General Debate

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

Well, our Prime Minister, that woke progressive hero of the left internationally, has been to the United Nations and she’s met with the leader of the free world—no, not Winston Peters—President Trump. Did she, when she met with him, raise our “nuclear-free issue of our times”, climate change? No. No, she didn’t. I can understand why you’d say, just as Bryce Edwards did, that she’d speak truth to power. She didn’t raise it. What she did do was speak a lot, Winston Peters, at the United Nations about climate change, and she raised—

💬 Rt Hon Winston Peters: Did you raise it in China? No.

—many, many, many issues. Yes, I did. Many, many issues are there, but here’s the problem: they’re not doing any of them in New Zealand. The Government can’t agree on putting agriculture into the emissions trading scheme, Mr Peters, and I wonder why that is. So the person who could make the most difference on climate change in the world, and Jacinda Ardern didn’t raise it with that person.

Then, the Christchurch Call—the Christchurch Call. She set up a committee. That’s what she’s done. She has set up a committee, and they are good at that—280-odd committees. Some of them are odd. That’s what they’ve done. They didn’t raise that with President Trump either.

But what really matters—what really matters—is delivering at home, and this Government isn’t. It’s a mess. The Prime Minister over there had “mega Monday”. Well, back here she’s got mega mess. That’s what she’s got. Nothing’s going right for this Government.

We can go through them. We’ve got Winston Peters over here. Well, he said earlier this week that he was going to deal with Spark. Well, I stood up in this House and I sought leave to put forward a bill that would do just that, and his Government objected. He didn’t do a single thing. We’re waiting for the answer, Mr Peters. We haven’t heard a single thing.

Then, farmers. On the radio last week, on The Farming Show, he said, “Help is on its way, my friends. Don’t you worry; help is on the way.” Well, I’ve got this question for Mr Peters: who is more important, him or David Parker? I reckon it’s David Parker. I reckon he’ll win on that one.

And another one: last week, SuperGold card—his blessed SuperGold card announcement coming this week. Where is it, Mr Peters? They asked him about that this week and he said, “What are you talking about? I never said that.” That’s what he said.

In health, actually, a serious one, where there is a Third World measles epidemic. You say, “Third World? How can you say that?” Well actually, because, in Latin America, in North America, countries with exponentially bigger populations, they have comparably, actually, fewer measles cases than us in this country, and part of the reason’s because the Minister of Health got rid of the targets. He doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t show any leadership on this. The only time he talks about it is when Shane Reti asks him questions. That’s the only time we get him on that.

In education, strikes and uncertainty. In infrastructure; let’s go through that. In housing, Jacinda Ardern has cancelled more houses at Ihumātao than she’s built through KiwiBuild—480 cancelled, 250 built. That’s a hundred and, what is it, twenty-something that she is down on—a deficit in housing, under Jacinda Ardern and Winston Peters in New Zealand today. In transport, well—Grant Robertson, last week I got up, I asked him, “Name a genuinely new transport project you started.” He looked around, he looked at Phil Twyford. You would’ve thought the Minister of Transport had one for him. He had nothing. So I came to the House the next day, and I asked him the same question. He was ready for it. He listed off a long list. There’s a small, technical problem though; they were all started by yours truly, other than a seawall, and a roundabout at Shane Jones’ house, Mr Peters. That is literally all that’s happened. The transport sector knows that construction cliff is coming, because that Government stopped everything, and they haven’t started a single thing, and the economy is weakening, and this is all because what really matters is delivering it home, and this Government isn’t doing any of it.

Future generations are relying on us—

💬 Dan Bidois: Oh no.

It’s true; I know you’re saying, “No”, but it’s time to hear this truth. Even though some of our Opposition don’t want to hear this truth, the fact is, future generations are relying on us to take strong action on climate change, and here, in Aotearoa, like around the world, communities are working together as champions of our neighbourhoods, to call for a carbon zero future that protects our world, and our people. They’re asking for system change to address climate change. They’re asking for an economy that is 100 percent renewable, jobs in clean energy, a future that protects our environment, and our community.

What has happened is our dependence on a fossil fuel economy threatens that vision that people are dreaming of, that future that people are asking for. What has happened is industries want us to stay dependent on dirty energy, and States have chosen to allow for that dependency to continue. What that has meant is, around the world, more extreme weather changes that impact on our homes, our buildings, our roads, our people, and communities. More extreme and ongoing weather patterns that absolutely disrupt our way of life, and our environment. Here in New Zealand, our kūkupa, as we know them in the North, or our kererū, our wood pigeons, have been starving because the taraire tree is too late to flower. It should’ve flowered by now, but our climate changes are disrupting the ordinary ecosystem cycles. So we have got this impact happening right here in Aotearoa.

The Greens know that our children’s future needs protection. We have a duty to do right by them. We also know that indigenous peoples are at the forefront of pushing for this change, alongside the young people around the world, and, right now, in the UN, including 16 young people—children, in fact—who are taking the world to task, and demanding that world leaders step up, and take this responsibility. This Friday, I hope to see our members supporting young people around this country, Aotearoa, who will be striking to add their voice, calling for this change. The Greens support these young people. The Greens support the indigenous leadership. The Greens support the environmental groups, the people around the world, who are saying they’ve had enough, and it’s time for us to step up.

We absolutely are proud to see the movement of millions that is happening right now, despite some of those who are still stuck, the ones who are shouting at me right now, as I’m amplifying the voices of the future, who know what needs to be done. So we will continue to put in place a plan. The Greens will continue to work hard for the most progressive, enduring plan that we possibly can have for our country, because we know that when we work together, with our communities, with our people, we can make these changes that we have to make. We can design, and create a 100 percent renewable economy that our people and our planet need. We have to phase out the dirty energies that our schools and hospitals and businesses use and replace them with the innovations and the jobs in clean energies—

💬 Simeon Brown: Stay at home. Go on strike, permanently.

