Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement

I move that this House express—

💬 SPEAKER: No. I think we’ve got the presentation to do first.

Sorry. Excuse me. I present the Prime Minister’s statement.

💬 SPEAKER: That paper is published under the authority of the House. Copies are available on the Table.

I move again, with much enthusiasm. I move, That this House express its confidence in the coalition Government and commend its programme for 2020, as set out in the Prime Minister’s statement.

I want to start where I started in January, as it were, because today is not the first time that I have spoken of the aspiration that this Government has for New Zealand and for this Government’s programme for the next year. The first time that I spoke of the aspirations of this Government in 2020 was on 31 January, and it was under somewhat more private circumstances. It was when I last visited Mike Moore. He asked, in a way that only Mike Moore can. After we’d exchanged very brief pleasantries, he said, “What are you doing next?” The answer to that is simple: more.

I want to share with this House what I shared with Mike Moore that day: that our agenda for 2020 is based both on where we started—the circumstances and context under which this Government took office—and on where we are now and the environment that we’re operating in and the experience of New Zealanders, and it is focused on where we need to go.

So let’s start at the very start. In the beginning, before there was light, there were nine years of darkness. It wasn’t like a black darkness; more a dark shade of blue kind of darkness—the worst kind. Now, those words may be familiar, at least to members on this side of the House. They were written by a very great writer, “Kevin Davies”.

After nine long years, there may not have been a blue smoke, but there was plenty of denial. There was denial that we had a housing crisis. There was denial that kids were doing their homework in cars. There was denial that children in this country—an affluent country—did not have all that they needed to thrive. There was denial that we had an infrastructure deficit and that we were all suffering as a nation as a result. There was denial that our hospitals were broken. I don’t say that lightly. Simple things like pipes being replaced, that elevators could work, or, worse still, sewage down walls were the ultimate manifestation. There was denial.

That denial seemed to exist until, after those nine years, we entered into an election phase. When we entered into that election phase, National emerged from the smoke of denial with a weighty tome known as a press statement. In that press statement they promised much. They promised roads. They promised infrastructure. They even made promises about child poverty.

But, as a very wise man said on the paepae at Waitangi, know us by our deeds. Know us by what we do, not by a press statement at the eleventh hour before people go to the polls—know us by what we do. That is why I wish to reflect on where we are now, as well as projecting forward into where we must go. Those deeds tell you a story. The first thing that they tell to you strongly is that we are a Government of infrastructure—undeniably.

I have a visual aid. The Leader of the Opposition loves this one! The Leader of the Opposition is particularly fond of this graph! This graph tells a story better than anything, and this is of course based on Treasury’s data. This shows capital investment, and it demonstrates helpfully in a colour-coded manner that in 2016 we saw no new dollars for health capital expenditure. In 2017, we saw just $150 million. No wonder we had sewage in the walls.

Within two years, of course, we have invested $2.5 billion into health. Now, that number, it doesn’t tell you the story of the mental health wards that we are making safe again by rebuilding them in the central North Island in Waikato. It doesn’t tell you about the investment we’re putting into Tai Rāwhiti, which doesn’t have beds for alcohol and drug rehabilitation. It doesn’t tell you about the new maternity services and child health services at Starship that we are rebuilding and expanding. But that is what that $2.5 billion—and, of course, we can’t forget Dunedin Hospital.

We have put $1.5 billion into schools. For the first time ever we have long-term planning to make sure that we can cater for over 100,000 students coming into our schooling system. Again, the message that you don’t see in just a graph is that we are putting money into every single school—up to $400,000 for most State schools so that they can do simple things like repair the roof or put down new carpet. I’ll for ever remember the story of Grant Robertson saying he visited a local school and couldn’t find the principal—it was January, I believe. They were out and about walking around with a tradie, taking notes of all the work they could do because of what we delivered at the end of last year.

That is, of course, before you take into account just the huge extent of what we put in through the New Zealand upgrade package: $12 billion, which adds a significant amount to make sure that we get New Zealanders out of congestion, that we give them options for walking and cycling and rail, and that we continue to make sure that safety improvements also continue to be at the top of our agenda.

Infrastructure means going beyond just that rebuild and future planning. The Infrastructure Commission has been key. Financing has been key through the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Bill to support future housing and urban development. Ultimately, I stand proudly as the Prime Minister for the “Government of infrastructure”, and it is undeniable—it is undeniable.

To be the Government of infrastructure, we have to be the Government of training and education. We simply cannot deliver this infrastructure without having that relentless focus on training and education. When we came in, we moved swiftly to implement fees-free. That not only has reduced the burden of debt for our young people for generations to come, it’s meant that those moving into apprenticeships for those first two years pay nothing. That has made a difference. Since that time 3,900 Kiwis have taken up construction apprenticeships. That is exactly what this country needed. Not only that, we’ve boosted vocational education and training: 4,000 places for trades academy and gateway places.

Mana in Mahi: a programme I will, alongside our Minister, forever be proud of. We are just at the beginning of that programme, but I read the reports and I read the stories, for instance, of the young person who had been on a long-term benefit, who found, through Mana in Mahi, a subsidised role by an employer working in landscaping. The difference that it made to their mental health, in their own words, was “undeniable”. I am so proud of that programme. It sits alongside He Poutama Rangatahi as well. We are placing thousands of young people through that programme into work. The result: a 20 percent increase in construction apprenticeships, more than 11,000 Kiwis in the construction sector in the last couple of years according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. We are making a difference.

Of course, we need every single one of those young people and people in apprenticeships, because we are also proudly a Government of housing. And I say that firmly and proudly. I’m going to speak, Mr Speaker, if you will allow me, to review the last Government’s record, because that side of the House has nothing but a foundation of shame when it comes to housing. Homelessness rates at the worst levels we’ve seen in the OECD and homeownership the worst since 1951. At a time when children were sleeping in cars, what did they do to State houses? They decreased—our net State housing stock decreased by 5,000. When we needed housing the most, that Government sold them. It is a disgrace. We’ve had to rebuild ever since, but we have.

We have now created more than 4,258 public housing places. Every single one of these is a home. Every single one of these is a home for someone that did not exist before. In the time that it has taken to rebuild what they’ve created, we have put people in homes, and it is making a difference. First-home buyers now make up 24 percent of the market. That has been through the changes we made to tax loopholes to make sure that we shut down overseas investment in our residential housing market and changes that we’ve made to income support for those buying houses. We have ensured that 1,100 households have been housed through Housing First. There’s more to come, because we currently have 3,480—

💬 Hon Dr Nick Smith: What about KiwiBuild?

—houses under construction in the Government build programme, Minister Smith. I understand why you’re a little defensive, because we’re fixing what you broke, and you broke our housing market, and you stood idly by while people lived on the streets.

I am proud of what we have achieved. It was only over summer that—we, of course, continue to acknowledge that there is more work to do. We have houses under stress. Over the summer, I was speaking with some of the individuals who did see the City Mission over the Christmas period. One thing that stood out to me is that, yes, they were seeking that assistance at that time of year, but the number of those people I spoke to who had, in recent months, moved into new State houses was phenomenal. The message they gave me is “We are now warm and dry.” Now, what a difference that that policy is making to New Zealanders everywhere. This week we’ve announced an extra $300 million into homelessness, with more details to come. We are proudly a Government of housing and the new builds prove it.

