had mental health workers in primary schools and secondary schools there. We extended the nurses in schools programme to make sure that all schools up to decile 4 in New Zealand have a nurses in school programme, and we also have announced the construction of new drug and alcohol detoxification facilities in Auckland.

I’ve mentioned already the cheaper doctors visits, and we know that for many New Zealanders, their GP is the way into the mental health services they need. Making those doctors visits cheaper will mean that not only will those people have cheaper doctors visits drugs but they will actually be able to afford to go, to get the help that they need to intervene when they have challenges that are mild or moderate before they become more developed.

So we’re very proud of the progress we’ve made already, but there is so much more to do in mental health. Just this last week, Julie Anne Genter and I travelled to Porirua. The Greens have in their agreement with the Labour Party a new integrated therapies pilot, and so we launched a programme now known as Piki, which means to support another and to ascend, which will provide free mental health support to an estimated 10,000 eighteen- to 24-year-olds—10,000 with mild to moderate health needs—and we will be scaling that up, according to demand. We know that three-quarters of all lifetime mental health cases present by 24 years of age. We need to move earlier on the mild to moderate stuff.

This is a Government that is people-centred and determined to grow the economy and share the prosperity.

Madam Assistant Speaker, thank you so much, and I’d like to begin my contribution speaking against the Prime Minister’s statement by wishing everyone a happy New Year. As has almost become a bit of a tradition, I say that in my native tongue: se hae bok mani baduseyo, which actually means, “In the New Year may you receive lots and lots of luck.” So I hope you have a wonderful new year of the golden pig and I hope that everyone is well rested from our summer break and ready for a challenging year for our Government, because, apparently, it’s a year of delivery for the Government. I say “challenging” because I mean, oh my goodness, what a failure this Government has actually been in the last 15 months that they’ve been in Government.

In the contribution by the Minister who just sat down, Dr David Clark, he tried to actually say that their focus was on the inequality, the growth in poverty in terms of primary healthcare. You know, apparently they’re so focused and yet this Government has been an utter failure in the last 15 months of their Government, in their leadership of this nation, and yet they try and blame the former National Government. Do they not realise that they are, in fact, the Government? Fifteen months is a long time.

💬 Hon Maggie Barry: Halfway through.

It’s halfway through, until the next election, and to actually say that this Government is so focused—let me start with what the Minister said.

In terms of primary healthcare, does the Minister actually know—I guess he does because he is the Minister of Health. Apparently, I heard from someone who works in the Ministry of Health, we are short of 1,000 doctors in this country and one of the reasons why we are short of 1,000 doctors in this country is because of another policy of this particular Government, and that is in relation to foreigners being prevented from buying a home. “How is that in any way relevant?” you might ask. It is that foreign doctors are being recruited to come to this country to work, and the reason—

💬 Kieran McAnulty: What’s wrong with foreigners?

And we would love to have them, Mr McAnulty, but the issue is that these people are refusing to come to this country, because when foreign doctors want to come to New Zealand they want to be able to buy a property for their family and actually settle in this new country of theirs, but they are not allowed because they are foreigners.

And let’s actually get to the targets for this particular Minister who just spoke. Whatever happened to the health targets this Government is supposed to be meeting, or delivering for New Zealand? They’ve decided that they’re going to can the targets because they realise that they cannot meet the targets.

Shall we actually talk about some of the other targets? I mean, did anybody else actually read the Prime Minister’s statement? I tried to go through some of the statements that the Prime Minister actually made. You know, she talks about the intentions to make good policy and a good country. Intentions don’t actually make good policy. Nor do they equate to good outcomes for New Zealanders. Intentions don’t actually deliver for New Zealanders and the people that they apparently care most about—the vulnerable New Zealanders.

If anybody was there at this morning’s breakfast release of the State of the Nation Report by the Salvation Army—I mean, this Government hasn’t actually addressed the poverty issue or the social or economic inequality, because apparently we are at record levels of household debt. And this is talking not about the last nine years; this is actually talking about the last year. This is a report about this Labour-led Government’s performance.

Offender recidivism has gone up. Alcohol, drugs, and gambling have gone up. The number of children in benefit-dependent homes has gone up. Child abuse and neglect have gone up. Family violence referrals have gone up. The number of NEETs—those not in education, employment, or training—has gone up. The number of jobseeker benefits has actually gone up. Rents have gone up by $40 for average New Zealanders who are actually renting. That makes a huge impact on their budgets. The PM talked about the well-being - focused Government. It looks like they’re not so focused on the well-being of the most vulnerable people that apparently the PM and this Government care about.

Unemployment increased by 10,000 in the last three months—unemployment. That is ridiculous—and they’re talking about a growing economy. If it’s actually a growing economy and the economy is doing so much better than what they say they are, then people should be getting into jobs. People should be getting into jobs so that they can actually pay for things, but it seems like this Government is not telling the whole truth. They talk about wastage. Let’s talk about the wastage that this Government has actually produced: the $3 billion dollar slush fund of Shane Jones. How many jobs did that actually create?

💬 Dan Bidois: 54.

Fifty-four. Dan Bidois, thank you so much for reminding me of that. What about the wastage of $2 billion for free education for first-year university students? I’m sure that students who are going to university for the first time would appreciate it, but the focus was supposed to have increased the number of people attending university. Did it in fact deliver that? No it didn’t—no wonder. It actually delivered zero increase.

Talking specifically about my own portfolio area of broadcasting and communications and digital media, the Prime Minister didn’t even say anything about that. I guess she’s rather embarrassed about what that particular portfolio did not actually deliver. And we’ve had the shameful promise by the Labour Government to deliver RNZ+, actually a stand-alone TV channel for Radio New Zealand. That was going to be funded to the tune of $38 million a year. But what did we actually end up with last year? We ended up with a Minister having to resign as a result. Actually, it wasn’t even Radio New Zealand who got the $15 million funding; it was actually the public media. I guess Radio New Zealand plus New Zealand On Air have to split the $15 million funding that they actually got.

But what’s going to happen to the public media, a thing that Labour was so apparently focused on? They haven’t delivered. They got rid of a Minister. She didn’t perform. Now we have a Minister who is seen to be a little bit confused as to where the targets are. I think we were supposed to have a spectrum auction in October or sometime around October. We don’t know when that 5G spectrum auction is going to actually happen.

Let’s talk about the ethnic communities, as well—another one in my portfolio. The director of the Office of Ethnic Communities was actually gone for—it was a job that was missing for almost a year. Nobody actually replaced the former director. It took them nearly a year, and this morning at select committee I was told that they appointed someone in November—but they had a month off and, actually, literally just started—but that job is not a permanent appointment as a director. I mean, it was a job that was left vacant for one whole year, and they decide to find someone for only six months. This person’s job is only for six months.

They talk about the skilled migrant shortage. My goodness! It seems they are able to pay former MPs and former race relations conciliators, by the Office of Ethnic Communities, to go to a Safer Communities forum that the Minister for Ethnic Communities held and paid someone $5,000 to facilitate. I would have done it for free, but the National Party wasn’t invited; only the Labour Party was actually invited, it looks like. According to the minutes on one of the things that I received on our Official Information Act request, the attendance list for the forum includes two persons listed as “Labour Hunua”. I’m sure “National Hunua” would have wanted to attend as well. If it was specific to Hunua, I’m sure every party would have wanted to go. There was also a minute from one of the meetings on the Safer Communities forum session, and I quote, “This table then had a staff member from the Labour ethnic communities office plug their office and that they were there to contact and could help.” I think this person works for an MP’s office, wasn’t actually from the Minister’s office, and claimed that this is—

💬 Kieran McAnulty: What’s this got to do with the Prime Minister’s statement?

What I’m actually getting to, Mr McAnulty, is the lack of performance. The Office of Ethnic Affairs had no director for one year and decided to appoint someone, but it’s not even permanent. This is the lack of performance of this Government.

Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. Look, it’s an honour to speak for the first time in the House in 2019, but I have to say it’s a privilege that I’ve had for a number of years, every year that I come back. I do value the responsibility and, I guess, the honour of being able to be part of a democratic system that I think we should be very proud of. But it’s not perfect, and I acknowledge that: from time to time, we get National in charge. Those are the down times, I have to say. But I am proud to be part of a coalition Government, led by the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, that is inspiring the world—inspiring the world. What she has done on the international stage—and we will back up here in New Zealand—is believe in ourselves. There’s a saying: “Those who think they can and those who think they can’t are right.” Well, we think we can. We think that we can help people in poverty. We think we can help people who don’t have a home. We think we can help people who need more income. We think we can help New Zealand become a better place for every New Zealander, just not for the elite. That was the objective of the previous National Government.

I have to say, before going on, that I’d like to take the opportunity to acknowledge what has been happening in Tasman-Nelson. A fire has been down there. I’d like to acknowledge the efforts of an incredibly coordinated effort—people on the ground, in offices, in Wellington—ensuring that that fire, firstly, is put out and that people who are affected are assisted. Now, there will always be glitches, as there have been, but Fire and Emergency New Zealand, the Tasman District Council, civil defence, the helicopter pilots—all of these people have done an incredible job, and, assisted by my colleague the Hon Kris Faafoi, the Prime Minister has been down there, and my colleagues as well, ensuring the Government will support those people to recover and get on with their lives. That’s because this Government, indeed, focuses on the provinces.

There was criticism before from, I think, an Auckland MP about the Provincial Growth Fund. They don’t like the Provincial Growth Fund, because this Government is going out into what they considered Tory heartland, into the provinces, and saying, “We do appreciate what you do for our economy. We do appreciate the fact that you need good infrastructure and support, and we will support you and fund you.” My colleague the Hon Shane Jones is going and talking with those people and investing to provide the support for a better future in the provinces—not sitting around, supporting a real estate merry-go-round held up by immigration in Auckland, which was the measure of the National Party’s objectives. We are going to get out there and ensure that every New Zealander has a better future.