💬 SPEAKER: Order! Order! That is an outrageous interjection, and the member will stop it right now. That sort of suggestion, to a member of Parliament, who is speaking in the House, is just not permitted, and if he doesn’t realise how bad it is, he should listen to himself in the tape, and work it out. Marama Davidson.

Mr Speaker, the voices of opposition are nothing compared to what threatens the existence of the future of the millions around the world who get this truth. I’m not fazed by those voices. I’m inspired by the motivation, and the inspiration that is coming from the people, because they know we have to change, they know we can change. They are asking us to work together, and I know that we are going to see this happening, no matter who is shouting from the fossil corner.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Well, look, I’m just waiting to hear all that shouting that we’ve just been accused of doing. Apparently, there was no shouting. Look, I just think it’s—

💬 SPEAKER: Order! Order! I’ve just recently sent two members from the House for reflecting on my ruling. Does the member want to continue her speech? If she does, she will withdraw and apologise and stop it right now.

Right, I withdraw and apologise.

I just think it’s really interesting that this is, apparently, the year of delivery. Well, I’m blown if I know what’s going to be delivered, other than an enormous amount of carbon emissions from all the trips taken overseas to skite about and tell everybody else what we’re doing in New Zealand and what everyone else should be doing.

I am just extraordinarily surprised that we now have a situation in New Zealand where the State house waiting list—people who need a State house—has actually now doubled under two years of a Labour, Greens, New Zealand First Government—doubled. In that time, we now have this new thing called, “mobile homes”. We didn’t use to have them. We used to call them “cars”.

💬 Hon Tim Macindoe: Ha, ha!

That is actually quite a sad reflection—and I kid you not, actually, Mr Macindoe. It’s a very sad reflection on the fact that people are now having to live in cars so much that they’re now being considered as mobile homes for benefit purposes. That is an extraordinary state of affairs from a Government that came into office promising that they were going to fix what they referred to as the “housing crisis”. Well, for those who weren’t sure if there was a housing crisis before this Government, they can certainly be assured there is one now. It is one where they have promised so much and delivered less than nothing.

We’ve just heard before about the number of KiwiBuild houses—hardly any. By the way, 200-and-something built—bought I should say—and about 160 of them occupied. Why? It is because a whole chunk of them have been built in places in New Zealand where there is zero demand for those houses. This is a shocking waste. That is why the Auditor-General’s office was asked by me to look into this and investigate it. It is being investigated. It is something we’re going to hear a lot more about.

We’ve heard today about the procurement practices being rated as a high-risk area by the KiwiBuild people themselves—high risk of judicial review. When I’ve asked the Minister today, “Why is it high-rated?”, we got a story about how it was high-rated. Well, why not medium-rated? The answer is this Government has changed nothing on housing, except to make it harder to get any housing built. And the changes that David Parker is proposing around Resource Management Act rules coming in and being introduced to Parliament and debated, apparently, tomorrow, those will only make it harder to get houses built. Everything this Government has said that they were going to do in housing—don’t just halve it, don’t just take it down to zero, take some of it away from that as well. Almost nothing has happened except a hell of a lot of taxpayer money wasted on propping up developments for developers in places where people don’t want to live. That’s what the year of delivery is for the Jacinda Ardern Government.

We’ve heard today about how she’s had the most extraordinary meetings with, the apparently wonderful now, President Trump; a man who she protested against when she was a senior Opposition MP—protested against with her little pussy hat on. That’s the sort of response that happens to somebody when they get a 20-minute pull-aside and El Salvador gets a meeting with President Trump. It just goes to show what’s happening when you’re acting like a kid in the big world of international politics. It’s too important to New Zealand to have a Government that can’t deliver on a house, let alone deliver to this country—and to hear the shouting from the other side says I am right on the button.

The recent Mood of the Boardroom report got one thing seriously right: the Leader of the Opposition ain’t up to the job. As his caucus crumbles around him, it’s clear he just doesn’t know what is necessary to do to keep his job. We all know that when you look at leadership, you look for strength, courage, resolve, an ability to persevere with the force of one’s own arguments, and, above all, loyalty—oh yes, and the X factor as well.

Mr Bridges is characterless and he’s a pushover who can’t stand up to his own colleagues—the recent one being the one that just spoke then. The biggest liability he’s got, as well as his biggest threat, is the person that just spoke, the MP for Papakura. See, while he’s been banging on about his leadership, a report came out last week which illustrated just how much of a liability the MP for Papakura is to the National Party. That report was called the Government Inquiry into The Auckland Fuel Supply Disruption about September 2017. I’m asking every journalist that’s halfway serious about their job to go and read that report, because it’s about a cover-up of epic proportions.

The cover-up was carried out by a former Minister of energy who had close links to the company which was responsible for the fuel supply disruption in the first place. This is breathtakingly arrogant. Remember, a quick reminder; it’s 2014, Ms Collins sponsored a deal in China at the behest of her husband’s company Oravida. The rest, we know, is history: she lost her job. That same year a digger registered to Oravida Kauri Ltd—get the name now? Oravida Kauri Ltd—inflicted serious damage on an oil pipeline on a lifestyle block on the outskirts of Ruakākā. That’s 2014. That pipeline serves the window to New Zealand—the gateway to New Zealand—the Auckland Airport. What did the driver of that digger do—an employee of Judith Collins’ husband’s company?

💬 SPEAKER: Order! An employee of the company.

All right, OK, an employee of the company. What did he do? Well, he covered it up with dirt, literally, and that survived for three years. Then, all of sudden, on 14 September 2017, the break became known.

Let me just give you an example of how he covered it up. [Holds up photo] That’s the soil over the property, over the pipeline that we’re concerned about. And when it did breach and start to spill all over the place? [Holds up photo] That was the damage that was done back in 2014.