The reason that housing is so important to us, of course, is because family wellbeing and child wellbeing sit at the heart of everything that we do. Now, we’ve demonstrated that from the moment we came into this place, with the Families Package. I’m proud that this year we’ll be celebrating another increase in paid parental leave. Of course, we’ve had that aspiration of lifting it to 26 weeks, and we will. That is an incredible milestone for us—couple that with the Best Start payment, which continues to roll out, increases to the Working for Families package, and, of course, the winter energy payment. You’ll see from that State of the Nation Report today that the Salvation Army is acknowledging the difference that that investment is making to low-income families.

On top of that, we’ve had the indexation of benefits. Now, that means that when wages go up, not only do our superannuitants benefit, but those who are on those tight incomes who are on Government support, they will also see that increase to help them keep pace with the cost of living. It all makes a difference. We know from those changes that between 50,000 and 70,000 children will be lifted out of poverty, and what could be more important than that? Couple that alongside those increases to the minimum wage, and I acknowledge New Zealand First; it was part of their coalition agreement, so we’ll see that go up once again in April this year. By the time that happens, those people on a minimum wage will be $126 a week better off from the changes that we as a Government have made.

I am happy to talk about the cost of living. We know that there are too many New Zealand families who feel the strain. Dropping things like NCEA fees, increasing support for schools so that they don’t ask for school donations, reducing the cost of going to the doctor, making sure that we are driving more housing supply to try and bring down those housing costs in the private sector as well, and, overall, of course, making sure that when there’s a market failure and a problem in the market like fuel, we do something about it, and we will keep doing something about it.

We are also proudly a Government of health and mental health, and, again, I let the numbers tell the entire story. First of all, we have grown the health workforce: 3,000 new medical professionals. We’ve had 1,699 nurses—and they are paid more, of course, with the important settlement that we were a part of—and 736 doctors. We’ve seen an increase in Pharmac, and, of course, that’s meant that a flow-on effect is more funding for important drugs like those that have benefited those who are, sadly, experiencing battles with cancer. Many of us will have stories of people stopping and telling us on the street what a difference that has made, and I am one of them.

And, very proudly, the largest funding boost to mental health this country has ever seen. Just yesterday, I was looking at some of the numbers around people who are already benefiting from those front-line mental health services, and they are at their GPs’ offices, they are in Mana Ake in schools for kids, they are in our schools for our young people. We’re making sure that wherever someone is, help is not far away, whether it’s picking up telehealth services or visiting their local doctor, because the need is so great. There is more work to do. The Suicide Prevention Office will be key. We’re currently going out with requests for proposals for our youth services, our Pasifika and Māori services, and this year will keep seeing the expansion of those front-line services that we are so proud of.

No matter where we turn, though, in health, mental health, every part of the system, we have found need, and I find it somewhat ironic to hear the member that services the area where we’ve seen such desperate need, in Counties Manukau, so vocal on this issue. The Simpson review will be pointing to some of the extra work that we need to do, because wherever we have turned, there have been problems that we need to address.

Next, of course, is dealing with the structural issues, because, of course, it’s not enough for us just to say that we deal with these things down track. We need to make sure we have an economy that is supporting everyone, that is delivering prosperity for everyone, and it’s been a mantra you will have heard from the Minister of Finance consistently. I’m happy to let the numbers speak for themselves. We’re a Government that has delivered GDP growth of 2.7 percent. When you look around us, others are falling on hard times, and there’s no denying it’s had an impact for us, but when you take into account the net average that we had under the National Government—the average GDP growth was 2.1 percent—I feel confident that we are doing well.

💬 Unemployment: of course, the Reserve Bank would tell you we’re at full employment, at 4 percent. It is a tight labour market, and, again, relative to what we inherited—4.7 percent when we came to office. The average hourly wage sitting at 3.6 percent—in that Government’s first term, it was roughly 2.1 percent we were seeing: those increases in hourly wages. Net debt: 21 percent versus 22.9 percent under the last Government. We’ve seen $13 billion in surpluses in our first two years and $11 billion in surpluses in our next five.

I am proud of this Government’s record when it comes to the management of the economy, but more than just the numbers, I am proud that we’ve seen unemployment go down in Northland, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatū, Whanganui, Otago, and Southland, and that is because of deliberate investment: 530 Provincial Growth Fund projects across the country, making a huge difference. Again, the words tell a story: in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay, we’re seeing unemployment rates that were as high as 8 percent to 4.1 percent. That is a huge difference. Again, regional growth sits alongside our plan for trade diversification. It sits alongside our investment in research and development, and it is about driving not just any job but decent high-wage jobs for our New Zealanders, and we are delivering on that.

Of course, underpinning all of this is the environment. None of this matters if we don’t have a planet we can sustain ourselves on. When we came into office, there was no plan for climate action—there was no plan. We had 4,000 native species at risk of extinction or threatened. We’ve had a record boost into conservation over a small space of time. We’ve had a list on climate change that is almost too long for me to read in one minute and 23 seconds—how about I have a quick go? Zero carbon Act; we’ve ended offshore oil and gas exploration; we’ve reformed the emissions trading scheme; we’ve worked with farmers on a world record - breaking new agreement on dealing with farm-based emissions; new wind farms have been built; the new energy research centre in Taranaki; of course, switching our public buildings to clean energy; and, of course, the upgrades alone in public transport are worth $5.73 billion, for rail, walking, cycling, and transport options. Next is waste, and next is fresh water. We have more to do.

Finally—and the Leader of the Opposition will hate this—1,800 new police officers, and 500 fog cannons to support our small-business owners. It is all about prevention and supporting the safety of New Zealanders, finally. We are the Government of infrastructure. We are the Government of housing, we’re the Government of family and child wellbeing, of health and mental health, and the Government for the environment. We are a Government of progress. There is more to do. After nine years in blue smoke and darkness, there is plenty more to do, but this year is the chance for New Zealanders to have their say in making sure we as a Government continue to get the job done.

I move, That all the words after “That” be deleted and replaced with “this House has no confidence in the Labour-led Government because, in just two short years, it has plunged New Zealand into deficit and failed to deliver on any of its promises.”

I can see the relief on Jacinda Ardern’s face that that is going to be her last Prime Minister’s statement. And, actually, I’m not sure where the relief is more palpable: on her face or her caucus’s. But, to be fair—

💬 Hon Kelvin Davis: Tell us how Waitangi went!

—after almost three years—well, we’ll see in a TV poll rather soon, actually, Kelvin Davis. I’d say rather well. After almost three years of dithering and experimenting and mismanaging the economy and failing to deliver on her promises, New Zealanders can finally see light at the end of the tunnel. Actually, they can’t, because Labour cancelled it! But don’t worry, because National gets things done, and we’ll build it.

We won’t have to hear any more next year hollow statements from the Prime Minister. She’s not going to have to stand up and make empty promises about building 100,000 KiwiBuild houses in 10 years and just hope for the best. And, by the way, did she mention KiwiBuild?

💬 Hon Members: No.

Is it in this document?

💬 Hon Members: No.

I find that staggering. The Prime Minister says, “Know us by our deeds.” How many KiwiBuild houses have they built?

💬 Hon Paul Goldsmith: 250.

Two hundred, three hundred. They have cancelled more houses at Ihumātao than they have built in this term of Government, and she has the audacity to say she’s running a facts-based campaign this year where they are the party of infrastructure. I don’t think so.