My responsibilities in the primary sector are absolutely crucial. We are still at the heart of economic wealth creation in this country, and we take that responsibility with great pride. The objective in the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), Biosecurity New Zealand, and the different agencies that we have set up is sustainable value growth. Some people challenged me the other day as to whether MPI was on the same path that it was sent down by the previous National Government: double exports. They thought that was the way to success. No, we have accepted that sustainable value growth must be the objective of our Government, and ensuring that that value flows right through our economy.

Can I say that we have a number of important challenges; water quality is one of them. Working with my colleague David Parker, we have taken that challenge on board, grasped it with both hands, and are going to go out to the farming sector and, with tools, provide them assistance to make the transitions that they need. Climate change is a reality. You don’t have to go too far to ask anyone whether that’s true or not. There are, I believe, a couple of people in the country and one, even, regional council that perhaps suggested that it wasn’t a reality. Can I say that, on behalf of the West Coast Regional Council, they accept that climate change is a reality. They have some questions over what it might mean for their local communities. But we are facing the reality of disruption on a regular basis, and this Government will help prepare the heart and soul of our economy—that is the rural sector—to address that.

We’ve had, down in my patch of Tasman, on top of the fires, a necessary requirement to cut water availability to intensive farming horticultural operations to 35 percent of the water they expected. That’s a tough challenge. We’re going to help them through that. We can’t create the rain, but it’s a warning to everyone in the primary sector, whether you have water or not: be prepared for some tough times on occasions.

Can I say that there are a number of challenges that we will address. We have, of course, a biosecurity system that was left in a little bit of disarray—an animal tracing system that was left in a bit of disarray—by the previous National Government and its kind of laissez-faire, hands-off, head in the sand approach to governance in this country. We are about leadership. We are going to create a better biosecurity system. We are going to get farmers to adhere to a proper animal tracing system, and we’ll pass legislation to ensure that happens.

We’re going to support organic growers in this country who have been focusing on value-added production but have not been able to underpin that with a certification system that is recognised internationally. We will pass legislation to ensure that they are supported for all their efforts. We are going to pass and support a farm-debt mediation bill because we know there are some challenges in the primary sector, and with our colleagues New Zealand First, who initiated this, we’ve worked to bring back to this House a bill that will be effective, that will provide some fairness when on occasions those people across the primary sector are forced to negotiate a way out.

We had the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act, passed in 2001, up for renewal, and we’re working with the dairy industry to ensure that we get a better outcome and futureproof the dairy industry for the good of all New Zealand. We will overhaul the Biosecurity Act. Biosecurity has been seen as perhaps the responsibility of just our horticultural and primary sectors. It is not. It is the responsibility of each and every one of us as Kiwis because our lifestyle and our flora and fauna is quite unique, and if we allow some of these unwanted pests and organisms into this country, we will start to see that destroyed. One clear example: the brown marmorated stink bug. You might think them just little bugs, but go online and have a look at video clips as to what happens with an infestation to just a normal barbecue.

These are all challenges that we have. One area—and I’m very pleased to say that my colleague the Hon Chris Hipkins announced today a total revamp of the occupational education and training system in this country. It has been broken. The National Government sat on their hands with their heads in the sand and failed to address the core problems, particularly in the area of agriculture. We’ve had to go through a difficult process with Taratahi and Telford and, effectively, close them down temporarily to revamp the whole system and give them a sustainable future. All the Tories did is throw a bit of money at them, revamp them, put Telford, firstly, under Lincoln and then under Taratahi, and say, “You’ll be right.” and walk away.

What the Hon Chris Hipkins is doing is bold, it’s brave, and it will ensure that we get the proper level of training and education for all those young New Zealanders across this economy. Too many times I’ve spoken to employers, over a number of years, who have said, “Look, the young people we’re getting out don’t have the skills that we need.” There’s been a mismatch between the billions of dollars, effectively, that have gone into occupational training and education over the last 10 years, literally to produce, I guess, young New Zealanders who still don’t have the skills needed by industry. We’re going to change that, and that revamp will achieve it.

I can’t finish a speech without mentioning, I guess, the big challenge that we have—and it’s being watched internationally—that is Mycoplasma bovis. Can I thank my colleagues once again? As I go around the country, farmers and observers who are informed appreciate the bold and brave move that we took to actually say we want to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis. Anyone who looks at the disease and its potential effects on the New Zealand production systems and livestock knows that this would be a nightmare. It is managed in other countries—that is true—but we run unique farming systems here that would mean that for a disease like Mycoplasma bovis, which is hard to identify until you see the acute signs of it, we would have to change the farming systems in this country. Thank you.

I apologise to the honourable member; your time has expired.

Thank you, Madam Assistant Speaker. I rise to talk, I guess, with some bemusement about the Prime Minister’s statement. I listened to it pretty carefully yesterday, and then a wash of Groundhog Day dèjá vu came upon me, because I heard pretty much the same old, same old at Rātana, at Waitangi, in the state of the nation, and sundry other speeches. It’s words, words, high-sounding weasel words, and, apparently, this is the year of delivery. My question is how are they going to deliver?

Incidentally, it is the Year of the Pig and the Chinese New Year, so I should say kung hei fat choy. While the Chinese are looking at prosperity—and, in fact, it’s the Year of the Golden Pig, I’m reliably informed, and as someone who was born in the Year of the Pig, this is very encouraging news—for this Government it will be all about delivery. When I listened to the Prime Minister’s speech and didn’t hear very much of substance, I thought “Give her a fair show. Let’s have a look at the speech itself.” So I went through. I saw “new kind of leadership” mentioned at least six times, so I gave up counting after that. It’s not clear, of course, what on earth that means.

These people are halfway through their term—what have they been doing for the past 15 months? It is a shambles. The coalition is blaming everybody but themselves for their shambolic and incompetent performance.

We had the Minister of Health here, barrelling through his usual old lines. “Nine long years.”—we’ve been hearing that for rather a long time. The Minister doesn’t appear to understand that he’s in Government now. He’s in charge, and—about delivering—it needs to have much more than just rhetoric. It needs substance.

I’m usually quite a fan of recycling, but the amount of rhetoric and, really, waffle that we’ve been hearing from this Government—and, in particular with the Prime Minister’s statement—is more at the compostable end of recycling. I think we really do need to look at what’s fit for compost and what’s fit for modern purpose.

💬 Hon Kris Faafoi: You’d know it.

Yes I would know that, and that’s exactly true, Minister. I know a lot more about recycling than you guys do—or, I thought I did—but now, of course, you’re taking over from that, because he’s dishing out a bit of manure.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! Order! Stop bringing the Speaker into the debate. Thank you, both sides.

A fair bit of manure coming across from the Government benches, but nothing new from that member—class clown. Anyway—a lot of virtue signalling, a lot of words and not action, and a lot of rhetoric and empty promises, but, again, no delivery.

So I come back to the tedious, repetitive speech that we had to endure listening to yesterday in the House. I look through for a few things—what do I find? The well-being Budget. OK, what exactly is that?

💬 Rt Hon David Carter: Very good question.

Yes indeed, the Rt Hon David Carter, it is a good question. We are told in the same breath that it is going to be the first well-being Budget in the world, and it will be delivered in May, but that it will not alone guarantee improvements to New Zealanders’ living standards. Oh dear—really? What is the purpose of a Budget? What is the purpose of voting for Labour if they are not going to improve New Zealanders’ living standards? Apparently, Ministers are going to have to change their thinking. They are going to have to think about outcomes for New Zealanders. It’s going to be a darn high threshold, to prove that you have to have intergenerational benefits.

I’ve been a Minister who has gone to some pretty stingy Ministers of Finance and asked for money for my Budget for my ministries. Bill English, God bless him, I love him to bits—very short arms, very long pockets, really hard to convince and prise money out of. If I had to prove to him intergenerational benefits for every bid I put up, I wouldn’t get very far with him. I doubt very much whether anyone across the House is going to get very much out of their finance Minister either, because he’s just talked himself into an excuse to not give money where it is needed, as opposed to this nebulous stuff around well-being and so forth.

So then we read on: “Creating opportunities for transitioning to a sustainable low emissions economy”—yep, good. How? I keep coming back to this word “How?”. Where is the detail? “Lifting Māori and Pacific incomes, skills and opportunities.”—I don’t think there’s been a Government in New Zealand for, probably, 40 years that hasn’t had that as its priority, but again, there is no detail. Virtue signalling on its own is not enough—15 months in and halfway through your term, we would expect a whole lot better. And “supporting mental well-being”—well, hold the front page. It’s a revelation, is it not?

I thought the educational stuff was really light: “An important focus will be [on] ensuring our education system is better prepared for the disruption we are facing [with] increasing technology and climate change.” Wow! It doesn’t get much broader than that. Instead, on our side of the House, we see the Hon Nikki Kaye running 41 education meetings on the future of education and actually engaging with communities. I’m holding one in my North Shore electorate on Friday 8 March. Members opposite are very welcome to come along and learn something of the misgivings and the concerns of teachers, boards of trustees, and parents, as well as children. We will be taking the temperature. We will be asking people in a genuine way to have input into the task force. Again, not high-sounding rhetoric that delivers nothing, but something that is a very important element that we are very keen on doing.

What’s missing in this statement? Lots, actually. Let me start with seniors, which I know a fair bit about, not only because I’m fast approaching the age—

💬 Rt Hon David Carter: I don’t believe that.

—but also because I was the Minister for three years. Thanks very much, but there it is. Thanks David Carter there, interjecting.

It is fair to say that we are an ageing population, and it is at a great rate. Therefore, I would have expected, in a document and a speech of substance, that we would have heard what’s being done about elder abuse. What level of resourcing is being applied to this very important area? What I know for sure is that my office was contacted by somebody who rang an 0800 elder abuse line which I set up last July. They rang my office on the advice of the person who was on the other end of the line. They said, “Well, we don’t know what to do. You’d better ring Maggie Barry. She might be able to help.” This is a person on the other side of the country from my electorate, who rang an 0800 number expecting assistance. They were given none and, instead, given some pretty odd advice, I think.