Now, what we’ve got here is a report coming out last week, and no repercussions whatsoever. Can I ask this question: Why wasn’t that photograph put in front of the National Party caucus last week?

💬 Hon David Bennett: Ha, ha!

Oh, well, there you go. Talk about the arrogance. The idea that no matter what happens, he’s always right. Good Lord! How did he get a job, in a raffle? Can I just say it was a calamity, but over three years, the hole he created in that digger broke open, and the rest is history. Now, just the year after the damage first happened, Oravida Kauri Ltd changed its name to Kauri Ruakaka Ltd. I wonder why!

Then, on Thursday, as I said, 14 September, a breach of the pipeline, jet fuel spewing out all over the property, residents in the area being evacuated, and fuel transmission to Auckland stopped for 10 long days. It cost $14 million alone to fix things up, let alone all the loss of profits because the airlines couldn’t fly. All this is thanks to a company named Oravida Kauri Ltd.

And guess who led the response effort in the dying days of the last Government? Energy Minister Judith Collins. Don’t you remember? Here, she’s being asked on 22 September: “Any further update on how this was punctured in the first place?” Here comes the answer: “The last time there was any swamp kauri digging on that particular farm was in 2011.” This person talking on RNZ knows that’s not true, because she has peculiar and particular and special knowledge. She went on to say, “And even then, it was a long way from where the pipeline was located.” Oh, really? How would she know that? This person is now digging herself in deeper and deeper. And she goes on to say, “it’s very up in the air as to what’s happened and how it happened.” She’s asked, “Do we know who the digger was and where the damage was done?” She says, on 18 September, “I have no idea who that is.” Asked about the company, “I have no knowledge of who would be doing the digging.” She should be gone.

Order! The member’s time has expired.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Before I start on the Government’s year of delivery in health, I want to talk a little bit about the delivery of a certain trophy this week, and that is the homecoming of the Parliamentary Rugby World Cup, won by the New Zealand Parliamentary Rugby Team, of which I was a member, in a dramatic extra-time victory over Australia, who were the holders, at the Tokyo Olympic Park last Thursday. Now, that park happens to be—

💬 SPEAKER: It was never that close when I played.

Well, the Speaker could come back. There’s always room. That park was actually the place where Peter Snell won two gold medals in 1964. It was a particularly auspicious place in which to play that final. But I want to congratulate all of the members of that touring team. It came at some cost—[Removes spectacles]—as members can see, but it was certainly worth it.

But I want to talk about—

💬 Hon Tim Macindoe: You’re all shiny.

Ha, very shiny—delivery in health, because here is the biggest thing the health Minister and the Government has delivered for health: a measles epidemic—a measles epidemic the likes of which this country has not seen in generations. We were on the brink of being considered measles-free, and suddenly we are now amongst those countries for which measles is endemic. But they didn’t deliver one thing. They didn’t deliver nearly enough vaccines. My colleagues have been on the phone to the GP practices in their parts of the country, and the feedback has been almost universal: there are simply no vaccines in the practices in order to be able to immunise the people who are most at risk.

The Associate Minister of Health Julie Anne Genter said in question time that her expectations are that schools shouldn’t be standing down pupils. But we know—because we asked schools, we listen to the community—that’s exactly what they’re doing. Now, there’s a two-week school holiday coming, and that’s going to potentially give a break. But it better break the epidemic, because after the school holidays, come exams, where students will be in their hundreds in gymnasiums and halls across the country, at great risk of sharing that epidemic. A fantastic delivery, I think not, from this Government.

And, actually, it’s consistent, because they delivered us a meningitis epidemic as well, and then did not buy enough vaccines—so that 5- to 12-year-old kids at risk in Northland were not given vaccines.

💬 Hon Tim Macindoe: What did they learn from that?

They learnt absolutely nothing, Mr Macindoe.

And here is a very, very big thing that they’ve delivered: they’ve delivered more than $500 million in combined DHB deficits. They’ve overseen a terrible financial situation, and all the Minister can say is that speech he gives every time I ask him a question: “Nine years of neglect.” Well, he criticised the previous Minister of Health when those deficits went to $90 million, saying he should fix it. Well, I suggest that the Minister take his own advice—he should fix it.

The other thing we’ve had in delivery in health is the worst industrial landscape in 40 years—more industrial unrest, not only in health but right across the country, than we have seen in 40 years—compared with a benign industrial landscape where wages went up at twice the rate of inflation and there were nearly no strikes in healthcare. But they haven’t delivered for independent midwives. They haven’t delivered on their promise to reduce GP visits by $10 for absolutely every single New Zealander, which they proudly announced on the campaign trail and then promptly broke that promise. More broken promises.

They’ve been good at delivering reports, though. A huge mental health and addiction report—necessary, appropriate, and, to some degree, appropriated. And what did they do with it? They went back on the road to discuss it even more. It’s not talk that this country needs on mental health; it’s actions. We understand that. We had $100 million, 17 initiatives ready to go, and they cancelled it. The biggest report of all though—a 312-page, $9.5 million review of the health sector and guess how many recommendations it had? Zero. They delivered not one recommendation on what they’re going to do. Within the report there was a very good synopsis of what we already knew—a good system that could be much better—and not a single recommendation was delivered by a 312-page report. This Minister is asleep at the wheel. He’s delivered nothing but disease and drift and he needs to fix it.

Thank you much, Mr Speaker. First of all, I will congratulate the Parliamentary Rugby Team and I am pleased that former Minister Michael Woodhouse cleared up the rumours about his black eye, because the rumour doing the rounds is Paula Bennett gave it to him because he thought about backing Judith Collins. Well, I’m pleased that isn’t the case.