She won’t have to make ridiculous comments like they’ll get light rail down Dominion Road before 2021 and just hope for the best. Where is that light rail? Michael Wood gets out from his house in Mount Roskill every single morning and he looks for it. He’ll be looking a heck of a long time. It hasn’t been built, it hasn’t been planned, it hasn’t been funded, it hasn’t been consented—nothing whatsoever has happened. And she won’t have to talk about ending poverty in her first winter and hoping for that, because we know her by her deeds, and we know that it’s getting worse. A Salvation Army report makes that very clear today.

Jacinda Ardern’s Government will go down in history as a story of lost opportunities for New Zealanders, whether it will be no infrastructure projects starting anywhere in New Zealand—and that’s the story; that’s right. Well, I hear you say, “Shane Jones’ roundabout.” Actually, even that hasn’t started, as I understand it—not even that. Not a single infrastructure project in her three years in Government—not light rail, not KiwiBuild, not roads, not nothing, and almost 30,000 people on the dole and seven out of nine child poverty indicators getting worse under this Government. And she has the temerity to start and say she’s starting at the beginning because things were so bad. These things are getting worse under this Government. That is what is happening in New Zealand right now, and these aren’t just statistics.

💬 Hon Kelvin Davis: Quote real numbers, Simon. Quote real numbers.

These are real people on the ground—in your electorate, actually, Kelvin Davis—who are getting poorer, who are finding it harder, who don’t have houses, who don’t have food, and who have to go for food parcels because your Government is failing to deliver on its promises.

What’s even worse about the speech we’ve just heard in this long diatribe here of hollowness, where nothing is happening here, is not only have they achieved nothing in three years, there’s nothing new. There is a sense of being bereft of anything new for New Zealand, a sense of aspiration and delivery for this country in the years to come. We’ve had 300 KiwiBuild houses, and Phil Twyford looks down because he knows the record and how bad it is. We were supposed to be at 6,000, at 10,000 a year, at 100,000 over the next decade and counting, and they’ve cancelled more than they’ve started. Not a single kilometre of track of light rail down Dominion Road, when it was meant to be built by 2021. They pumped up fuel prices. They raised a regional fuel tax that is really hurting those people Kelvin Davis—

💬 Hon Paul Goldsmith: Fleecing

Fleecing? Well, we know who the “Fleecer in Chief” is, Paul Goldsmith, and it isn’t you. They’ve done all these things and, instead of getting new roads, instead of doing new infrastructure in this country, we have less happening than before in a very, very long time.

The amazing thing about this document is—I think it’s on page 3—they start by saying, because they’re obsessed with the National-led Government, how terrible it was we overinvested in roads. Six paragraphs down, what does she say? We’re going to build lots of roads. She spends more time in this speech talking about roads than she does about light rail—the one thing they did promise—because, actually, New Zealanders know they can’t deliver on their promises.

They have cancelled more in Kelvin Davis’ electorate than they’ve started anywhere around New Zealand—Whangārei to Te Hana, the East-West Link, Cambridge to Piarere, Pōkeno to Mangatarata, Piarere to Tauriko, Waihī to Ōmokoroa, the Tauranga Northern Link, Katikati, Tauriko West network connections, Ōtaki to Levin, Pētone to Grenada Link Road and, Chris Bishop, the Melling Interchange: all cancelled. None of it is happening. And now Phil Twyford, I hear, in speeches, is not sure what to say. Well, he’s not allowed to talk but sometimes he gets out. Jacinda gets angry at him but he gets out and talks—

💬 SPEAKER: Order!

Jacinda Ardern. True to their form, what we know about this Government is they are first class at announcements. I don’t even think they’re third rate at delivery; they are hopeless at it, and New Zealanders deserve much better than 2½ years in, coming back and saying, “Yeah, we will do some of these projects.”, and the best they can offer is that one or two of them are going to have a cycleway. Well, Julie Anne Genter might be happy with that but New Zealanders aren’t. They are mightily brassed off at the lack of delivery when the cost of living, another important issue, is going through the roof. Actually, if only they were building roofs—they’re not, but the cost of living is going through the roof.

We hear the stories every single day around New Zealand. We hear the stories of New Zealanders who feel they are working harder. They are trying harder. They are doing more. They are spending more time at work, but the tax, the cost, the regulation—whether they are working for someone or they’re their own employer—is making things harder, and taxes are going on others and not on them, as money is wasted by this Government like it’s a drunken sailor.

The cost of living, I repeat, is going through the roof: whether it’s $2,600 that median rent has gone up a year under this Government—$55 a week—and this Prime Minister over here talks about eighty-something dollars a week more. Well, most of it’s gone in rent. Petrol is $200 more a year just in the additional tax that’s been put on for a typical person. There are the cancelled tax cuts—that takes us to another thousand dollars a year that people could have had in their pockets, and that would have made a difference in terms of paying those bills, getting those school uniforms, doing the things that matter.

Nevertheless, under this Government, with that cancelled, they are some $4,000 a year worse off, and there are 28,000 more people on the dole. What is that? Half of Whanganui? Half of Whangārei? A couple of Whakatānes? There are more people on the dole. When New Zealanders are working harder and are fed up with that because of the costs they’re paying, there are more people who are on the dole right now. Job growth has flat-lined, because there are no expectations under this Government to get a job. [Interruption] And they laugh, but New Zealanders aren’t laughing, because they see a situation where there’s been lack of delivery, where there’s no infrastructure, where the economy’s getting worse, and where there’s a situation where people are facing more costs. There are 7,000 more children in poverty today than there were a couple of years ago, I say to Ron Mark—7,000 more children. Actually, there are tens of thousands sitting there, and the Christchurch City Mission says that things were better under us and that things have got much, much worse.

Hardship grants have doubled. Emergency housing grants have increased by 500 percent, and the social housing waiting list has more than doubled to over 13,000 families. They’ve been better at filling motels than they have at building houses. Hundreds of millions of dollars are going on people—and you’d think the Prime Minister would finish on a strong point, actually. She finished on 1,800 new police officers. I say again: I thought, Jacinda Ardern, that we were going to have a facts-based campaign this year. If you don’t like what you promised, just change the target and pretend nothing happened. Say black is white and white is black and hold up a graph that’s blank and red and supposedly means something.

They said they’d deliver. While we’re on promises, they said they’d deliver 100 percent qualified early childhood teachers. Where are they? Today we hear we’re waiting longer and longer and longer for children with special needs who need special attention in our schools.

One billion trees, Shane Jones. Where are they? The best he’s given us is a small dying shrub. And someone probably paid a donation for it, but that’s the way it goes. They have been so incompetent. They haven’t delivered, and they are not managing the economy at all. In fact, we see things going backwards—a situation where we had decades of surpluses, actually, as far as they eye could see, according to Treasury. The legacy of John Key and Bill English is a situation where from the global financial crisis we went to prosperity, and now this Government has got us back in deficit.

If Grant Robertson were here—

💬 SPEAKER: Order! The member knows he’s out of order—or he should.

Grant Robertson will tell us—about that situation, that deficit—that we will be back in surplus soon. One thing I know about Labour parties is that once they’re in deficit, you never go back. They have a taste for wasteful spending. And that’s the situation. And we’ll see, Jacinda Ardern, at this Budget. You’ve been bequeathed, Jacinda Ardern, a fantastic legacy, and you have failed to deliver. You have squandered it in just three short years.