This shows me a number of things. One of them is that the funding and the energy that was put into that 0800 number, which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week—or should be—has now been downgraded. I think that’s deplorable. I think it’s regrettable. I think that anyone who’s ever listened to the aged care sector would know that what they’ve been after for a very long time is a helpline that is available for them when they need it, with some solid advice about how they can get out of an abusive—either physical, financial, or psychological—relationship. Often, unfortunately, it is from members of their own family. I was personally very disappointed to hear that that service has been run down, and also disappointed that there is nothing of substance for seniors in what this Government are talking about.

KiwiBuild, of course, has been mentioned endlessly—only 47 houses completed out of the 10,000 that were promised. The capital gains tax that’s coming up is going to be a tax on every small-business owner, every farmer, lifestyle block owner, KiwiSaver account, mum and dad investor, bach owner—you name it, it’s going to hit hard. I mean, tax and spend, tax and spend—nothing has changed with this Government.

So while it builds itself up with the idea that the Greens have somehow made them more green, they are not. Banning plastic bags is not going to save the world; that starts in your own backyard. It starts and is a very important thing to engage hearts and minds of people. I don’t believe that this Government has done this well with environmental and conservation issues. Predator Free 2050, which is a goal that many, many New Zealanders have bought into, again remains way below the radar. Why? Because of political pettiness? Because it was instigated under National? Do I see Ron Mark nod? No, but we see before us a Government that hasn’t delivered on its promises in this area.

On the other hand, in a couple of weekends’ time, the National Party, with its Bluegreens focus group—which has been around now for 21 years—will be getting together at Raglan on 23 February. [Interruption] Yeah, National have been doing blue-green for 21 years. We are across this, and we do what we do very well, and the very first of our nine discussion documents is going to be on the environment. That’s how important we think it is.

So we’ll put out, this year, nine discussion papers—eight discussion papers. The people across the House did nothing in nine years—not a single discussion paper. What on earth were they doing in Opposition? What on earth were they doing to formulate policy? There were 233 reviews, working groups, and inquiries. They’ve spent nearly $300 million on asking other people what they should think and what they should do while in Government. They were not prepared, but we are.

We have the kinds of policies and the kinds of plans that New Zealanders can rely on. We are a safe pair of hands. We will ensure that what New Zealanders earn through their hard-earned wages, they will be able to spend more of. We will look at adjusting the tax brackets, as our excellent leader, Simon Bridges, outlined a couple of weeks ago. We are a strong and united Opposition. We have ideas, we have stamina, and we will prevail. So I think the Prime Minister’s speech is a woeful example.

Kia orana, Madam Assistant Speaker. It’s always a pleasure to follow that member, Maggie Barry, because on this side of the House, we like to call her “Teacher Only Day”—whenever she speaks, there’s no class.

I’d like to wish all the parliamentarians in this House a happy New Year, especially that member. But can I begin my contribution and spend quite a bit of time on thanking the effort of the many, many people who have been—for the last week and a bit—fighting the fire in the Tasman area. As the Minister of Civil Defence, I have visited the area numerous times and have been witness to a massive effort and spirit in and around that effort. I want to first of all acknowledge both mayors in the region: the Mayor of Tasman District, Richard Kempthorne, and the Mayor of Nelson—sorry; it’s coming—Rachel Reese. Rachel Reese—sorry, Rachel, if you’re watching.

Since the fire broke out on Tuesday afternoon last week, it grew to an epic proportion, similar to that of the Port Hills fire. The initial effort to control the fire was huge, so I also want to pay tribute to the men and women, both local and national, of Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ). I will point out a number of people: first of all, controllers John Sutton and Ian Reade, who have led the fire effort, but also Grant Haywood—who is the local manager of FENZ, I understand—who have been putting in a massive effort to lead the fire fight itself.

On Wednesday morning of last week, the local state of emergency was declared by the joint mayors of the area. Since then, the emergency operations centre has been standing out 24/7. I want to acknowledge the efforts of Roger Ball, who has been the main controller in the emergency operations centre, and the team that has been pulled from not just the Tasman and Nelson area but civil defence and emergency management teams around New Zealand to make sure that the communities that have been affected by that fire have been well looked after. There have been evacuations, obviously, in and around Pigeon Valley, Eves Valley and Teapot Valley, and some of those residents haven’t been able to return to their homes. We thank them for their patience. They have been out of their homes for over a week, and we are trying everything we can to make sure that they can have some limited access to their homes, but while the fire risk remains as it is, the civil defence controllers have seen fit to keep that evacuation in place.

To the Wakefield evacuation—not an easy feat around the logistics of moving 2,500 people out of that village. So, first of all, thanks for the cooperation of the people of Wakefield, who are, thankfully, now back in their homes, but also thanks to the authorities who made that happen in an orderly and safe fashion. So to the civil defence team, to the police team, to the defence force team who were leading that evacuation of Wakefield when the fire was becoming a risk to that village—thank you very much.

I spent yesterday in Wakefield. I dropped into the Four Square, where Phil, the manager, said that things are slowly returning to normal. I also had the pleasure of going to the Wakefield volunteer fire station, where one of the managers there, John, showed us around. The effort is still continuing to make sure that the fire can be fought. The fire is not as visible as it has been in the last week as of yesterday and, I understand, today, but to people who are watching that closely, and obviously to the residents, there is still a lot of hard work to be done to put that fire out. We can’t see it; a lot of it is underground because it is a vegetation fire, but there is still a hell of a lot of work that will need to go into that area to make sure that the fire is put out and the community continues to stay safe.

So, to wrap that part of the speech up, again, huge thanks to all those volunteers, all those professionals within the civil defence and emergency management sector, FENZ, other agencies, and the Ministry for Primary Industries—notably, because of the big animal welfare issues in the area—who have slugged their guts out and will continue to do so to make sure that that community is safe.

Back to politics. Can I acknowledge the speech that was made by the Prime Minister yesterday. While we have set out to make sure that we deliver this year, I’m actually very proud of the delivery that we made last year. In the important areas of health, housing, and education, we are making a massive improvement because of the massive need in those areas for the communities of New Zealand.

I want to talk a little bit about my own community because on Friday morning, I’m going to wake up very early and go to a piece of land on Castor Crescent that has been barren for the last nine years but, nine years ago, did have some Housing New Zealand properties on it. While the previous Government was in office, for about 7½ to 8 years, that land remained barren, but on Friday morning, we’re going to bless that land, because this Government is going to take an empty piece of land, which most locals in the Cannons Creek and Waitangirua area had given up for parkland and thought was going to remain parkland. The building is going to start, to make sure those families in that community can have warm, safe, and affordable housing.

If you’re talking about delivery over the last 18 months of this Government, I am extremely proud of that. That land, known as the Castor loop land, has remained barren and has been something that I have been fighting for for many years. I am very proud to say that our Government—this coalition Government of New Zealand First, Labour, and the Greens—is going to get off their backsides and make sure that the people in my community are going to have homes to live in, and at an affordable rate. So that is delivery.

In the area of commerce and consumer affairs, last year we did deliver in market studies to make sure that New Zealand’s markets are operating effectively. Now, in English, that means consumers are getting a fair deal. At the moment, the Commerce Commission is looking into the issue of whether or not petrol prices are fair, because we understand that many New Zealanders are feeling the pinch that increased fuel prices can have on their day-to-day living. Now, to make the point again about the politics of that, the previous Government had nine years to do something about that. In fact, I think the previous Minister of Energy and Resources—Judith Collins—wanted the market study power, but the last Government didn’t deliver. Last year this Government did deliver so that the Commerce Commission will have the power to look into those markets, and if they’re not giving the average New Zealander a fair deal and making sure that they can have a cost of living that is affordable for them and their families, then we can take action. That is something that this Government has delivered.

Also, I want to talk about the delivery that we’ve got this year, and I’m focusing a bit on myself. We want to make sure that those consumers who are vulnerable consumers who are being preyed upon by third-tier lenders, or loan sharks, have protection. Again, it is something that the previous Government had nine years to do, but it didn’t go far enough. Well, I’m very proud that, hopefully, all going to plan—and I’m wondering what the National Opposition is going to do about this; whether they’re going to support it or not—we’re going to crack down and put limits on what those loan sharks can charge those vulnerable consumers. We don’t want those consumers to be trapped in debt spirals—something that continued to happen under the previous Government. It is something that we are extremely proud of—that we will bring it into legislation and give more protection to those vulnerable consumers.

So my challenge within this speech to the Opposition is: are you going to support those measures or not? Are you going to be on the side of consumers and giving them some protection from the likes of loan sharks and third-tier lenders, or are you going to be on the side of the loan sharks and the third-tier lenders—something you didn’t do a thing about in the previous Parliament?

So that’s my challenge. I’m going to be very interested when that piece of legislation comes to this House in whether you’re going to man up and support us in our effort to look after vulnerable New Zealanders, or whether you’re going to look after the loan sharks who have been ripping off New Zealanders for nine years under your Government—

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Thank you!

—under that Government. That’s one of the big things that I’m looking forward to: seeing whether the National Party is actually going to support that piece of legislation, because if they do, it will be almost unanimous. I think our friend David Seymour probably won’t, but I’m looking at the likes of Alfred Ngaro and our list member from Māngere, who are in those communities where those consumers need that kind of protection. What are they going to do to make sure that those vulnerable consumers are given those protections? That’s something that I am going to deliver for the people—for those vulnerable consumers—of New Zealand.

In the areas of health, housing, and education, we are going to deliver in 2019. We’ve got those challenges and we are going to deliver. The National Party has some other challenges, which others have spoken about much more eloquently than me, but we are focused on the things that matter to New Zealanders: making sure we put more money in their pockets, and looking after health, housing, and education. Good luck to the National Party for the challenges over the next wee while.

Madam Assistant Speaker, can I start by acknowledging you and welcoming you back to this House. I want to acknowledge all members as they return from a very long summer break—welcome back, to 2019.