But I do think it is a bit rich for a former Minister of Health to say that they put $100 million into mental health when Dr David Clark put $1.9 billion—$1.9 billion—into mental health, because we know on this side it has been underfunded for nine years, and it’s simply not good enough when we have over 600 Kiwis committing suicide. It’s not good enough. We realised we need to do something about it and that is why Minister David Clark put $1.9 billion into mental health, because this Jacinda Ardern - Government is a Government with a vision.

And this Jacinda Ardern - Government is also a Government that is not afraid to tackle the hard issues and we’re also not afraid to come up with solutions and we are delivering. We are listening and we are delivering. We know that we cannot undo nine years of underfunding. We know we can’t undo nine years of underfunding. But we also know that the solutions that we are delivering will make a difference. It won’t happen overnight but they will make a difference to all New Zealanders, and let me talk about two examples in my portfolio where we’re really making a difference.

On Monday, led by our fantastic finance Minister, Grant Robertson, this Government released our 30-year economic plan that will build a productive, sustainable, inclusive economy to improve the wellbeing and living standards for all New Zealanders. We know in order to deliver on our plan and our vision we need to build a strong economy, an economy that encourages companies to invest, to take risks, and to grow.

On Monday, Mr Robertson and I announced that we are going to implement a feasibility expenditure regime. This will allow companies to undertake studies into new potential investments with confidence that they have our backing. We also announced a loss continuity regime. Currently, if a company carries tax losses and they sell over 51 percent of their shares in their company, they lose the ability to access these tax losses when they move into profitability. As the Minister of Revenue, when I have met with tax experts over the last two years they tell me that loss continuity and feasibility expenditure are the two tax changes they want to see. We have listened and we have delivered.

Minister Faafoi and I, yesterday, also announced that we are introducing a bill around unconscionable trade. What this will do is protect small businesses from being absolutely screwed by large companies and multinationals who run roughshod over our small businesses and contract terms and conditions. When the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment pulled on this we found about 45 businesses—small businesses—came back and said that they felt they had been done over by large corporates. So we back our small businesses because we want them to grow and we want them to succeed.

This Ardern Government knows that in order to deliver and build a productive, sustainable, and inclusive economy that improves the wellbeing and living standards for all New Zealanders, then we need to ensure that our companies can invest with confidence. We back our businesses, small and large, and we are working extremely hard to ensure that they have the very best chances to succeed. And we are listening to them. We’re listening to what they want in order to be able to grow. We’re listening to what they need in order to be able to invest with confidence.

This Ardern Government is delivering for all New Zealanders. And I’m extremely proud to be part of a Government that is tackling the hard challenges. I’m extremely proud of a Government that has a 30-year vision and not just a three-year plan. I’m extremely proud of the work that every single Cabinet Minister and every single MP is doing in terms of getting our messages out there and backing New Zealanders, backing New Zealand businesses, and going hard—

Order! The member’s time has expired.

This is a useless and incompetent Government and it would be comical if it wasn’t so depressing for the future of New Zealand, and it just beggars belief that the police Minister can stand there and say how proud he is of the Government and how the Ministers are out there every day defending the Government and putting forward their case. Ministers can’t even be bothered to turn up to the meetings and front up to farmers and explain to them why they are going to be subject to such onerous and stringent requirements when it comes to fresh water.

But I want to talk about transport, which is a train wreck under this Government. At a time when the Prime Minister’s own hand-picked business advisory council says we’re at infrastructure crisis point, at a time when the Reserve Bank Governor is begging the Government all but to get spades in the ground and get on with much-needed infrastructure projects, there is not a single major infrastructure or roading project happening around the country and nor are they likely to start. Budget 2019 cut $3 billion from infrastructure spending compared to the numbers just six months before and we have a score of “re-evaluated”, which is code for cancelled or delayed, transport projects around the country.

The reason for this is that $5.5 billion has been cut from the State highway budget. What that means is the roading projects around the country, some of them which are shovel-ready, ready to go, are simply not happening—the Melling Interchange in my electorate of Hutt South. But also there is the Tauranga Northern Link that we had a discussion about in question time this afternoon, a project that is ready to go on one of the most dangerous sections of State highway in the country, and it will help fuel the growth out to Omokoroa in Tauranga, one of the most fastest-growing regions of the country. That road is a death trap and the people there are crying out for it to be built, but this Government has an ideological obsession against roads. Phil Twyford, the transport Minister, says that the Government has over-invested in roads and motorways for decades. That’s what he says. Julie Anne Genter, the associate transport Minister—the Minister who stopped the second Mt Vic tunnel—she talks about car fascists. This Government has an ideological aversion to building new roads and unlocking the infrastructure growth that New Zealand needs.

Grant Robertson got asked in Parliament if he could name a single project. What did he say? He said the Awakino Gorge to Mount Messenger; very important project, guess when that was started? May 2017, by transport Minister Simon Bridges. What else did he say? He said there’s the Dome Valley project. When did that start? May 2017, by transport Minister Simon Bridges. What else did he say? The Kaeō Bridge and loop road project; I’ll let you in on a little secret, I think you know what’s coming—started by transport Minister Simon Bridges in May 2015. Papakura to Bombay—started by transport Minister Simon Bridges. What else did he name? The Ōpōnoni project. OK, that’s an important project? It’s $3.2 million and it’s a seawall; I’d hardly describe that as a major project. What was the other one he named? Waipapa. Well, guess what that is? It’s a roundabout; that is not a major project. So even when he’s asked, on notice—he was asked the day before. He was asked one day and he couldn’t name any. He was asked to come up the next day—actually, he had time to prepare, 24 hours, to name some major projects. Grant Robertson could not name a single major project because there aren’t any; there simply aren’t any starting.

Where’s the money going? Well, that’s a very good question. The money’s going—so $5.5 billion has been cut from State highways and the money is going into light rail.

💬 Hon Julie Anne Genter: You’re absolutely wrong.