Three years ago, our economy was growing at nearly 4 percent per annum, and we’re now at almost half of that—from tax and cost and regulation.

💬 Hon Kelvin Davis: How many more of your MPs are leaving?

You want to talk about taxes?

💬 Hon Kelvin Davis: How many more MPs are leaving?

Oh, you want talk about why one of your MPs is being challenged, Mr Davis. Why is the guy over here who’s only been in Parliament about five minutes going on the list because he can’t hack it? I thought he was one of the tough guys, one of the good guys. This is a guy who wants to run these things when we know the situation.

We have slipped down the GDP per capita table—behind Chile, Hungary, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Spain and even Greece. [Interruption] Well, was it Winston Peters who talked about a Polish shipyard? Actually, I think it was his mentor, but that’s where we’re going under this Government. We are slipping behind.

I say again to Ron Mark that he may be laughing but New Zealanders aren’t. On this side of the House, we have a plan to fix that. That involves getting more money in people’s pockets, making a stronger economy, actually building the infrastructure. Let’s actually do this, Stuart Nash—and making communities safer. I see Stuart Nash over there, in a situation where right now around New Zealand—in his electorate there’s open gang warfare. What was it? Fifty gang members brawling a few weeks ago, Stuart Nash—50. AK-47s—guns. How many were arrested? Four, I’m told. Under Stuart Nash we have a tag and release policy that isn’t going to work.

New Zealanders deserve better than this Government. They deserve a strong economy, to build the roads, to do first-class infrastructure, to build the world-class schools. They deserve financial security so that they can look after their families in good and bad times. They deserve the ability to fill up their petrol tank and to have a better cost of living in this country. They deserve the environment that Jacinda Ardern and James Shaw talk so much about—that’s seen emissions go from going down under us to going up under them. [Interruption]

Kelvin Davis keeps interjecting, and he obviously didn’t get the memo they sent around before about not doing that and sitting there with their head in the—he never was the smart one in the class; let’s be honest about that. But here’s the thing. Some say—[Interruption]

💬 SPEAKER: Order! I’m going to now ask both sides to settle down, and when I’m on my feet, the member will sit. That mightn’t have been in the best taste, but it does set the tone for the debate, and I’m going to ask the member to continue. But some of those interjections are to stop as well. Not that member—the ones in reaction to what the member said.

Some say that none of this is the Prime Minister’s fault: the fact, actually, that Phil Twyford can’t do any infrastructure; that Carmel Sepuloni had boasted about getting things under control, but we have 28,000 more people languishing on the dole; the fact that David Clark sends out the chief executive of health to front on coronavirus and he’s missing in action. Somehow these aren’t her problems. I say let’s stop making excuses for Jacinda Ardern. Leaders lead. Actually, leaders get things done, and New Zealanders know—

💬 Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern: Ha, ha!

And she laughs about that. Where has her Minister been on coronavirus? Where has Phil Twyford been? Where has the Minister of Housing—the new one, the next one—been on these issues? They have been out for the count.

The National Party has a plan. We take a very clear plan.

💬 Hon Members: What is it?

Well, it’s not a—unlike hers, it’s not a complicated plan. It doesn’t involve fake news and graphs that are “based on Treasury”, but, actually, she’s added to.

💬 Hon Members: Ha, ha!

They laugh and they laugh, because right at the start of this year Jacinda Ardern went out with a transparency tool. She said she was going to be the most transparent—all of these things. Well, right now they’re peddling paid targeted advertisements all over Facebook, begging New Zealanders for money for the Labour Party. And have they signed up to the transparency tool? No. Has Jacinda Ardern signed up to it for her personal page? Has the Labour Party? Has the Government? No, they haven’t. That was the big song and dance, and they haven’t.

You see, on this side of the House, New Zealanders know—like John Key did, like Bill English did, like I will—that we will deliver a stronger economy. We know, in uncertain times, what to do. We’ll provide the tax relief that’s required, and we’ve already started laying out that plan. We’ll make sure there’s less regulation for small businesses and we’ll do the infrastructure that’s required. That’s the second part of this plan. We’ll build some roads. We’ll actually do this—

💬 Kieran McAnulty: What plan?

—Kelvin McAnulty, or whatever your name is; I don’t know what your name is. We will do this by building the roads around New Zealand, and New Zealanders know that we will actually deliver.

Stuart Nash and Andrew Little, we will make sure that New Zealanders have the safety and the security that they deserve. We understand that behind the statistics, where there are tens of thousands more victims of crime right now, where burglaries are going up, where sexual violence is going up, where robberies are going up, where gang members are up 30 percent exponentially in his own electorate—we’re not going to do tag and release. We’re going to resource those police. Whether it’s 1,400 or whatever the number is in reality, we are going to make sure that New Zealanders are safer.

There’s a contrast in this Parliament between big talk, a lack of delivery, zero substance behind that party over three years, failing to deliver for New Zealand, and on this side a party that, when it says it will do something, delivers for New Zealanders, that is going to deliver that money in their pockets, that is going to deliver the infrastructure that’s required, and that’s going to deliver a safer New Zealand for all families.

No, I can’t call the member yet. I’m waiting for the Leader of the Opposition to comply with Standing Order 124. It’s an issue I dealt with last year with him. [Leader of the Opposition tables amendment]

💬 Hon Member: What an amateur.

💬 Hon Simon Bridges: He’s such a clever guy!

No, sit down. The member will stand, withdraw, and apologise.

💬 Hon Simon Bridges: I withdraw and apologise.

I want to indicate to the member that the Standing Orders are not petty. They’re very definite. They’re very clear. He had one chance last year and he made a mess of it, and he’s done it again, and calling me petty for insisting that he comply with the Standing Orders is, as far as I’m concerned, outrageous. The Rt Hon Winston Peters.

I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I have not said that you are petty and I’d ask, if you’re going to make that sort of quite serious statement in this House, you back it up, because it is not true. The second point I’d make is there may well be Standing Orders on these matters, but for the 12 years I have been in this Parliament, when things are tabled, when motions like that are put, there is customarily a period of time in which to put that before—I had just finished my speech and if I wanted to take a little time and actually let Mr Peters start speaking and hand it over to the Clerk, I think that’s incredibly reasonable.

Right. OK, well, the member might believe that, but he might believe a whole pile of other things. Any competent member knows—any competent member knows—

💬 Hon Dr Nick Smith: Starting off the year biased.

Nick Smith will stand, withdraw, and apologise.

💬 Hon Dr Nick Smith: I withdraw and apologise.

Any member with a knowledge of the Standing Orders—and anyone who has observed this House—knows that it is the practice to give to the whips a copy of an amendment which is given to the Clerk during the speech, because it has to be put by the Speaker at the end of the speech. The question is now that Mr Bridges’ amendment be agreed to.

Can I say that it’s very difficult to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. All the elocution lessons; all the lessons on how to stand, pull your chin in, speak deeply; all the lessons on how to look like a statesman have all been wasted. He took 17 minutes of a 20-minute speech to say that the National Party has a plan—17 minutes.

Now, can I say to the backbenchers—I just saw a poll this morning. It’s about the leaders of political parties in this country. One of those polls has the leader on the positive-negative equilibrium. I’ll say it slowly for the big chap, because even he could do better than that. The woodwork teacher, I mean. The woodwork teacher could do better than that.

💬 Hon Gerry Brownlee: Have a go at the tradies.