Can I start by making a comment about the previous speaker, the Hon Kris Faafoi. I was very disappointed with his opening remarks, when he personally attacked the Hon Maggie Barry, who had just given a fine speech. That sort of politics is not necessary.

I was actually going to start my contribution by acknowledging the excellent job that the Hon Kris Faafoi has done as Minister of Civil Defence over the last couple of weeks in Nelson. I’ve watched with huge interest. Twelve months ago, where I live was under the same threat—on the Port Hills of Christchurch. I’ve got to say the response this time by Fire and Emergency New Zealand has been far superior, and the role that the Hon Kris Faafoi has played in being there as the Minister clearly supporting the community has been excellent. So I take this opportunity of acknowledging Mr Faafoi and thanking him for his contribution.

Those fires in Nelson will be frightening to the local community. We went through it last year on the Port Hills. Fire is completely unpredictable. The uncertainty that’s then imposed on the residents is something they just have to live through, and while the fires now may seem under control, the agony for many of those people will go on for a long time.

The second comment I wanted to make is that there was a relatively rough start to proceedings with a particular select committee this morning, and I remind the House that it’s the duty of all members of Parliament, if they’re on a select committee, to fulfil that responsibility. I was very annoyed, then, to see two Labour members scurrying around the press gallery actually telling mistruths about what had occurred. I take this opportunity to thank the Prime Minister, who has actually come out now and acknowledged and criticised her own Labour MPs for not being there on time. She said—and I quote—“They’ve made mistakes. We need to own that. My expectation is they do their jobs. There are no excuses. I’ve made it very clear this is not acceptable.” So thank you to the Prime Minister for reminding the Labour members of their responsibility.

We had the earlier response in this debate—which I listened to—from the Hon Tracey Martin, where she blamed National for the calamity of the select committee hearing today. She was one of the members that was meant to be there at 8 o’clock, and she waltzed in at eight minutes past 8 herself. She was part of the problem, and the Prime Minister—I thank her for acknowledging it.

The Prime Minister, though, has also I think already labelled this political year, and has put a target fairly on her forehead. It’s the year of delivery, and that’s something that applies to this National Opposition as well, because we are going to be well-prepared for the next election and, if successful, we will be ready to govern, unlike the last Labour - New Zealand First - Green Government, which was clearly caught by surprise and ill-prepared. So, from the National Party point of view, it will be a year of delivery. It will be a year of eight substantial discussion documents as we prepare policy to go to the electorate in 2020.

I’ve been thinking how you’d classify the last year, and I’m sure it would be the year of the working groups—233 working groups; estimated cost $290 million. There’s one that I read about recently: the working group into mental health chaired by Ron Paterson, whom I know well. I admire that man. He did a good job in preparing that report and presenting it to the Government late last year. Members won’t believe what the Government’s response to that report was. It was to form a further nine working groups to look at the report given by the first working group.

I say to the Government that if it’s the year of delivery, you won’t do it by forming working groups. It’s time to get on with the job and make some policy that will improve the opportunity for New Zealanders.

There are some strong challenges for our Government—there’s no doubt about that—with one of them being the slowing economy. The last quarter of GDP growth, at 0.3 percent, was the worst performance of this economy in five years, and the Government seems oblivious to the fact that the economy is slowing, and slowing dramatically. I say that they inherited a very strong economy—there is no doubt about that. They inherited an economy where job creation was flying, at the rate of 10,000 jobs a month. What’s the latest figure I’ve heard from the current job employment rate?

💬 Alastair Scott: 600?

670 a month, compared with 10,000 a month under National. That is going to be a problem.

I see the Hon Willie Jackson in the House. I couldn’t stop laughing about his press release last week. Unemployment prior to Christmas: 3.9 percent. It’s up to 4.3 percent in the latest figures, and the Hon Willie Jackson spun that as good news—an increase in unemployment was good news. No one else in this House but the Hon Willie Jackson could do that. I don’t think the media bought it, but it was a gallant attempt, I’ve got to say. It was a very gallant attempt.

So we’ve got unemployment going up, we’ve got the number on the jobseeker benefit going up, and yet with the economy slowing, I predict these figures will get worse.

I listened to the Prime Minister’s speech yesterday and she listed—as I understood her speech—three priorities. The first priority: share the prosperity. Prime Minister, if you’ve got a declining economy, it’s going to be very hard to talk about prosperity. Why is the economy declining? It’s initiatives like the foreign investment ban that was placed on this country by the Government last year. It’s the lack of business confidence in this Government and its performance and its economic nous, and we saw that with the speech that the Prime Minister delivered to a business audience in Auckland last week. How would you describe it? Well, many of them have described it to me as absolutely underwhelming.

The second priority: she said we will pursue free-trade agreements. An EU photo opportunity, and the very next day, the EU announces they’re going to bash us around on our current tariff access to the EU. The photo opportunity did nothing.

The third focus: skills. I accept that we’ve got a lot of work to do there.

I just want to conclude very quickly on the “Provincial Slush Fund”. At the moment, Shane Jones is going around as the “first citizen of the provinces” and spraying money around. I remember questions in this House prior to the Christmas break, when he one day said that 7,000 new jobs had been created, and then it was 9,000. Congratulations to Paul Goldsmith, who’s done the work: 54 jobs have been created. And then—

💬 Hon Willie Jackson: It’s better than none.

“Better than none.”—54 jobs have been created, and then we learn that the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has taken on 118 new staff to run the “Provincial Slush Fund”. It’s going to have to deliver, I say to the Hon Willie Jackson, because that money is taxpayers’ money. Those members can spray it around as liberally as they like, but New Zealanders at the election time will judge the efficiency of that fund. I say to the Government members opposite, if they think their money’s being wasted by Shane Jones in trying to buy electoral support so that he wins a seat at the next election in Northland or Whangarei, they won’t buy it.

The final comment I’ll say is that if there’s any attempt by New Zealand First to gerrymander the MMP 5 percent threshold in an attempt to survive, see if New Zealanders will buy into that, because I assure you, Dr Deborah Russell, they will not.

I understand this is a split call—five minutes.

Mr Assistant Speaker, I wish to begin my first contribution in this House this year on a sad note, and that is to ask the House to remember Daphne Collins, a lovely woman in my electorate, a singer of beautiful songs, who died just a few days ago. She was a constituent who I was able to help and she touched my heart, and she touched the hearts of my staff members and touched the hearts of many in my community. So I would ask you to remember and celebrate the life of Daphne Collins. She was a woman of great faith, and I trust that faith comforted her in her last days.

Moving on, Mr Assistant Speaker: happy New Year. We’re celebrating the Chinese New Year in Parliament today, so I’ll give it a go: gong xi fa cai.

Moving on from that happy note, what can we say about the Opposition? They carp, they crab, they cavil, they complain, they criticise—it’s a veritable cacophony of complaint from over that side of the House. Where is the vision? Where is the compassion? Where is the heart? Where is anything that isn’t to do with navel-gazing about their own affairs? The vision is on this side of the House—the vision of a fairer, kinder, better New Zealand—and the achievement is all on this side of the House, too.

This is a Government that in its first 15 months has delivered. We have lifted family incomes. We are backing the regions. We are rebuilding hospitals and schools. There was nine years of neglect from the other side. We are moving as fast as we can to fix the problems that were left to us. That is the kind of achievement that this Government is proud of.

We’re working on our tax system, working to make it a better and fairer system and a system that supports New Zealand enterprise. That’s what our research and development tax credit is about. And when the Tax Working Group report comes out, in just a few sleeps now—and I have to say I’m very excited about that—we will be working on a tax system that ensures that everyone pays their fair share of tax, their fair share.

We get plenty of complaint and cavilling and carping and crabbing from the Opposition about tax brackets and the like, demanding that they get a tax cut. But I say this to the Opposition: every time that the Opposition demands a tax cut, the Opposition must say what services they would cut too. Those taxes are the price of civilisation. They are what pays for our health system, our welfare, our education and every time we cut taxes, services must be cut too. Which services are to be cut? I challenge them to say that every time; they won’t. Not only is this a Government that has achieved, this is a Government that cares about New Zealanders.

I want to talk about one particular area where this Government is working hard for New Zealanders and will continue to work hard, and that is in housing. In my electorate, in the next 18 months to two years or so, about 350 brand new Housing New Zealand dwellings will come online. One-bedroom flats, two-bedroom flats, three-bedroom houses, four-bedroom houses—houses designed for New Zealand families who need a secure, warm, dry place to live. This Government is committed to ensuring that we make sure that New Zealanders are well housed.

It’s an incredibly important thing to do, because a person who is secure in their own home can be a full citizen, can be part of a community. This Government is working on housing, because it matters for the decent society that we want to build. It’s part of our commitment to caring for New Zealanders—caring for New Zealanders in a way that enables them to participate in our society. That’s the sort of Government we are aiming to be. Over there, the cacophony of complaint; over there, the caterwauling; over there, the cries of criticism; over here, hope, care, trust, kindness. I know which side I’m proud to be on.

I call Angie Warren-Clark—five minutes.

Thank you, Mr Assistant Speaker. I’m delighted to take a call tonight—my first of the year. I extend my kind solicitations to everyone in this House, and I wish and hope that we will all be speaking with kindness and compassion throughout the year. I look forward to that.

So, today, I would like to have a simple chat with you all about leadership—leadership in this country. Now, I have a quote here, which I really like, and I think this is the kind of Government that our country deserves and the kind of Government that I think we have with our coalition Government: “True leaders understand that leadership is not about them but about those they serve. It is not about exalting themselves but about lifting others up.” Let me say, if ever there was a truer word spoken, it is that.

We are designing a well-being Budget that is all about lifting everyone up. We’re inclusive and we are trying our very best to do the right thing for this country. We know the problems and we’ve worked—as my colleague Dr Deb Russell has said—very hard delivering for the last 18 months, and we will continue to do so. We have, and are very lucky to have, an amazing leader in our Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, who leads with compassion, who leads with an entirely clear vision for us as a Government, and who at all times remembers who she serves and who the people are that we need to support—that is, all citizens of this country; all citizens.