The money’s going—well, Julie Anne Genter, the associate transport Minister, is saying that’s not true. I’ve just literally gone through the Government policy statement and the National Land Transport Programme that the Government has put out there into the public domain, and it’s very clear where the money goes. The State highway budget goes down, and as you go forward into the out-years the light rail budget goes up. But, of course, light rail’s not happening. Jacinda Ardern said we’d have it to Mount Roskill by 2021 but we’re waiting, in the early part of next year, for the business case. We’re waiting for the assessment by the Cabinet of the New Zealand Transport Agency bid and the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission bid, which is the New Zealand super fund. So the idea that we’re going to have light rail to Mount Roskill is, I’ve got to say, a total fantasy. Meanwhile, all of this money is—

💬 Hon Julie Anne Genter: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I seek leave to table graphs that show that this Government in this national land transport—

💬 SPEAKER: Order! No, the member knows she’s not allowed to break up a member’s speech like that. She is being disorderly. She will withdraw and apologise.

💬 Hon Julie Anne Genter: I withdraw and apologise.

I know that member’s very upset about the second Mt Victoria tunnel that’s been—

💬 SPEAKER: Order! Just move on.

In my last remaining remarks, before I was interrupted—I’ll just say about light rail: it’s not happening. The idea that we’re going to get light rail to Mount Roskill, which was promised by the Government, by 2021 is a fantasy. The money that is going into light rail or that’s sitting in the kitty that could be spent on light rail should be going back into those State highway projects.

Order! The member’s time has expired.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I was on a television programme recently with the Hon Paula Bennett, and, yet again, we had these trite phrases divorced from reality trotted out, and she made the assertion that we often hear from the National Party that they are the better managers of the economy.

💬 Hon Tim Macindoe: That’s right.

“That’s right.”, we hear from the Opposition, again. Sadly, the truth is otherwise. Since World War II, average growth rates under Labour administrations have been higher than under National administrations—really. Similarly, the contribution that we just heard from Chris Bishop claimed that there is a decrease in State highway funding; that’s not correct. The three-year State highway funding package has more money going to State highways, more money going to State highway maintenance, as well as more money going to public transport.

I want to refer, more particularly, to economic performance under this Government. It’s true that New Zealand has some productivity challenges. These go back many generations and, interestingly, they’re reported on by the latest IMF report, which really says that, we, in the Labour Government, are tackling the long-term challenges facing our economy in relation to those productivity issues. I quote from them—they say, “The Government’s … policy agenda [is appropriately focused] on reducing infrastructure gaps, increasing human capital, and lifting productivity, while seeking to make growth more inclusive”. In respect of the long-term productivity growth issue, they say that important steps have been taken, including “the introduction of a new R & D tax credit regime … the creation of the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission to help in closing infrastructure gaps, and the reform of the vocational education and training sector”.

They also refer, in their report, to holding up consumption and trying to get growth benefits more inclusively spread in the economy through lifting the minimum wage. They could also have listed the fact that we’ve pushed against speculative classes of investment through ring-fencing losses, through extending the brightline test from two to five years, from, as Minister Nash just said, making deductible what was previously black hole expenditure that you couldn’t get a deduction for in respect of feasibility studies, and, of course, the support for the venture capital part of the capital markets from whence new businesses come. Now, is it working? It most certainly is, because we’ve got growth rates in New Zealand that are higher than in Australia, Japan, the European Union, Great Britain, the United States, Japan. We’re doing very well, relatively, despite some of the challenges that there are out there being experienced in the global market place.

What’s happening to exports? Up 4.7 percent, merchandise exports in the year to August. Some real increases to countries like Japan, where our fruit exports were up $180 million on the back of proved access under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Canada and Japan, overall, have got increases of over 6 percent in exports because we’ve improved trade access into those countries.

The other measures of success are referred to in a release that Grant Robertson put out today, where Moody’s say that New Zealand’s economic strength is “very high”, and growth remains robust. It expects that growth in the forthcoming years will be 2.5 to 3 percent per annum, and expects our growth potential is higher than many of the other triple A - rated countries. They think our fiscal strength is very high. The IMF compliments us on reducing Government debt, whilst also running some stimulatory Government programmes to hold up consumption in this time when international growth rates are lowering.

Under this Government, net Government debt has gone down from about 23 percent of GDP to 20 percent of GDP. Under the last Government, they took it from 0 percent of GDP when Labour last left Government with New Zealand First—that’s including financial assets like the Superannuation Fund—and they took it up to 23 percent of GDP. Now, in truth, some of that was the global financial crisis, some of it was Christchurch, but to suggest on the basis of those historical facts that it’s us that are fiscally irresponsible is just untrue. In fact, New Zealand hasn’t had a fiscally irresponsible Government since Muldoon left power in the 1980s, leaving New Zealand’s books in a terrible state. We’re getting on; we’re sorting these long-term issues, whether it’s labour force, export encouragement—

Order! The member’s time has expired.

Well, there’s nothing like a lecture from Minister David Parker to remind us all how very removed this Government has become from the concerns of everyday New Zealanders, because here we are, two years after an election in which members opposite got up there—they said they’d solve the country’s housing woes, they’d solve child poverty, they’d sort out health funding. The promises were big, the phrases were grand, but where are we today in this year of delivery?

I want to tell you what it’s like for everyday Wellingtonians, because here in this city rents have gone up $69 in the past two years; the public housing waiting list has almost doubled; building dwelling consents are down; fewer houses are being built; the emergency waiting list for housing has gone up; fewer State houses now than two years ago—75 fewer here in this city; the DHB deficit has blown out to more than $71 million; the DHB is underperforming on health targets, and immunisation, emergency waiting times, cancer treatment. This is the reality of the year of delivery: it is a year of failure.