Oh, the tradies. He wouldn’t know a hard day’s work physically if he saw it, and it shows—look at his soft hands. He doesn’t know what work smells, tastes, and feels like, and it’s demonstrable. Have a look in the mirror.

Now, back to my point. There was a poll and I saw it this morning of the leaders of political parties in this country. One party has a leader whose positive-negative rating is minus 32 percent. I don’t care what the Australian Liberal Party told you, for the backbencher over there. You cannot make it from that percentage. It’s all over, Rover. I have got great news, therefore, for Judith. Judith can do better than that; I’ve seen that poll as well. They’re in serious, serious trouble.

But I want to begin by saying that the New Zealand First Party is a party where the differences in what you just heard are so obvious. Optimism versus pessimism. More progress versus back to the future. Investment versus divestment. Unity versus division. And what happened to the Christian upbringing? That was pretty nasty, wasn’t it? I mean, I’ve got to wonder which part of the sermon did he miss, because that was not nice. It was pretty basic.

We begin the year in good heart, in good standing, positioned as the centre party of this country, ensuring that balanced common sense and good policy prevail over rampant ideology and bad ideas. Let me tell you, the barometric measure of that when it comes to politics is the latest attack on you-know-who. Has it got a familiar ring about it?

I don’t want to sound like this because it might sound arrogant, but it’s not my words. But when a true genius arrives in this world, you’ll know him by this mark: all the dunces are a random confederacy against them. And I’m looking at them right now, at this point of time.

We’re constructive, and throughout this term we’ve looked at restoring capacity in our central social services, addressing the massive disparity between country and town, city and the provinces, laying foundations for a more just society and creating a comparatively robust economy for all to share in, not just for the few and the very few. Since then, growth is up; immigration is down. The minimum wage is up; unemployment is down. Infrastructure investment is up; business pessimism is down. A billion trees are growing up; the National Party support is crashing down.

The Prime Minister just shared another poll that she’s heard about with me. I can’t tell you, of course, because it’s confidential. But if I was over there, I’d know the feeling. Three more years, possibly three more years, of going nowhere fast. That’s why they’re deserting in their droves. That’s why they’re retiring from safe seats. They’re saying, “I don’t want to be here under this sort of leadership.”

We’re ambitious to do more and achieve more. After all, we’ve only just got started. New Zealand First stands for, in this election—the best place to outline that is to tell you what we’re not going to stand for. We’re a party that will not tolerate letting this country fall into a pattern of decline and drift. The previous National Government was complacent, unconcerned, and unable to address growing inequality and obvious signs of social stress.

The Prime Minister laid them out, one after the other, and there they are in massive denial, with incompetent, hopeless people like Nick Smith shouting at the top of his breath, looking like he might have a vein go in his neck. That’s how angry he was. He’s sort of the kind of guy born with a sense of noblesse oblige but without class. He thinks he’s born to rule. Do they look like they’re born to rule? Have a good, hard look. They haven’t been in business themselves. The leader and deputy leader wouldn’t know how to run the university tuck shop, have never ever run a business, and nor has their finance spokesman, Goldsmith. No—he’s spent his whole life writing about businessmen, but he’s never been a businessman himself. And you know, you cannot learn on the job. Either you’ve done it or you ain’t, son—and you ain’t.

💬 SPEAKER: Order! “Son”.

Oh, sorry—sorry. Well, you know, some people would be proud of that, but never mind.

Now, one forgets how distorted National on the economy was and how rundown the social services were, and they had one plan and one plan alone: open the floodgates of immigration—and that’s a fact. Between the 1990s and the 2000s, immigration was around 12,000 per annum, and then, under National after 2014, it massively exploded to 38,300. In the year after—2015—it was 58,300. In the year after that, it was 69,100, and by 2017, it was 72,300. They only had one part of the economic plan: just explode the population.

Now, everybody in Auckland knows what that meant, and everybody around the country knows what that meant: house prices going through the roof, a lack of housing, and a massive demand for schools, hospitals, and infrastructure. The stress was minus, and immigration explains the housing market distortion and crippling infrastructure deficit. Health, education, social services were run down. Evidence of neglect was everywhere, from people sleeping in cars to rotten walls in hospitals.

The other day, I picked up the Whangārei Advocate, and there was an advertisement from Mr Reti on the highway to Marsden Point.

💬 Hon Nathan Guy: Dr Reti.

Dr Reti had an advertisement saying that it had been reinstated. Dr Reti, please tell us how many dollars were set aside by the National Party with respect to Marsden Point? Mr Reti, put your hand up if $1 was assigned to Marsden Point to Whangārei—please put your hand up. You see what I mean? He can’t tell a lie—I admire him. He’s an honest man. But don’t have your party put that crap out and think you’re going to get away with it.

The same thing when it comes to, for example, north of Tauranga. There’s the member for Tauranga talking about Ōmokoroa being promised, and all the way to Katikati—not “Catty-catty”, as he said; Katikati—and Mr—

💬 Hon Simon Bridges: The Te Reo renaissance man, now—are you?

OK, Mr Bridges, put your hand up if $1 was assigned by you as a transport Minister for that road. He can’t tell a lie, either. I hope some people in the media are watching, because now we’re having a confessional. We’re having an admission. We’re getting it out of him, but, boy, how hard it’s been, and why do I have to do the job that they should be doing?

Where was the money? Well, it was never there, but he got up and said it. He read a list out today of what they had promised, excepting—as Grant Robertson will tell you, and as Mr Twyford will tell you—there was no money assigned to it.

When it comes to defence, they had a $20 billion plan with not $1 assigned to it. Along comes Ron Mark and, in very difficult and trying circumstances with the Minister of Finance, he starts getting the funding that defence desperately needs. All over the country and all over the Pacific, our troops are helping this country’s image in essential humanitarian work. It’s multifaceted, but it’s this Government that’s doing it, much to the surprise of the Defence Force. They have always believed that National was for them, excepting they never were when it came to finding the money that really mattered.

💬 Hon Simon Bridges: Why is she not listening?

Oh, the Prime Minister’s listening, all right, because I shared this speech with her before I started it. We’re a Government of cooperation—in fact, she could have written it herself. Ha!

When I was the Acting Prime Minister, I can tell you what happened one day. I’ll never forget it because I was absolutely shocked, because in the room came a group of civil servants to tell me that the Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoy programme—which for decades we’ve been financing to warn us if a tsunami was coming our way, and our Pacific neighbours as well—had all been allowed to run down, and the last of them was on the blink. This previous Government—if you want to look at any evidence of how shocking and neglectful they were, they were prepared to see the tsunami come down, sweep through the Pacific islands, and take the top of the North Island out, with no way of warning ourselves.

I stood there and I could not believe it, and my colleagues know what happened. They are sitting here now. We said, “We’re going to get on to this. We’re not going to lose one day. We’re going to rebuild these DART buoys.”, and last year, before Christmas, five were sent to the Pacific, and at the end of the year, 15 will be in place. That’s the difference.

There is nobody on that backbench who was told that—that we could have had circumstances where, when the media asked, “What happened here?”, we would have found that the so-called Government of Gerry Brownlee and Mr Bridges had allowed the whole warning system for the Pacific and ourselves to lapse and rot and decay. You don’t need to know any more about Government or policies but to know that.