Leadership is one of those things that is often lonely and, in fact, as a Government we know that we have a lot of things to do, and some of those things will take courage. Some of those things will take real leadership—for example, climate change. We must and we shall be a world leader, ensuring that our country and our commitment to global warming and change is not going to be as a fast follower. Oh no, we actually have to spend time and energy committing, and this coalition Government is doing so.

I’d also like to talk very briefly about one particular part of our well-being Budget that, for me, is a personal driver of being here in Parliament—that is, the work that we are doing in the family and sexual violence space. It is, as we all know, a huge issue in this country. I am absolutely delighted that our Minister for Social Development, the Hon Carmel Sepuloni, has increased last year 30 percent of funding to our front-line services—delivering. Now, having worked in the front line, I know that we may have had all sorts of things happening in that space, but the front line didn’t get a cent for 10 years. That, in fact, says—when we look at all of the systems in place and everything that would support that—the Opposition members over there were more about thinktanks themselves than they were about actual delivery on the ground. So I’m absolutely delighted that we are working towards making a change in that space.

I would also, in my final statement, like to talk about the work that we will be doing in this space over the next year, and the working group—as you may call it, but we call it an actual organisation—that will work across Government departments to bring into this century the conversations that need to be had and to happen. Leadership will be hard in this space. One in four women are affected by violence in their lifetime, and one in seven men. We need to do better. It will be hard. We need to talk, we need to work together, and, in fact, I am so very, very proud of this coalition Government for putting family violence and sexual violence at the core of our well-being Budget. We will deliver.

Thank you, Mr Assistant Speaker, and welcome to the new year. I just want to follow on from the Prime Minister’s speech, where the Prime Minister made it very clear to New Zealanders what they should expect over the next year. That was a clear expectation that by the end of the year, New Zealanders will be in a much worse position. By the end of the year, more New Zealanders will be out of work. By the end of the year, more New Zealand businesses will struggle to provide the base for this economy going forward. And, by the end of the year, this Government will not be delivering the services that New Zealanders expect. We know what is happening with this plan that we’re getting from the Government. New Zealanders will struggle, it will stifle our economy and that will stunt the growth that this country has had in the past, and the costs will be out of control and there will be no accountability for them.

Let’s take the sectors that are big parts of our community. Education—what’s it going to be like by the end of the year? Well, schools that currently have their own boards of trustees will be told that they can no longer have their own boards of trustees, but have to be managed by a central economy—basically, out of a central office. That means that schools like Hamilton Boys’ High in Hamilton that have done exceptionally well over many years will now have the rules and regulations of their school dictated to them by a central body set up by the Minister. That’s what it will mean for parents and students. There will be no accountability. By the end of the year, the parents won’t know how their children are achieving at school. They will be just left in the lurch of pretending that every school is perfect, every teacher is perfect, and there is no need for any accountability in our system. That is what is going to happen in education by the end of the year.

By the end of the year, in somewhere like Wintec in Hamilton, our polytechnic, it will now be run out of the central office, probably based in Wellington—as if we need more bureaucrats in Wellington—and by the end of the year that organisation will have lost control of its future as well and will be dictated to by some central body.

What will happen in health? By the end of the year, there will be fewer operations done. There will be fewer healthcare operations done in our major centres because all the money that goes into health will be spent on trying to keep alive the growing costs of wages that the Government will find it has to pay to fill in the bureaucracy that it will create within our health system.

What’s going to happen in our economy? By the end of the year, we will be less than a 2 percent growth economy. The last quarter put us at 0.3 percent. That is simply not good enough for New Zealand in the modern world. We’re not talking about a world where 3 percent is a great target that we should aspire to; we need to be pumping at 3 to 3.5 percent to deliver in this part of the world, like our neighbours Australia and America do, and in Asia, it’s 7 to 8 percent. By the end of the year, we will be under 2 percent, and that will have a direct impact on all New Zealanders’ lives.

By the end of the year, there will be more New Zealanders unemployed. At the end of last year, it was 3.9 percent, reflecting the good economic conditions that the previous Government had set up. It’s already at 4.3 percent now. It’ll be close to 5 percent by the end of the year. That’s what it means for New Zealanders who will be out of work because of the policies of the other side of the House.

By the end of year, house prices will be down in our major cities by 10 to 15 percent. In Auckland, you can guarantee that house prices will be down by 10 percent, and that will happen, under this Government, to New Zealand house owners who have spent their lives buying their homes, getting their mortgages—be prepared for a 10 percent reduction in the value of your house. And what does that mean if there is low equity in that property? It means that you are in a very vulnerable position, especially if there is higher unemployment and people lose jobs or lose the ability to have that employment. That, combined with lower house prices, puts the financial viability of more New Zealanders at risk.

But, by the end of the year, they will also know that if they ever did make any money on their house, or any other business asset, they’d have to pay it in a capital gains tax. OK, a capital gains tax probably will exempt the family home, but it’s definitely going to cover their assets, their businesses, and any investments that they make, and any second house they have or any investment they have. So, by the end of the year, New Zealanders will be under no doubt that they are going to be paying more tax. That is without doubt.

By the end of the year, migrants will know that they’re not welcome in this country. For all the rhetoric on the other side of House—and we’ve got the Chinese New Year celebration coming up in half an hour in this House, and all the Labour MPs will be there saying how welcoming they are—remember, in our migrant communities, that the other side of House has cut immigration in half. They want to cut it further. They don’t want to give people the ability—

💬 Michael Wood: Not so good at maths, are we?

Is that wrong? No, it’s not. They have cut it, and they want to cut it further, and they are doing that through students who want to come to New Zealand. They are hurting people who want to have that long-term ability to come to New Zealand. I challenge the other side of House to show that the stats are different from that, because immigration has dropped.

By the end of the year, New Zealanders will know what it means to offend the Chinese Government. There are ways and means of proving that you have an external foreign policy, and it is not set by having some loose cannon that goes around the world and thinks that he is bigger than any country and bigger than any Government. We will see the impact of his arrogance in the effect that this economy will find from having poorer relations with China. There will be no advancement of our free-trade agreement, putting us behind our competitors. There will be cases where our exports are stopped at the border, and there will be instances where New Zealanders aren’t given the treatment and the respect they deserve because our Government hasn’t delivered on the international stage.

By the end of the year, you can guarantee that investor confidence will be the lowest in the last decade—not only the lowest in the last two years that we’ve seen recently but it will be lower than that. Talk to anybody that’s in the business community—they’re shutting up shop now. There’s no point in investing in New Zealand. They’re reducing their asset base, and they’re making sure that they’re ready to come back into the market in two or five years, or whenever they want to come back in.

By the end of the year, farmers will know what environmental taxes are. There will be such big taxes coming to farmers on their environment and especially in the dairy and the sheep and beef industries, that that will have long-term effects on the New Zealand economy. It will dictate the ability of investment of those farmers and will hurt New Zealand growth in the future.

But there may be some good points. By the end of the year, we will know that there are at least 47 KiwiBuild homes that will be built. We might get to 50, or we might even get to 60, but, as has been said today, they are consented, and we can all live in a consented house, can’t we?

By the end of the year, there may be more jobs in the Provincial Growth Fund than 54 jobs. There may even be three figures, and he may get to a hundred jobs by the end of the year in the Provincial Growth Fund. [Interruption] Well, I don’t know. Well, we’re certainly going to get over a hundred jobs in Wellington in bureaucracy, but whether we actually get that in real jobs—that’ll be another question.

By the end of the year, another $1 billion of land will be sold to overseas investors. The Green Party said they were going to stop those sales. They clocked up the $1 billion just before Christmas, and there’ll be another $1 billion this year as we wait for the Labour Party and the Greens to agree on what to do.

By the end of the year, another thousand prisoners will be on our streets. They will be released under the programmes that the Government’s doing now, where the Government is directly indicating to the courts and they are directly indicating to the Parole Board, what should be the number of prisoners. They are reducing the prison population through their actions.

By the end of the year, there may be some transport options that still are in progress. You know, we may still see work on the Waikato Expressway, but for the poor people of South Auckland, by the end of the year, the finish of the Southern Motorway will not be complete. They will have not completed the Southern Motorway extension by the end of this year, when it was supposed to be finished last year. But we do have hope of some glorious train that’s going to run underground, which now is at $6 billion, not $4 billion—$6 billion is the cost of the train from Auckland Central to Māngere.

By the end of the year, we can all stand up and say that that doesn’t matter. All those things don’t matter, because we live in a kind, caring, compassionate world; we don’t need to worry about these things. That is the year ahead for New Zealanders.

I understand this is a split call. I call Rino Tirikatene—five minutes.

Tēnā koe, Mr Assistant Speaker. I am very proud to speak in support of the Prime Minister’s statement, but, again, before I do, I want to acknowledge the people in the communities of the Nelson-Tasman and the difficult times that they’re going through at the moment, and all who are involved in putting out the fires. I just want to acknowledge those communities—likewise, the maraes that have opened their doors—from Motueka to Whakatū, and everyone involved, as we all join with them to bring a speedy end to that situation there.

The top of the South—Nelson-Tasman—as legend has it, it’s called Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka. It’s the prow of the canoe, the great waka—Māui’s waka. I was privileged. Just two days before the actual fire broke out, I was at the unveiling of a magnificent taurapa, the stern of the canoe, to symbolise not only the iwi but the whole community of the Nelson-Whakatū area, including the Tasman. I believe the coming together of the community is symbolic of that magnificent taurapa, and once all of the issues have passed, I encourage people to reflect on and to visit this taurapa, which is six metres in height and a magnificent symbol of the unity and of purpose and of travel that the great people of Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka, the Nelson-Tasman, will be undertaking as they move forward from this.