Wellingtonians are a generous bunch, so we are prepared to say, “My life might not necessarily be better, but, you know, that Prime Minister she said she’d go out there and she’d solve child poverty.” So how’s she going on that—because, remember, that’s apparently why Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern came into politics? Well, let’s look at the material hardship figures, shall we? Under National, those numbers dropped 56,000—56,000 fewer children living in households with material hardship.

💬 Hon Peeni Henare: Speaking of being removed from reality.

Today, in Labour’s first year, what’s happened? Minister Henare, you should be ashamed: 8,000 more children living in homes with material hardship.

It turns out solving child poverty is a bit harder than just setting a target and saying you care. Turns out pouring billions of dollars into fees-free tertiary education doesn’t make a difference to children growing up in poverty. Turns out you need more than promises, you need more than rhetoric; you actually need a plan. A working group isn’t what’s needed. Action is what’s needed.

Now, here in Wellington, people are a bit sick of the highfalutin speeches. They’re a bit sick of the beautiful one-liners, because, actually, what they want is practical stuff. I want to talk to you about the case of Let’s Get Wellington Moving. Now, this was an idea that we would actually have an integrated, futureproof transport plan for our city. But then Minister Twyford got put in charge and Julie Anne Genter became his little helper. That’s where it all went downhill for Wellington.

So what did we actually get delivered? Well, first of all, the plan was delayed by months and months and months, and then, when it came out, key projects just weren’t there. Mr Twyford said that, actually, the Mt Vic tunnel wouldn’t happen for another decade. That is a key transport project for Wellington. Minister Genter may not have had to go through the tunnel and experience the crunch that Wellingtonians experience every day, but, let me tell you, what is needed is that project, and it’s needed with urgency. It shouldn’t be on the never-never. And the Terrace tunnel, which needs to be duplicated, that dropped out of the plan absolutely entirely. It’s not even there.

I’ll tell you what it smells of. It smells of the shabby politics that occur when you’ve got the Green Party calling the shots. If you wanted confirmation of that, we should all ask Julie Anne Genter if she’ll just release her letter. She wrote to Mr Twyford about what should be in Wellington’s transport plan, because what came out was not what Wellingtonians wanted.

Today, we get confirmation—and I hold it here in my hand. Here is official information that shows the Mayor of Wellington said to his city councillors, “No, no—don’t argue for a better transport plan for Wellington. Don’t argue for those key roading projects that we all know are essential, because, if you do, Julie Anne Genter might leave the coalition. If you do, the coalition Government might be put at risk.” Well, I’ll tell you, Wellingtonians are sick to death of political machinations and coalition politics being put ahead of our interests. Wellingtonians deserve a better deal on transport, and they are not getting it from this Government.

Minister Genter sits there. You know, she could fairly say Wellingtonians don’t just want roads; they want better public transport. She would be right. So what has she done about the bus shambles in this city—an absolute unmitigated disaster: cancellations every day, illogical routes, and overcrowding? Well, I’m sorry to tell you, but the Greater Wellington Regional Council is led by Labour and Green councillors. So, you guessed it, this Government looks the other way. They are prepared to ignore the searing incompetence and make Wellingtonians put up with an absolutely substandard bus service because of party politics. Well, I tell you what, we have had enough of virtue signalling. This city needs delivery, and we won’t get it from the Labour-Green Government.

E Te Māngai o Te Whare, tēnā koe.

E hiahia ana au ki te kōrero e pā ana ki tētahi atu kaupapa rerekē atu i tērā amuamu, i tērā taha.

I roto i ngā rua wiki kua pahure ake nei, i tāwāhi ahau, i Amerika mō tētahi whakawhitiwhitinga me ngā tōrangapū. I taua wā ko Te Wiki o te Reo Māori i konei i Aotearoa nei, nā, ka pōuri tōku ngākau kāhore ahau i konei i taua wiki ki te whakanui i tō tātou reo rangatira, arā Te Reo Māori, engari kua whai wāhi ahau i te rā nei ki te tū ki te kōrero.

Ko ngā kaupapa kōrero māku i tēnei rā, tuatahi ko Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, tuarua ko te tūhuratanga o tērā tohu maharatanga mō ngā pakanga i roto i Aotearoa nei, tuatoru ko te whakaako i te hitoria i roto i ō tātou kura, nā te mea he wiki nui tērā i ahau i tāwāhi.

E whakapono ana ahau ko Te Mahuru Māori tēnei, he kaupapa mō te kōrero Māori mō te katoa o Hepetema, o Mahuru, engari e whakapono ana ahau kia kaha tātou ki te kōrero Māori i ngā wā katoa, i ngā wāhi katoa, ia rā o te tau. Ko ahau tēnei e tū ana ki te kōrero i tēnei rā.

Kātahi anō ka puta mai i tētahi kōrero i te tatauranga, arā te census kātahi anō ka puta mai. E tino harikoa ana ahau te kite kua piki ake te nama o ngā tāngata e mōhio ana ki te kōrero Māori e kōrero Māori ana, i te 35,000 tāngata. I te tau 2013 neke atu i te 150,000 tāngata e mōhio ana ki te kōrero Māori engari i tērā tau, 2018, kua piki te nama ki te 185,000 tāngata e kōrero Māori ana. Nō reira e mihi ana ki a tātou katoa e kaha nei ki te ako, ki te kōrero i tō tātou reo. Koirā te moemoeā o ō tātou tūpuna, rātou i tono mai tētahi petihana ki Te Whare Pāremata nei kia whakanuia tātou i tō tātou reo rangatira.

E hiahia ana ahau ki te mihi ki tēnei kāwanatanga anō hoki. Kua puta tētahi rautaki whakarauoratanga o Te Reo Māori, arā ko Te Maihi Karauna tērā mō mātou o te kāwanatanga engari he kaupapa mō Aotearoa whānui. Ko te tūmanako kia kotahi miriona tāngata e mōhio ana ki te kōrero Māori i te tau 2040. He moemoeā tēnā. He mea nui tēnā. Ko tēnei kāwanatanga e hoatu ana i ngā moni e tautoko ana i ngā kaupapa kia tutuki tērā moemoeā.