More importantly, the Australians were shocked and said, “We’ll help out.” I spoke to the United States. They said, “We’ll help, as well.” But they could not believe that the very people who had put that in place—

💬 Hon Gerry Brownlee: No, that part’s not true.

—under former, responsible Governments had allowed it to happen. Mr Brownlee is still fully unaware of what happened. But, you know, if you’re not spending all your time focusing on politics and other things, then you can possibly—possibly—lose the plot.

Can I just say one thing: the National Party today—and its image is very clear—is a party with a small “n”. It’s not a centre party any more. It is still in the throes of “Ruthanomics”, even though that was a disaster that took the National Party, in the space of three years, from the biggest majority ever to a hung Parliament—in three years flat. They still hanker for that. They’ve still got control of the National Party, and, as for the rest of the backbenchers, they’ve got no influence whatsoever.

Here we’ve got Mr Goldsmith. You know what his experience is: he’s looking to cut anything and everything. He’s spent every time on massive, essential investments in provincial New Zealand scoffing at every idea—parked up in Epsom. He’s notorious, of course, because he’s the only politician in the whole Western World that is remembered for pulling his hoardings down—not for putting his hoardings up; pulling them down. We have never seen that—

💬 David Seymour: How’s Northland going?

—anywhere in the Western World, and now here’s the political cuckold from Epsom shouting out now. You know who that is, don’t you? The one who’s looking for a second tango partner.

In fact, I saw the other night on TV him dancing, again—it was on the weekend show—and I had a good, hard look at myself and I thought, “You know, this cannot surely be—that we in New Zealand have a Parliament where people are so desperate for publicity they’re prepared to do that.” They pick these special moments on national TV to humiliate themselves.

But, you know, can you remember the ACT Party’s leadership? I do. Remember who the first one was? Douglas, and then Prebble, then Hide, then White—was it? And who else—somebody in between?

💬 Hon Members: Brash.

Oh, Don Brash—sorry. Oh, Don Brash, yes. Don Brash, and now Seymour. Now look, this is a case of serious, mortal mental deficiency—it shows. Seven leaders—seven—and the present one’s only there now because there’s not a second vote. That’s what he’s doing there.

By the way, when you say something like you said the other day, if I thought he had a cent, I’d sue him. But he said on TV something that’s defamatory. If I thought he had any money or he had a sense of being able to pay me, I’d sue him, but I’m not going to waste all my money to get—

💬 Hon Simon Bridges: Talk’s cheap, sweetheart.

No, no. Talk’s not cheap—that member’s going to find out how expensive it is. This is a member that’s all over a tape recording of illicit funding of the National Party. The tape recording’s going to be disclosed in this Parliament shortly.

💬 Hon Simon Bridges: Run us through the defamation.

And he’s shouting out that he’s innocent. Is it somebody else’s voice? Is it somebody else’s voice? Mr Bridges, when the voice is played, will it be Mr Bridges’ voice or someone else’s? Because if it’s his voice, then he’s deeply implicated. He gave the directions. No wonder he said he wanted to move on—he wanted to move on.

Can I just say that recently the Fitch Ratings agency said that New Zealand had sound fiscal management, low and declining debt in relation to GDP, and they said that this would enhance the country’s resilience to economic and financial shocks. The reality is that we face difficult times that I have forecast in the past. I’m not trying to be wise before the event, but if you look at the level of bank indebtedness around the world and the amount of money that’s been given to cheap interest, then you’ve got to ask yourself: when does the ferryman have to be paid? When will the day of reckoning be? So for this Government to be positioning itself in preparation for these sorts of potential financial difficulties is a very, very sound measure.

For all those who will say otherwise, bear this in mind: when this shock happens, we will be affected; just like we are with coronavirus as we speak, where it will have a 2 percent effect—it looks like—on the Chinese economy. There are going to be international ramifications. The issue is: have we done all that we can to ensure that we’ve protected and shielded our people from those consequences? And I believe we have.

We’re looking at ways to support small and medium businesses, and in that regard, the following principles are guiding our policy development: the ease of understanding and compliance, tax efficiency, practical tax relief that will have a real impact on economic growth, innovation, and productivity. We’re going, compared to other similar economies, very, very, well. But we could do and can do a whole lot better.

Now, do you remember the National Party and its rail privatisation programme? Well, I do. In 1993, they flogged it off to their friends. Then they recapitalised it and the shares went up to $9.34, and after they’d recapitalised it and gouged it, the shares went down to 28c. That’s their record on rail. So then the Labour Party bought it back, having realised that this wasn’t a very wise thing to do, and put it back together again. National gets back in and deliberately set out to run it into the ground again—again.

💬 Chris Bishop: Rubbish!

I know it’s rubbish, and that’s your specialty. Unbelievable. What a sucker, eh? Ha, ha! What a sucker. I want to focus on my speech; otherwise I’d have a field day. It’s like having a duel of wits with an unarmed opponent, mate. And I don’t like being unfair to people, I’m a nice guy.

Back to my point. Can I just say that the big thing that’s going to happen this year—it’s important for New Zealanders to recognise this—is that we need a dialogue with the New Zealand people about our future population policy because the forecast of New Zealand’s population by 2050 has got us there already. All the forecasts said that where New Zealand would be in 2050 is today’s population, and no one has had a discussion with any New Zealanders at all and the consequences are huge. We can see the straining and suffering out there, where we’ve got Third World problems that we have allowed to be created, because we haven’t had a focused, smart policy.

Where are they all going to? Mainly to Auckland. All around the provinces we need workers. So we need a focused immigration policy that looks at making sure the provinces get their fair share of overseas expertise as well. Meanwhile out in the provinces, there’s a different dichotomy of ageing, where they are older than in the big cities with so much immigration. What that means in the long run is that they’ll be gouged out, as well, until the services all go. We need to look after New Zealand from Invercargill to Kaitāia, and to understand this more than anything else: that it’s the riches of the provinces that keep this country going, that you can burn down our cities but the provinces will build them up, but you burn down the provinces and you’re gone. One party understands that.

I want to tell people out in provincial New Zealand that they’ve got all these members of Parliament from the National Party from the provinces—they’re lions in the electorate and lambs in the caucus. They have never defended the interests of the provinces when it comes to exporters and farmers.

Look, let me say—because I was a member of the National Party once—if your choice as a young person is to join the National Party because you’re trying to find a wife or husband, there are better places to go—there are better places to go for real company. The problem is that once they get here, the big banks get to them and they stop speaking for the provinces. For example, when was the last time Sarah Dowie made a speech about Invercargill? When was the last time that Mr McKelvie made a speech about the provinces? When was the last time anybody in the countryside from the National Party got up and told the world what the country needed? Now, you know, it’s deafening—they can’t tell me one example. Well, who was the last one that made a speech?

And please don’t tell me the guy from the prosecution office from Tauranga, even though he didn’t have a warrant. Please don’t say he speaks for the country. Oh yes, it sounds good on the CV; he used to be a prosecutor, he says—he used to be a Crown prosecutor. Mr Bridges, did you have a warrant? No, again exposed. It’s like taking candy off a baby, isn’t it? Just answer the question. Oh, Judith knows, because Judith has a real background in law; I do respect that. But when it comes to the man with all the teeth in Tauranga: no go, no show. Thank you very much.