To adopt that nautical analogy, I couldn’t come up with a better metaphor than our coalition Government as being a great waka hourua, a great double-hulled canoe, with us and our coalition and confidence and supply partners—a magnificent waka hourua of epic Hekenukumai Busby proportions—because that is what our Government is doing. We are governing with a sense of purpose, unlike the other side, which had nine years of just governing for the sake of managing shop. We have a destination in mind. Our destination is the well-being of all of Aotearoa, and we are making magnificent strides in our glorious waka in achieving that goal. I’m very proud—very proud—to be supporting our Prime Minister and our Government Ministers in the work that is ahead.

There is so much I could talk about, but I just want to focus on Māori, because I represent the Māori of Te Tai Tonga. Māori are doing really well under this Government, and I cannot stress that enough. Māori unemployment is down at its lowest point in over 10 years. More Māori are in work—thanks to the good work of my ministerial colleague there, Willie Jackson, more Māori are in work. Less Māori are in prison, thanks to the good work of the Hon Kelvin Davis—and we all know that over 50 percent of that population are young, brown, Māori men.

So those are fantastic achievements that we are doing, but we’ve got so much that we’re doing in so many areas. We are a Government that is leading the way. We are leading the way in our waka hourua, because we know there are going to be choppy waters. We know there are headwinds. Goodness, Mr Bennett’s speech before—it was such doom and gloom. I really felt traumatised by him talking down everything as if everything was going to flip over. But they’re the only ones flipping over—they’re the only ones flipping over. We have our waka hourua steady as she goes—steady and straight is our travel, and that’s what we’re doing with our Ministers and in the work that we’re doing, not only in the economy but also right across building the social well-being of our whānau right across the motu.

So it’s a very, very exciting time. It’s an exciting time to be in this Government, to be under the leadership of our kaihautū, who is Jacinda Ardern, and all of those who are involved, and we’re just looking forward to the year ahead. We have a lot of mahi to do, but we know what that destination is. As I’ve said, it’s about well-being. It’s about well-being—well-being for all of Aotearoa. Kia ora tātou.

Louisa Wall—five minutes.

Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te Whare. Ngā mihi o Te Tau Hou, ngā whānau o Te Whare Pāremata. I hope everybody’s had a wonderful break and enjoyed the time with whānau and friends and are ready for this new year in this place that we spend as servants of the people.

I really want to emphasise and focus on leadership, and the leadership displayed by our leader and our Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, a leader who absolutely cares and a leader who is kind and compassionate. And when was the last time I saw this kindness and compassionate side of her? Actually, it was at the Big Gay Out on Sunday in Tāmaki-makau-rau. How she shows and displays that kindness and compassion actually isn’t just about the hordes of people who want to have selfies with her—and, can I say, she made time for every single person who wanted to have a selfie with her—but, actually, it’s been demonstrated through her actions in this Whare Pāremata, in this House of Parliament, through being a champion for same-sex adoption and, actually, through being a champion in voting for marriage equality. I know other leaders have got issues about whether or not they support the LGBTI community. Well, can I say the Prime Minister is not one of them.

We also know that she’s a champion of young people, and through the work that she’s done through her colleagues—and I do want to acknowledge the Hon Willie Jackson, who’s here today, and also my colleague the Hon Carmel Sepuloni, because for us, employment is incredibly important. Making sure that our young people have opportunities is incredibly important, and, again, through her actions, what has been her priority as the leader of this Government? The Child Poverty Reduction Act, which will actually hold us accountable for the policies that we are instituting with the specific outcome of reducing poverty.

So I want to say that we will set targets and we will be transparent, and that takes leadership, and the leadership, I want to acknowledge, also of our community partners. Today, the Salvation Army released a report, and we have had commentary on that report from organisations like the Child Poverty Action Group. What have they said? They have said that there has been some reduction in income inequality, based on our policies for those on low incomes and in paid work.

How have we demonstrated that? Actually, through our commitment to lifting the minimum wage. So, on 1 April, the minimum wage will be $17.70, but through this Government, we’ve made a commitment to make that $20 by 2021. It has been through the winter energy payment and it has been through our Families Package that by 2021, 384,000 whānau are going to get an extra $75 per week. We’ve also demonstrated our commitment by instituting our Best Start, which is $60 per week for every child, which will extend to years two and three if a family are earning under $79,000.

Now, to say those are insignificant commitments from this Government actually downplays, again, the leadership that we are showing on this side of the House to address the issue of poverty and to address the issues of inequality. It’s been 12 months in the job and I think we’ve not done too badly, and we don’t mind being critiqued by the Salvation Army or by the Child Poverty Action Group, who say to us that we actually need to help our beneficiary families the most.

So what I want to finish on is an emphasis on how do we do that, and I’ve found a little bit of research from The Economist in 2013. It was an article entitled “Pennies from heaven: Cash to the poor”, and what they found was that cash transfers with no strings attached are the best way to help those people in poverty, because what do they do? They actually spend it on vaccinating their children. School attendance goes up. They have improved living conditions because people buy food to feed their families. They make sure that their homes are warm and dry. Their psychological well-being increases and, fundamentally, we actually help them to become more entrepreneurial, so they start having dreams and aspirations.

We’re on a pathway to supporting all New Zealanders, with a specific focus in the future of making sure that those who are most vulnerable and those who need the support of the Government to create a pathway for themselves and for the next generation are supported. Kia ora.

Thank you, Mr Assistant Speaker. I’m pleased to stand and speak this afternoon on the Prime Minister’s statement. I would have to say—and I don’t want to be overtly critical—that I was not inspired by the Prime Minister’s statement. In fact, there were a number of comments that I would challenge in terms of the workability and the outcome of them.

Can I just say, in regard to the comments of the previous speaker, Louisa Wall, that I think it’s well and good to give people funds without any strings attached, but in order to do that, you’ve got to have a very strong economy that can afford to do that, and I think that that is something that we need to address in this Parliament and in this country—and it is sustainability. Yes, it’s one thing to have sympathy, but we must have sustainability. We must continue to encourage self-determination and we must continue to upskill and support people to become self-reliant. Otherwise, you will not have a country that can afford to do that, and hence some of the comments that have come through on our side regarding, for example, a capital gains tax, which depletes the resource base of people to continue to build that self-determining, sustaining, self-reliant economy.

So getting those balances at the right place is very, very important. Otherwise, what will happen is that this Government will bankrupt this country, as has happened in the past, and then the country will have to revert back to some very stringent measures. We all believe that there need to be safety nets for people, of course, but we must also ensure that we have a really strong, robust economy that is growing every year to be able to afford to do that.

I want to just come to some comments that the Prime Minister made in her statement, on page 5—and, yes, it’s relevant to my electorate and to the rohe, the families, and the friends that live in North Taranaki and around the coast, where I am their MP. She said, “The fourth priority underpinning our economic theme is the transition to a clean, green, and carbon-neutral New Zealand.” Well, we understand there is bipartisan work to come to an agreed place and process on how this can happen, and my colleague Todd Muller is leading that for the National Party. Then the Prime Minister went on to say, “A key policy priority will be to support a just transition for workers in industries that need to reduce emissions. Initiatives will continue to be developed to support the creation of jobs in sectors that are carbon-free or carbon sinks, such as forestry.”

As I said last night in my speech, right now, in North Taranaki, there’s a big jack-up rig that’s been deployed. It’s at the Pohokura platform, and it’s going to be working there for three months to enable a freer and more extensive flow of natural gas. Now, while this Government is looking at transitioning away from fossil fuels, the promises or the potential that has been put before us by the Government is that we will see the potential of hydrogen replacing natural gas, particularly around the areas of heavy transport—which I do support—but also around process heat. There are some companies that use natural gas because it is intense and it’s relatively inexpensive, and companies like Fonterra do that.

So, in the last week, there have been reports that have come out because, obviously, the Government is looking at the potential and the possibility of hydrogen replacing natural gas. Concept Consulting, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, and many other organisations have collaborated to research and dig into this, and what these researchers and analysts have found is that it is highly unlikely—highly unlikely—that hydrogen can displace electricity and natural gas for process heat, especially in that high heat area of above 200 degrees or 300 degrees Celsius that’s needed.

Now, the issue about this is that those companies that rely on natural gas don’t have an alternative except to import gas, and in order to do that and to establish the infrastructure and to put all of that in play, it will take around about 10 years. It’s quite expensive and extensive, and there’s a lot of consenting and a lot of issues around all of that. But the problem is that New Zealand’s supply of gas—that supply of natural gas that we are around about 90 percent confident we can access—is available for six years, or maybe a bit less. So there is looming an energy gap that this country is going to face. So while this Government wants to be kind and they want to help people without any strings attached, they are using strings to tie up industries that will empower and enable our industrial and our agricultural sector to continue to prosper, and it doesn’t make sense.

I think the elephant in the room that the Prime Minister talked about a year ago and said was smaller this year is a lack of connectivity between the production of energy and the consumption of it. If you went to liberal urbanites and asked them where natural gas comes from, they’d point to a blimmin pipe in the wall. They might forget that it actually comes from 3,000 metres down, it’s piped to them on the Māui or the Vector pipeline from Taranaki, and it gets up there into Auckland.

Without that gas flowing, New Zealand is incredibly vulnerable. Back in 2011, when the Māui pipeline had a leak in it and it took 138 hours to repair that, the New Zealand economy lost $200 million, principally from the agricultural sector. So what the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) did was they were highly concerned about that and they asked WorleyParsons to go and do a study to find what would happen if there were gas disruption in New Zealand. So they, alongside of information from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, produced a report that was delivered to MBIE in about 2013, and they calculated that without a supply of gas to the northern part of the North Island only, the loss—the economic cost—would be in the vicinity of over $650 million per month.

Now, some people would say, “Well, we should not be reliant on gas. That proves that we are too dependent on a resource.” But what I would say is that if you look at the cost of gas to industry, whether that’s Fonterra, New Zealand Steel, New Zealand Refining, or Methanex, which produces low-emission methanol that’s going to be used more and more in ship transportation as a fuel—if you look at that and then you say “Well, move away from gas to electricity.”, then just that shift is three times the cost. Fonterra said they can’t afford that. If you were to shift from natural gas to hydrogen, it’s 10 times the cost.