Tuarua ko Te Ahu o te Reo Māori. I puta tērā whakataunga a te Hōnore Kelvin Davis kia akiaki ētahi o ngā kaiako, ngā tāngata ki te ako i Te Reo kia taea e rātou te whakaako i Te Reo rangatira i roto i ngā kōhanga reo, ngā kōhanga Pākehā me kī anō hoki, me ngā kura.

Ko tētahi atu kaupapa i hoatu te 32 miriona taara ki ngā kōhanga reo. I puta mai te riopoata o te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi hei reira ētahi kōrero i āta tirohia e tēnei kāwanatanga tērā ripoata i noho tahi me te kōrero ki ngā mema o Te Rōpū o Te Kōhanga Reo, nā ka hoatu he tīmatanga noa iho tēnei, te 32 miriona taara.

I roto i te wā kei ahau, e hiahia ana ahau ki te mihi ki tēnei Whare kātahi anō ka puta mai tēnei tohu maharatanga i roto i tēnei Whare mō ngā pakanga i roto i Aotearoa nei kei waenganui i Ingarangi, a Te Karauna me ngā Māori anō hoki. Ko ahau tētahi o ngā uri o ērā pakanga, nō reira ka nui te mihi ki a koutou i reira i taua wā mō tēnei tohu.

Te mea whakamutunga, i tino harikoa taku ngākau, ōku taringa te rongo kātahi anō ka whakatau tēnei kāwanatanga ka whakaako tō tātou hitori o Aotearoa i roto i ngā kura i mua i te tau 2022.

Nō reira tēnā tātou katoa.

[Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I wish to speak of an issue which is different from the complaint emanating from that side over there.

In these past two weeks, I have been overseas in America for a political exchange. During that time, we had Māori Language Week here in New Zealand, and I was very sad that I wasn’t here that week to celebrate our first language, that is the Māori language, but at least I have the opportunity today to stand and speak.

The topics that I shall speak about today are firstly Māori Language Week, secondly the unveiling of the plaque commemorating the New Zealand Wars, and thirdly the teaching of history in our schools, because it really was a momentous week while I was away overseas.

I believe that this is Mahuru Māori, where the idea is to speak Māori for the whole of September, but I believe that we ought to be staunch advocates of speaking Māori all the time, wherever we are, every day of the year, just as I am doing standing and speaking Māori today.

Information deriving from the census has just been released. I am really happy to see that there has been an increase by 35,000 in the number of Māori speakers who are actually speaking Māori. In 2013, there were around 150,000 people who could speak Māori, but last year in 2018, that number had risen to 185,000 Māori speakers. Therefore, I congratulate all of us who have committed to learning and to speaking our language. That was the dream of our forebears, those who brought a petition to this Parliament so that we might afford our Māori language its rightful place of honour.

I also wish to congratulate this Government. The strategy for the revitalisation of the Māori language has been published by Te Maihi Karauna, which operates on behalf of the Government, but this is a matter for the whole of New Zealand. The aspiration is to have one million people able to speak Māori by the year 2040. That is the dream. It is important. This Government is allocating funds to support initiatives which will turn the dream into reality.

Secondly, Te Ahu o te Reo Māori. The initiative, advanced by the Hon Kelvin Davis, encourages teachers and other people to learn Māori so that they can use it in kōhanga reo, English medium early childhood centres, and schools.

I mention too the $32 million given to kōhanga reo. On the publication of the Waitangi Tribunal report, the Government took on board some of the recommendations of the report and had discussions with members of the Kōhanga Reo National Trust, resulting in the $32 million, which is just the beginning.

In the time I have left, I wish to congratulate this House on the commemoration plaque which has just been unveiled in this House which acknowledges the New Zealand Wars between England, the Crown and Māori. I am one of the descendants from those wars; therefore I acknowledge those of you who were there for this plaque unveiling.

Finally, I am delighted to hear that this Government has recently decided that New Zealand history will be a compulsory subject in schools by 2022.

Thank you all.]

I commend the member Willow-Jean Prime, who just resumed her seat. It’s a beautiful language beautifully spoken. We live in a beautiful country. We are the children of pioneers. Every New Zealander, if I know one thing about you, it’s that either you or your ancestors came here, travelled further and more freely than anybody else, for a better tomorrow and for a better future for their children. One of the most diverse countries on Earth, it is bound together by that one simple fact that applies to every single one of us, and I think to be a pioneering society is a beautiful feature of our country.

Yet I lament that the Government in power today has little respect for human action, for people exercising individual freedom under the law. There are some exceptions. The abortion law reform is long overdue and very welcome. I welcome the Government members—and Opposition members, for that matter—who support my End of Life Choice Bill. But, overwhelmingly, the tenor of this Government is placing more and greater restrictions on what people can do. This Government puts in place so many bans, they might as well be called the Taliban. Let’s run through the list: plastic bags—banned; gold mining expansion by Oceana on the Coromandel—banned; offshore oil and gas exploration—banned; centre-fire semi-automatic rifles—banned; offshore investment in residential land in a country that has been short of capital for its entire history—banned; free speech—the Government says that it wants to restrict not only all of those physical things but the thoughts that it is legitimate to express freely in New Zealand. They’ve gone quiet about that in the recent months, but let us hope that we will not find ourselves like the UK, where we learnt just today that one of New Zealand’s greatest academics, Emeritus Professor James Flynn from Otago, has had refusal from a publisher to publish his book because even an academic treatise about, ironically, freedom of speech might be illegal to publish in the UK.