E Te Māngai o Te Whare, tēnā koe. Before I turn my attention to the Prime Minister’s statement, I just want to take a moment to draw this House’s attention, and our memory, to the catastrophic fires that occurred in Australia over the summer, many of which are still burning now. I think it’s pretty easy amongst all the hurly-burly of our election year to forget the crises that have occurred to our nearest neighbour. There was, and has been, extraordinary loss of wildlife, of human life, of forestry, and of property. The areas that were burned by the fires, if that had occurred here in New Zealand, would have stretched from Cape Reinga in the North to Rotorua and burned everything in between. I just think if we could take a moment to just acknowledge the scale of what has happened in Australia, because this House has not yet had an opportunity to reflect or acknowledge the catastrophe that has befallen Australia, and so I just wanted to take this moment to do so before we begin.

Sitting and listening to the Prime Minister’s statement, I felt enormously proud of everything that this Government has done, is doing, and is going to do to make this country even better and to ensure that it is a great place to live for all of us, and not just all of us now, but for generations to come. So it is with great pleasure that I do stand on behalf of the Green Party to support the Prime Minister’s motion and her statement that this House has confidence in this Government.

I do hope that the politics of this place—and we have seen that amplified already by the proximity of the election, even though it is still something like eight months away—won’t distract us from the fact that we still have some big decisions to make that will have a profound effect on the lives of New Zealanders. Whether it is to ensure that people have warm and safe houses, or whether it’s ending child poverty, or supporting young people who are going through a rough time, it is within these four walls that we can make and do make a huge difference to people’s lives. Some of us have got different ideas about how to do that than others, but either way, I think all of us in this House should remember—and with humility—that it is a responsibility that we walk into every time we walk into this Chamber, for this place, it doesn’t belong to us, to the 120 members of this Parliament; it belongs to the people of Aotearoa New Zealand. It belongs to people who tonight will be sitting around the dinner table worrying about how to pay the bills. It’ll be the people who are working tirelessly to improve our communities; people up and down the country who are starting and running businesses.

In the next eight months, we will be asking those people, the people who put us here, to hold us to account for what we have done. We too in the Greens will ask them to support the ideas that we have about where to go next. Most of these New Zealanders, I’m sure, want a Government that will not just confront the challenges that we face at the urgency and the scale that that requires, but actually solve those challenges; not just acknowledge that there is a problem, but actually deal with it—creating a better future for their kids and for their grandkids; a thriving natural world; a cleaner, greener, and safer community in every part of the country; a zero-carbon economy; and a world where every New Zealander can earn not just enough to meet their basic living costs but to enjoy those things that many of us, and certainly all of us in this Chamber, take for granted, like time away with the whānau or a treat at the weekends.

Now, one term of Government was never going to be enough to fix everything that needed to be fixed, but we have made an incredible start, and New Zealanders know it. Nine years of a National-led Government demanded it. Look back at that nine-year period, and what most people will see is the familiar pattern of neglect that accompanies every National Government—not just this last one, but the one before that and the one before that. Look back on that nine-year period that most people will see as that familiar pattern of neglect. They’ll see families that are struggling to make ends meet, forced to make impossible choices between heating their home or putting food on the table. They’ll see polluted rivers and a nearly cataclysmic absence of the native creatures that we know should inhabit our forests and our land; a complete absence of meaningful action to tackle the climate crisis. That’s what they will look back on on those last nine years.

On that last point, Mr Speaker, you well know that there are kids growing up today who are deeply worried about the future that they will inherit as climate change impacts their lives. It’s hardly surprising, when you consider that every year that they have been alive has been the hottest on record—every year for teenagers growing up today has been the hottest on record. As they think about their future, they’re looking at us and wondering whether we have the courage to step up. They want to know if we will take the action to create that better and cleaner world for them and their families, or what they will inherit from us for their children. I know what I want to be able to say to them. Climate change, it is not just another subject; it is a prism through which young people see the world.

Yet, in their term of Government, National squandered nearly a decade of opportunity to do something about it, to create a better future. They gave us no reason to hope. They eroded any promise of change. They became a risk to our shared future. That is not just negligent; that is unforgivable. So here, two years into what we will hope will be a very long period of Opposition for them, instead of using that time to think up ideas about how to undo the damage that they did, the only thing that they have managed to prioritise is an ugly politics of fear and misinformation and resentment. As we get closer to the election—we’re eight months out, and you’ve got to remember what you just saw from the Leader of the Opposition; that’s going to get worse—the National Party will pit country against town. They will promise simple fixes to complex solutions. In fact, Mr Bridges even said in his speech, “It’s simple. Just build more roads.”—the answer to every single question, every single challenge. “More roads” is the answer to every question that they have. Worst of all, they deny their responsibility for creating the very problems that they say that they want to solve. We will not adopt those tactics. We will not say just whatever comes into our heads because we think it might work. We will not make up stuff about the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change, and we will not exploit people’s genuine concerns for political gain.

We will win by talking to New Zealanders about the type of future that they want and the ideas that we have about how to get there. And we will win because of our track record in Government, regardless of anything that they say. More than two years ago, the Green Party members of Parliament elected to take seats in this place helped to create a Government that is committed to reversing the negligence of nine years of the previous National administration. We made a promise to Aotearoa that we would not shy away from the future that demanded us but work to shape it. And we here today have a track record of huge progress.

In our first two years, we have taken more action on climate change than the last 30 years of Governments combined: the zero carbon Act, the Climate Change Commission, the emissions trading scheme reforms, the first set of emissions budgets, the billions of dollars that we are investing in rail and light rail and buses and walking and cycling infrastructure, the billion trees programme, the end of offshore oil and gas exploration, electrifying the public service car fleet, companies reporting to their shareholders and State services organisations reporting to their Ministers on their climate-related risks.

I know—I know that there will be people out there who say we’ve not gone far enough. But no one should ever think—no one should ever think—that the hard work is not worth it because we haven’t got everything that we want. You try telling that to Marama Davidson, who has worked so hard to ensure that our loved ones, our friends and our whānau have warm, safe, and dry houses in which to live. Or tell that to Eugenie Sage, who has delivered the largest boost to conservation funding since the Department of Conservation was founded in the 1980s. Barely a week goes by when there isn’t some more good news about our native wildlife, and, thanks in no small part to her efforts, most people are shopping with their own bags rather than suffocating single-use plastic that we came to rely on. Or tell that to Julie Anne Genter, who has led a massive reprioritisation of transport spending to give people better, cleaner, and safer options for getting around.

And let me say this about the Advertising Standards Authority finding on the National Party, who found yesterday that the National Party thinks that they cannot hold this Government to account without lying about what it is that we’re doing—

💬 SPEAKER: Order! Order!

Beg your pardon, Mr Speaker. Try telling Jan Logie that the work to reform the way that we manage and reduce sexual and domestic violence has not been worth it. Or tell Gareth Hughes, who has changed the future direction of this country by working successfully to end offshore oil and gas permits that that hasn’t been worth it. Or Chlöe Swarbrick, who has done so much to ensure that young people have the support that they need when they need it to live fulfilling lives.

It’s work that serves to remind us that we are stronger when we have each other’s backs, when we’re looking out for one another, when we’re giving support that makes sense to the people who are needing it. Tell that to Golriz Ghahraman, who has championed changes to our democracy that build trust and make us more accountable to the people who put us here.