So if you tell industries that their energy cost is going to increase 10 times, what they will say is “We can’t do business in New Zealand, so we will import our steel from Indonesia. It’s about four to five times the emission load than what New Zealand steel costs us in terms of greenhouse gases.” The fact is that over November and December, there were shortages of gas because of infrastructure challenges. What happened is that we had to depend on imported coal. In the quarter ending 30 September, New Zealand used 57,000 tonnes of coal for electricity generation, but in the quarter ending 31 December, that had gone to around about 260,000 tonnes. Because there was a lack of gas in New Zealand, our emissions exploded, and our costs of electricity tripled, and what we’re seeing is that there is no real opportunity to use hydrogen without seeing substantial increases in the costs of doing business in this country. This is why there is an elephant in the room.

I understand this is a split call—five minutes.

Mr Assistant Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to speak for the first time in this House in 2019 in the debate on the Prime Minister’s statement. I’d also like to acknowledge some of the challenges that are happening in the Nelson-Tasman area. I’ve got a lot of family members in that area. They’re certainly suffering, and I’d like to say big thankyou to all the volunteers, who are doing an excellent job down there around bringing those fires under control.

If you listen to the other side of the House, everything sounds like doom and gloom. I know there’s a game of cricket on the other channel, and people at home are probably tempted to change over to that channel. Well, don’t change the channel—don’t change the channel. I can tell you the score: 229 for 9. So don’t change your channel, because I’m going to talk in a positive manner about the exciting things that we’ve got in store for this year.

There’s an analogy that I think of, and it’s the analogy of an alarm clock. So, from time to time, we all need to get up early. We set the alarm clock and the alarm goes off. Under the previous Government, the alarm clock went off, they pressed the snooze button, and they went back to sleep. They woke up again, they pressed the snooze button, and they went back to sleep, and, after a while, the previous Government stopped even pressing that snooze button. They put their heads under the pillow while the alarm was going. They were not listening to the alarm bells around our regions, around housing, and around mental health.

The nation voted for change, and we are giving them change. I’ll start by talking about the regions. We have had years of underinvestment in our regions. In 2014, I stood in the Taupō electorate, in the south Waikato area, and there’s huge deprivation down there. There’s deprivation up in Northland, East Coast, and other areas of the country. I’d like to acknowledge New Zealand First for the Provincial Growth Fund and for their vision around the regions. It’s a game-changer. It’s a game-changer for the regions. For the first time in many years, people in the regions are lifting their heads up. They have hope. They’re lifting their eyes.

The Provincial Growth Fund has invested in 136 projects, which are estimated to create 1,200 jobs. The key thing though that the Provincial Growth Fund is doing—all that aside—is that it’s stimulating discussions in the regions. Business cases, collaboration, economic activity—people are once again dreaming of what could happen in their regions. They’re lifting the heads. Economic activity is beginning to start in our regions, and it’s only going to increase.

I’d like to acknowledge the honourable Minister Willie Jackson for the work he’s been doing around the NEETs—people not in employment, education, or training. Under this Minister, the number of our NEETs has dropped, from 80,000 to 70,000. That’s 10,000 people now in education, employment, or training—people who weren’t previously.

Just a final point on the regions there: I’d like to touch on the passenger rail between Hamilton and Auckland. So the New Zealand Transport Association have approved a business case, and, as a local member of Parliament, I’m certainly watching with interest as they engage with the local councils, because having diversity within our transport system is absolutely vital, and this will improve productivity. People who are travelling between Hamilton and Auckland, particularly for business, will be able to hop on the train and open their laptops, and they’ll be able to start working. A lot of productivity is lost by having people sitting in cars on clogged motorways.

In the last one minute, I’ll touch on housing and mental health. This Government inherited a crisis in housing. I know that the Opposition are giving us a hard time, but we are taking action. We are taking action. The previous Government had their heads under the pillow while the alarm clock went off around housing. People couldn’t get into their first homes. There wasn’t the safety net of social housing for them, but we are taking action.

The final point is mental health. I am delighted and I’m excited that mental health will be a key priority in the May Budget—finally, a Government that will take action on mental health. Thank you.

Tēnā koe. Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o te Whare, otirā ki a koutou katoa ngā mema o te Whare Pāremata, koutou ngā kaimahi o te Whare Pāremata, ngā mihi o te tau hou tōrangapū me kī ki a tātou katoa.

He pai te hoki mai ki roto i te Whare Pāremata ā muri mai i te tau hou Pākehā, ahakoa kua tīmata ngā mahi i Rātana, ā, tēnā koe, i roto i Waitangi anō hoki. Engari, ko tēnei te wiki tuatahi i roto i te Whare Pāremata.

I tīmata ngā mahi i te kōrero a te Pirimia a Jacinda Ardern. E tautoko ana ahau, pau te kaha wāna kōrero inanahirā, ā, inanahi. Poho kererū ia i ngā mahi kua tutuki i tēnei kāwanatanga i roto i te wā poto, i roto i te 15 marama noa iho. Poho kererū anō hoki ahau.

Kua kite ahau i ngā painga kua whiwhi i te takiwā o Te Tai Tokerau. I rongo koutou i ōna kōrero e pā ana ki te tohatoha i ngā moni ki ngā rohe, puta noa i Aotearoa, ki te tuawhenua. Ko Te Tai Tokerau tētahi o wēnā rohe. Kua kite ahau i ngā hua o tērā tautoko o te kāwanatanga. I tērā wiki i reira ngā Minita o tēnei kāwanatanga ki te whakarewa ake i ētahi atu kaupapa, ki te tohatoha atu i ētahi atu moni, ā, ki ngā takiwā o Te Kaipara, o Kaikohe, o Te Kerikeri anō hoki.

I tūtaki ahau i tētahi kotiro, he wahine ināianei, ko Whina Woods tōna ingoa. Ko ia tētahi o ngā taitamawahine, i mahi i te kaupapa o te Poutama Rangatahi, nā Willie, ā, ko Willie Jackson te Minita o tērā kaupapa. Kātahi anō ia ka whiwhi i tana raihana motokā. I tēnei wiki i tīmata ia i tana ako ki te whakaako i ngā tamariki. Koinā te pai, koinā te hua o te mahi o tēnei kāwanatanga.

I rongo anō hoki ahau i te kōrero o te tama, i mea atu ki te Pirimia, “Ko koe te take e haere ana ahau ki te whare wānanga i tēnei tau. Ko au te tama o tētahi matua whiwhi penihana. And, e kore rawa ahau e whakaaro ka haere ahau ki te whare wānanga. Engari nā te kore utu ki te haere ki te whare wānanga ka haere ahau i tēnei tau.” Nō reira e tino tautoko ana ahau te mahi hei tautoko i ngā taitamariki o Te Tai Tokerau.

Ka huri ahau ki te hanga whare. Kātahi anō ka puare i ngā whare i Whangārei. Ko te Minita ko Phil Twyford tēnā e whakapuare ana i wērā o ngā whare. E tautoko ana te hanga whare i Ōtangarei, Kaitāia, Whangārei, Kākau anō hoki, e mahi tahi ana me Te Rūnanga o Whāingaroa. E mihi ana, e mihi ana, e mihi ana ki a Nanaia Mahuta, te Minita mō te Māori e tautoko ana i tērā kaupapa. Me te papakāinga anō hoki.

Ko te tohatoha i ngā moni hei tautoko i ngā rohe, ā, ko Matua Shane Jones tērā. Te tau, ā, te kaupapa mō te ngahere, te whakatō i ngā rākau, ngā paina, ngā rākau māori anō hoki i roto i te takiwā o Ngāti Hine, i roto i te takiwā o Ngāti Rēhia, arā ko ngā kauri.

I whakatakoto te kōhatu mauri mō tētahi kaupapa, tētahi whare hou ki roto o Te Kawakawa i te Paraire i ngā wiki kua pahure ake nei. He kaupapa tēnā ko te hononga. Ā, atu i tērā ko te mahi i te papa waka rererangi ki Kerikeri, ā, ko ngā tauranga waka i Te Pēwhairangi, a Vinta Vasa i Whangārei, arā noa ngā kaupapa kua tutuki i a mātou i te 15 marama noa iho.

Ngā rori, ngā rori ruturutu o Te Tai Tokerau. I rongo koutou e hoatu pūtea ana ki Te Kaipara kia whakatikatika i te rori ki te, ki Poutū. Ki ngā rori matua anō hoki te nuinga o ngā aituā i runga i wērā o ngā rori. Nō reira e mihi ana ki tērā pūtea.

Engari i rongo i te kōrero o te Pirimia i Waitangi. He nui tonu ngā mahi kei mua i te aroaro. Ahakoa kua tutuki wērā me te nuinga o aha atu o ngā kaupapa i te wā poto, he nui tonu ngā mahi kei mua i te aroaro. Ko tāna, kāhore te whakahaere noa, he ārahi kē, nō reira e te Pirimia, kia kaha, kia māia, kia manawaroa. Tēnā koe.

[Thank you. Greetings, Mr Assistant Speaker, and indeed to all the members of Parliament, and to all of the staff of Parliament House. Greetings for the political new year, so to speak, to all of us.

It is good to return to Parliament House after the Pākehā new year, despite the work having begun at Rātana, thank you, and also at Waitangi. However, this is the first week in Parliament House.

The work began with the speech of the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. I support her; such strength in her speech the day before yesterday—ah, yesterday. She is proud of the work which has been achieved by this Government within a short time, in only 15 months. I am also proud.

I have seen the benefits which have been received by the region of Te Tai Tokerau. You heard what she said about the distribution of money to the regions, throughout New Zealand, to the rural areas. Te Tai Tokerau is one of those areas. I have seen the fruits of that support of the Government. Last week, the Ministers of this Government were there to launch some other initiatives, to distribute other money to the regions of Te Kaipara, Kaikohe, and Te Kerikeri.

I met a girl, she’s a woman now; her name is Whina Woods. She is one of the young girls who did the initiative of Poutama Rangatahi. Willie Jackson is the Minister of that initiative. She has just received her car licence. This week she began to teach children. That is the benefit, that is the result of this Government’s work.