This is a Government of bans that denies human action, and it replaces it with collectivist projects that inevitably fail. What are some of those projects that the Government has put in place collectively in place of banning individual action? Well, we’ve seen KiwiBuild, a byword these days for failure and disaster, and the reasons for that were intuitive right from the beginning. The problem was not a lack of Government home-building; it was a lack of affordable sections on which to build homes. No builders, even those employed by the Government, can build an affordable home when the average section costs $700,000. The ACT Party could have told the Government that—in fact, we did. Then there’s the hubs, the ill-fated educational hubs that would usurp the role of communities electing boards of trustees—another collectivist idea that undermines individual freedom and human action and actually gets worse results for communities. What about the Commerce Commission and its market studies, having a group of bureaucrats in Wellington trying to work out how much it’s going to cost to get petrol and diesel to different parts of New Zealand—and, of course, we already know they got it all wrong. The Child Poverty Reduction Bill—already failing, ironically, by the measures that it set up. Then we have Ihumātao, where ACT predicts the Government will find itself facing legal action from Fletcher’s, being sued for destroying their property rights as the hapless PM waded into a dispute and actually made it worse.

The fact of the matter is that we can do a lot better in this country. [Interruption]

💬 DEPUTY SPEAKER: I’d just remind the Minister for Women, you can’t move your seat.

In this country, we can be a place where children of pioneers enjoy freedom under the law and individuals make a difference in their own lives and the lives that they care about, in lieu of the political, grand Government schemes that this Government so often and so haplessly imposes upon us. That’s why this country needs an ACT Party, a party that stands for freedom, because this country and all that is good about it is based on individual freedom under the law. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Before I call Michael Wood, could I just remind the Minister that the Standing Orders are quite clear: she cannot move her seat to get a better position to interject, and interjections should be rare and reasonable, not a barrage.

I thank the ACT Party caucus for their contribution in this general debate. It’s rather like Custer’s Last Stand, defending ideas that reached their intellectual peak in about the late 1970s, and I have great admiration for the member for his commitment to that particular cause.

What an absolute contrast we have seen in this general debate, and it really does sum up the political environment in New Zealand at this time. We’ve heard from Government members today with ideas, an optimistic vision for New Zealand, and an inclusive approach to bringing our fellow New Zealanders together to build a decent country in which everyone has a shot at a good life. That is what this coalition Government stands for.

On the other hand, we have an Opposition that is absolutely mired in negativity and desperate—desperate—to foster division for their own political ends. That has been the fundamental approach of this Opposition over the last three months, and I believe it is a shameful approach. We have a concept in this country of an honourable and a loyal Opposition that fights its corner, that fights the ideas, that puts forward its vision for a better country, but we deserve better than an Opposition that looks for any little issue that can divide New Zealanders one from another in order to win votes. I say that this Parliament and this country deserve better than that.

That Opposition in that respect is led by an intellectual and political pygmy who has constructed his entire approach around this divisive approach. Can you imagine a person in this country who chooses to try and make political capital out of the Christchurch Call, out of our Prime Minister’s efforts on the international stage to stop the proliferation of hate speech and conduct online that fosters division and encourages violent action against minorities? While our Prime Minister is out there on the international stage, bringing countries and organisations together to stop that kind of activity, that kind of activity and hate that fuelled the awful attack in Christchurch, we have a Leader of the Opposition who tried to use that as a wedge, who tried to use it as a political tool, who criticised the Prime Minister for taking that approach. That is a pathetic approach, and, actually, the National Party has an honourable tradition of being a party in this country which, while I don’t agree with every position it’s taken throughout its history, has been an honourable party, and they and their supporters actually deserve better than a leader who takes that approach.

It’s the same with Ihumātao—an immensely complicated issue, one that was commenced in the term of the previous Government with different parties involved in that situation, and here we have a Government and a Prime Minister who said, “This is difficult. This is complicated. But we are going to try and bring people together to foster a solution that can be enduring.” What response do we have from the Leader of the Opposition? Again, a little opportunity to put the needle in to try and divide people apart on crude racial lines to win political votes. That is absolutely appalling, and I think people out there are seeing it for what it is.

Finally, we have gun law reform. I was very proud to chair the Finance and Expenditure Committee during tranche one of the gun law reforms, where our Prime Minister, shortly after those horrific attacks in Christchurch, said, “We will take action on this issue that has been ignored for too many years, and take the most dangerous firearms out of our communities to keep people safer.” It was, I believe, an honourable thing that this Parliament almost unanimously came together and worked together for that, and I acknowledge colleagues on the other side of the House. I particularly acknowledge the Hon Judith Collins, who took a lead role in that from the National Party’s point of view. That has entirely changed with the next phase of gun law reform, which has focused on actually implementing the remaining recommendations that have been sitting there on the table for 20 years, coming out of the Thorp report and other investigations that this House has conducted. Instead, again, we see a nakedly political, divisive approach from the Opposition on this issue, and I just say to them, “Just pause and breathe and think about how we can work together on this issue.”

This is a Government that is taking action on the long-term challenges which face New Zealand; a Government which has built over 2,000 State houses to deal with the housing crisis in two years, when that previous Government built about 300 in nine years; a Government which is leading action across all three parties of Government to take action on climate change with world-leading zero carbon legislation; and a Government which is finally saying we are not going to let our streams, our lakes, our rivers, our waterways get more and more polluted, as that previous Government did over nine years of taking absolutely no action. I’m so proud of this Government, taking action on those long-term issues and building a country that is fair and inclusive for all New Zealanders. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I hesitated to interrupt the member’s speech, but I put it to you that his characterisation of members of the Opposition as “pygmies” is highly inappropriate and brings the House into disrepute, and also is somewhat ironic.

Yes, I must confess I did think the latter. I think the comment reflects more on the speaker than it does on the Opposition.

The debate having concluded, the motion lapsed.