We have done all of this. We have done all of this and so much more with just eight members of Parliament. Imagine what we could do with just a few more. There will never be a moment that we can say that we are done or that we have won. Lasting change demands that we keep working every single day further and faster towards a future where all New Zealanders have everything that they need to lead fulfilling and meaningful and prosperous lives, where everything from our morning coffee, to travelling to and from work, to warming our homes is powered by clean, renewable energy; where our precious plants and our animals are protected and our wild places are looked after for future generations.

This Government of three parties has shown how we can work through our differences and find common ground that benefits all New Zealanders. Who will be around the table for those discussions after the election is a matter for New Zealanders to decide. But for those who say they want us to do more, I say, get involved. Get involved—get involved in the issues that are affecting your communities and our nation, whether that’s online or at a neighbourhood meeting, whether that’s conversations with your friends and your family, talk about your ideas for solving the issues that matter to you. Demand more of us. Knock on some doors. You never know, that small action that you take might change somebody’s mind. That might change the political environment in which the next Government has no option but to move further and faster towards that future that we need.

With two years at the heart of Government, the Green Party’s first-ever time in Government, we have done a huge amount to create a better future for our kids and our grandchildren. But what we do next—what we do next—is where you will find our better future: an Aotearoa defined by its leadership on climate change, by fairness and equality, and a thriving natural environment. Making this happen is the only way that we can keep our promise to future generations that we will leave behind a world that is better off for what we did. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I rise on behalf of the ACT Party in opposition to the Prime Minister’s motion and with some support for the National leader’s amendments that you’ve finally received on the Table and with a few additional comments.

This year, New Zealand faces a choice between the politics of gesture and the best political marketer in the world, who is also the world’s worst policy deliverer. A choice between a speech which delivered no substance whatsoever—there were lots of intentions. You have to hand it to the Prime Minister for outlining the intentions—everyone wants a better world—but not once did she describe how it would be delivered. And as for the Deputy Prime Minister—for now—well, let me give a bit of an education in some of the basic shapes. [Holds up pictures] This is a pentagon. This is a hexagon. This is an octagon. And this is a “should-be-gone”. And there’s so many reasons why he should be gone.

He says, “Oh, I’d sue, but you don’t have any money.” Here’s the truth: the truth is that it’s all gone wrong. The facts are out there. People know what’s been going on. He can bluff and he can bluster, and he can huff and puff and threaten to blow our house down, but the truth is going to come out, and it’s going to finish a career. The tragedy of that career being finished is this: people are going to sit down and try and write the legacy of Winston Peters. They’ll try and compare it to the legacy of, perhaps, Mike Moore, who changed this country for the better for ever. As they sit and they try to describe what Winston Peters has achieved in 40 years, they will find they have nothing to write. What a shame—what a shame. But, sadly, it is still true that he is taking the shape of a “should-be-gone”.

This Government is so filled with good intentions, and yet none of them work. Most of them, it turns out, actually, are a failure. The Prime Minister, as has been noted, didn’t talk about KiwiBuild. I think she talked about the Child Poverty Reduction Act. What has it done? It’s seen child poverty go up—as if passing a law to measure child poverty was actually going to reduce it.

We’ve seen intrusive market studies into whole sectors, such as petrol retailing, and get this: the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs says that they’re going to bring down the price of petrol 32c by attacking the cut that petrol companies take. Well, the petrol companies only take 25c a litre, so can the Minister of commerce—you know, I’ve done geometry for the Deputy Prime Minister; maybe the Minister of commerce needs to learn basic arithmetic. You can’t cut the price of petrol 32c by reducing the petrol company’s cut when the petrol company only takes 25c. That’s the problem in a nutshell with this Government.

Then they banned plastic bags to reduce the amount of plastic in the ocean. Well, there’re two problems with that. I actually asked the Government how much of the plastic from the ocean comes from plastic bags in New Zealand. Do you know how much it was? No? Neither do they. The Government can’t tell you how big the problem is they were trying to solve. So they’ve got us all walking out of the supermarket like this [Mimes holding groceries] or buying even thicker bags with more plastic to solve a problem they don’t even know exists.

I could go on and on talking about ineffectual policies that this Government has put in place. Here’s one: we have a real problem in this country with our firearm laws. We know this because an Australian weirdo—and, frankly, as it turns out, one of the most evil people to set foot on our shores—is able to get off the plane. He’s a single male. He lives alone. He’s just got here. He gets a licence. He gets an AR-15. The police sign off on 3,000 rounds of ammunition. No alarm bells were rung. No one thought, “Gee, this is a bit of a problem.” What’s the Government done? They haven’t solved any of those problems. What they have done is they’ve gone and isolated and undignified and collectively punished a quarter of a million New Zealanders who did nothing wrong. How’s that for a Government of inclusion and kindness? It’s another damaging policy that is ineffectual.

And then the Prime Minister had the temerity to say—and I guess if you’re 100 percent marketing-led you can say these things regardless of their veracity—that this is a Government of infrastructure. I mean, how does a Government of infrastructure spend two years trying to work out which projects they’re ideologically opposed to and then try to take the credit for building infrastructure that could have been started two years ago? If that’s a Government of infrastructure, then I’d hate to see one that actually does things on time.

Not only are their policies ineffective at making New Zealand a better place; they’re actually damaging. This Government sees every aspect of public policy through the lens of class warfare. Employers are people who save up, invest capital, have ideas, and attract customers so they can give someone a job. I think that’s pretty cool. I think that’s admirable. Not this Government. At every step of the way—minimum wage increases, national awards under the new name of fair pay agreements, new regulations on every aspect of employment—they actually make it harder for people to employ. They actually make it harder for people to get jobs. That’s why you’ve got record terms of trade and the welfare roll is going up. Only this Government could manage those two things simultaneously.

Take landlords. Landlords are people who save up, invest, manage property, and, for a weekly fee—which is often less than the mortgage on the property—provide accommodation. I think it’s a wonderful service. I think they’re great people. Not this Government. Constantly, such people find themselves under attack, with more and more rules and regulations that make it harder to do their job. The irony of ironies is that not only is it bad for the landlords but, because landlords and tenants have a symbiotic relationship, this Government manages to hurt the exact people it’s trying to help. Almost everything they do harms the people they’re trying to help and defeats the purpose they’re trying to achieve, because they just don’t get basic economics, basic logic, and the basic ways that this society works.

This country deserves better. This country deserves a society that works because it gets better policies that actually deliver the intentions, not just serve as background to an unending marketing campaign by the Prime Minister, who—I’ll give it to her—is the best marketer in world politics but the worst public policy deliverer.

Let me say finally, in relation to our Parliament, if there’s one thing we can all be proud of and agree on, it’s that we have been enormously fortunate to inherit parliamentary democracy. There is a long history where, gradually, power shifted from the monarch to the people, who send representatives to the capital city to speak for them.

It’s because of the importance of that job—holding the Crown to account—that we have such great privileges. Traditionally, Mr Speaker, it has been the person in your role who is the prime defender of that tradition. Early Speakers literally lost their heads for speaking up for and defending the rights of parliamentarians versus the Crown. Mr Speaker, I watched your ruling on the Leader of the Opposition, and I observed the way that you treated me through question time towards the end of last year. I’d put it to you that, as the person with the privilege of upholding the parliamentary tradition, you, for now, have all the power except for one, which is to choose how others will judge you as you leave this place in future. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Following agreement at the Business Committee, the debate on the Prime Minister’s statement will now be adjourned and oral questions held. The debate is adjourned and set down for resumption next sitting day.