I also heard the story of the boy who said to the Prime Minister, “You are the reason I am going to university this year. I am the son of a parent who received the benefit. And I would never have thought that I would go to university. However, because of there being no fees to go to university, I am going this year.” Therefore, I strongly support the work to support the youth of Te Tai Tokerau.

I will turn to the building of houses. The houses of Whangārei have just been opened. It was the Minister Phil Twyford who opened those houses, supporting the building of houses in Ōtangarei, Kaitāia, Whangārei and also Kākau, working together with Te Rūnanga o Whāingaroa. I strongly acknowledge Nanaia Mahuta, the Minister for Māori Development, who is supporting that initiative, as well as communal Māori housing.

I acknowledge the distribution of money to support the regions—that is, Mr Shane Jones—and the year of the initiative for the forests, the planting of trees, pines, and also native trees in the regions of Ngāti Hine and Ngāti Rēhia, namely kauri.

The mauri stone for an initiative was laid down, a new building in Te Kawakawa on the Friday of the weeks recently gone. That initiative is about connection. And, beyond that, the work at the airport land in Kerikeri and the airports at Te Pēwhairangi, Vinta Vasa in Whangārei; there are many more initiatives that we have achieved in just 15 months.

The roads, the bumpy roads of Te Tai Tokerau. You heard that money is being given to Te Kaipara to repair the road to Poutū; to the main roads also because there are so many accidents on those roads. So I acknowledge that funding.

However, I heard the Prime Minister’s speech at Waitangi. There is still much work before us. However, those have been achieved and many other initiatives in a short time, but there is still much work in front of us. As she said, it is not just management, but leadership, and therefore to the Prime Minister: be strong, be brave, be resilient. Thank you.]

Thank you, Mr Assistant Speaker. It’s a pleasure to speak to the Prime Minister’s statement. I’d like to speak to several parts of her statement, starting with the reflection on vocational training and the tumultuous reforms that have been announced today. Now, I want to put on record that we were really hoping that we could scrutinise and support some of these reforms. We understand that there are challenges across the sector and, as the education cohort, if you like, we thought there actually could be some changes that we could get along with. Unfortunately, with six weeks’ notice, that’s a hugely short consultation period for a tumultuous and drastic reformation process like this, and that’s going to make that very unlikely, but we did come to the table willing to look and understand that some changes were necessary.

The theme through today’s vocational and education reforms, and vocational and training reforms, is the Government knows best—the Government knows better than industry what is best for industry, and the Government knows better than the regions what is best for the regions.

💬 Barbara Kuriger: Just like oil and gas.

It is like oil and gas. What’s happened today is the industry training organisations (ITOs) have been disestablished and their parts dispersed to the winds, and I’ll talk to that further.

But, just so that we understand, the industry training organisations are those organisations mandated by industry and confirmed in the 1992 legislation to do several things. First of all, they’re there to set standards; secondly, they’re there to provide apprenticeships and to organise apprenticeships; and, thirdly, they have a quality function.

Let’s be clear on those organisations that are being cast aside today: Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation—the building people—Careerforce, Competenz, Connexis, the Hairdressing Industry Training Organisation, MITO, the New Zealand Marine and Composites Industry Training Organisation, the Primary Industry Training Organisation, ServiceIQ, Skills Active Aotearoa, and the Skills Organisation. They have been cast aside today, and I’ll come to the alternative that they’ve been cast to.

It’s also understood that ITOs actually manage more trainees and have more people than all the collective polytechnics together and more than domestic university students—around about 150,000. They are substantive. They were formed by industry for industry, and they’ve been cast aside. Cast aside for what? They’ve been cast aside for this amorphous New Zealand polytech, the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology, of which we know very little detail.

Let’s actually look at some of the parts of the ITOs and where they’ve gone. So the standard-setting function of ITOs is, purportedly, going to go to the industry skills bodies (ISBs). We don’t know if they’re going to go across services. We don’t quite know more about some of their components. We know that the ISBs, as they’re called, will be responsible for leadership, for standards, and for capstone and curriculum—a lot of what the ITOs were doing.

What we do know is that the part that the ITOs were doing will not completely move across. The bigger part of what ITOs were doing was going out to industries and saying, “Would you like an apprentice? Can you take on an apprentice?” They were organising apprenticeships, and that has moved completely to central functioning from Wellington—to the governance arm of the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology. A central bureaucracy in Wellington will tell industry what they need. Instead of industry telling industry, that has all moved to this national polytechnic, we can call it.

Now, let’s look back at that. So we’ve done this before: in 1992, trade training was done—in fact, in the 1970s and 1980s—through the polytechnics, and we moved away from that in the early 1990s, for a couple of reasons. One of them was that the polytechnics taught what they wanted, not what industry needed. The other reason we were actually looking to move from service-based training—it used to be that if you did just four years, you qualified as a trade certificate or advanced training—was that we actually wanted to move to competency-based training. So Lockwood Smith, through the early 1990s, led the reforms that put industry back in charge of industry, and the industry training Act of 1992 empowered ITOs to do what they’ve done over the last 27 years.

So the main functions of the industry training organisations are going to move to the national polytech. Polytechs will deliver trade training. Industry has not been interacting with polytechs. They’ve been interacting with industry training organisations, for a very simple reason: they best understand their industry.

Furthermore, there’s an obvious conflict of interest here. So if polytechs are going to do trade training—if they’re going to do the same role as the ITOs—they would then farm out some of that training to the specialists. But polytechs themselves actually train—they do a lot of the trade training. So they’re going to have two choices: they can look internally to fund their own courses in trade training, or they can look externally to the industrial sector for that training. Where do you think they’re going to look? They’re going to look inside the tent, to themselves. This is what we saw in the 1990s. This is what they’ll do here. This is a clear conflict of interest that the Minister is going to need to manage.

There are other interesting quirks in this proposal of having a national polytech that need a lot more scrutiny, particularly around the funding. So this national polytech will offer foundation learning, levels 1 and 2 sub-degree category training. Generally, those are diplomas and other sorts of business degrees—well, not degrees, but non-degrees, because then you move to the degree level. So that’s what the national polytechs are going to do.

Now, interestingly, the sub-degree level—the diplomas and certificates—are normally funded by what’s called student achievement component (SAC) funding, and SAC funding is consistent across the whole sector.

Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Good evening, members. The House has resumed. Before the dinner break, we were debating the Prime Minister’s statement, and Dr Shane Reti has four minutes and seven seconds remaining to speak, should he so wish to take it.

Thank you, Madam Assistant Speaker. It’s a pleasure to continue. Just to briefly summarise where we were, I was prosecuting the case that the disestablishment of the industry training organisations—fundamentally, this Government is saying that Government knows best. They know best what industry needs, rather than industry knowing what industry needs. If we look at the separation of the functions of the independent training organisations and how some of them will, wishfully, end up in the industry skills bodies, we don’t know how many of their main provider functions will end up with this national polytechnic—whatever that means. Fundamentally, all of trade training will go to this national polytechnic, which is the position we were in in the early 1990s, when all trade training came from polytechnics. The failure that that was—we have looked back and not looked forward.

So the ITOs are, clearly, hurting. They are finished under these reforms.

I wanted to talk, then, to job losses. Last week, I put out the statement—which I’ll stand by—that there are a thousand job losses in these reforms. Earlier today—just before the dinner hour, actually—we were meeting with some of the affected stakeholders, and just one small segment of this reform is accounting for 500 job losses. But then we heard the Minister. When we raised the question, the Minister said, “Well, look, we haven’t actually modelled that, so we can’t give you a number.” Now, there’s two points to that. If it wasn’t modelled, then it’s just, frankly, reckless and irresponsible to come to the House with major reforms—and they are tumultuous reforms—not having done the work. If you have got a number and are too scared, just bite the bullet here, now, and put it out, and we can see what it is. So job losses are a huge concern for the sector.

The tumultuous vocational education training reforms that were mentioned here today were also alluded to in the Prime Minister’s statement, and it’s a really important piece of work that we need to look at, although a full six weeks to do it—really? Tomorrow’s Schools are, roughly, three times that, and for something as big as this, we’re getting a third of the time—six weeks. That also speaks, as I said initially, to why it’s going to be a challenge for us to collaborate on some parts of this that we really did want to work together on.

The second area I wanted to focus on is the Prime Minister’s statement, at page 5, where she talks about “The second area of focus, of course, is in health.” She also gives a story a little bit earlier about the child of a beneficiary in Kaikohe, so let’s join those dots together. Let’s talk about children in Kaikohe and health. Let’s talk about whether that child is vaccinated for meningitis, or not. Are you one of the five- to 12-year-olds who—sorry—this Government does not choose to be safe? Are you part of that group who cannot guarantee that you’ll be safe this coming winter, or that you will have developed immunity this coming winter to meningitis?

If we look at that, let’s look at the reasoning the Government’s put forward as to why they will not vaccinate the 20,302 five- to 12-year-olds in Northland who are ineligible for the meningitis Menactra vaccine. Two arguments are put forward: first of all, that the technical advisory group on 8 November recommended to do only the two targeted groups that are currently receiving vaccine—wrong. Option three also said you could vaccinate everyone under 20. The second argument being made is that there are not enough vaccines—wrong again. Shall we dial up right now on my iPhone and I’ll order dozens of them, right here from the House? There are plenty of them.

The cost of this is $700,000. We can’t find $700,000 to vaccinate Northland children against meningitis—really? We’ve heard of the expense of the reforms here today and all the other options we have in front of us, and the Prime Minister has the audacity to say “The second area of focus, of course, is in health.” and to talk about Kaikohe children in her prime ministerial statement. But she will not, because the open letter we placed before her before Waitangi Day said, “Prime Minister, please will you consider vaccinating 5-12 year-olds in Northland for meningitis?”, and she said no.

So you saw the petition at the start of the House today, and we will lobby this through the select committee. Vaccinate Northland children.

I move, That this debate be now adjourned.