General Debate

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

Paula Bennett woke up in the weekend to decide that she was the next one to leave the sinking ship and she thought about who to tell first and she scrolled through her address book until she reached the letter “t” and she found her options: Tom, Todd, or Tova. The choice was obvious: a person who had relentlessly been taking the mickey out of her, or Tom Sainsbury. So the call was made to Tom, and as quick as you can say, “A bowl latte and a ham and cheese panini.” Tom and Paula were filming a video in their kimonos. Meanwhile, Todd carried on in his blissful ignorance. Paula said Todd would not look good in a kimono.

The problem is when it comes to Todd Muller, the emperor has no kimono, because, time and time again—

💬 Hon Paul Goldsmith: It’s a “kimownow”.

—I think you’ll find it’s “kimono” in the words of Tom Sainsbury and Paula Bennett. Time and time again, we see from Mr Muller a change in position. He has, as someone said, got the consistency of a bored cat—when the border is closed, he wants it open; when the border is open, he wants it closed. Time and time again, we see the flip-flop, the inconsistency, and the different positions. The favourite word of Mr Muller is “shambles”. Well, there’s only one shambles here; it’s over there: 55:34. And the leaker—because I don’t think when Paula Bennett scrolled through her phone she actually did push the Tova button; I think that’s somebody else—I think that’s somebody else. It could be Pulitzer Prize winning author Christopher Penk—that’s who it could be. Or—you’ve got to be careful of the quiet ones as well—Jian Yang. Very quiet, no interview—you’ve got to be careful of the quiet ones as well.

So the emperor has no kimono, there is no consistent position, there is no leadership. Whereas, if we contrast that to this side of the House: on 1 July 2020, we deliver 26 weeks’ paid parental leave. I’ve been in this House long enough to know that many members over there, who were very quiet when those questions were being asked today, opposed that. They did not believe that New Zealand parents should be able to spend those first six months with their babies. Well, I am incredibly proud of that. I also want to join with Iain Lees-Galloway in congratulating our former colleague Sue Moroney, but also all of those people who worked so hard for this. We now have two Labour city councillors who were part of that 26 for Babies group, Fleur Fitzsimons and Rebecca Matthews, who are both in those elected positions today who showed leadership in the community in getting that done.

This is also the day on which we see our free apprenticeship programme come in. I want to congratulate my colleague Chris Hipkins on how he has got that up and running today. These are real opportunities for young New Zealanders and older New Zealanders to get the skills that they need. It’s not just the construction industry for which we will need many more people after the announcement of $2.6 billion of infrastructure funding today but it is also in areas like community care, healthcare, and mental health care. These are the areas where we know we need more people training and we know that this Government is the Government that can deliver that.

When it comes to those infrastructure projects, if I can briefly channel Shane Jones, there will be a line-up of desperate National MPs trying to get alongside the announcements in the regions. They might criticise the Rugby Park grandstand in Gisborne but I know that those communities, when they see those projects—be it the library in Blenheim, be it the roads and infrastructure in Rotorua, be it the City Mission in Auckland—know that it’s this Government on this side of the House that has their back. We had their back all the way through COVID-19, and this Government, led by Jacinda Ardern, has the vision for the future; unlike those on the other side, leaving the sinking ship one by one by one. I don’t know who will be next over there, but I can guarantee you this, everyone on that side of the House, make sure “t” is at the top of your list.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. There is only one definition of “shambles”, and that is that rambunctious group of Government led by—actually, I think he thinks he’s the deputy leader, to be honest. What a shambolic performance we’ve seen from this Government over the last few weeks. And, actually, when we look at their delivery over the last three years, this has been a legacy of non-delivery from the moment they walked in here until right here, right now. You’re looking at KiwiRail, great effort there, Winston Peters, I think it’s six trains—

💬 Hon Member: No, two.

Two trains in six months or something. Light rail, complete failure. We go through the list one after the other, and this party has said, and we will continually prosecute, that this Government, this Labour-led Government, is a party and Government of non-delivery. But I tell you, there is one thing they deliver and that is tax—I tell you, there’s one thing they deliver and that is tax. You look at what they’ve rocked up over the last three years: the three petrol tax increases, the regional road tax underpinning their vision for light rail in Auckland.

💬 Hon Member: Well, how’s that working?

Well, how’s that working? Exactly, that’s “gone-burger”. Couldn’t even imagine it, couldn’t even build it. The ring-fencing of loss tax, the tourist tax. This is a Labour Government who just loves tax. And what have we seen in the last 48 hours or so? Well, the Green Party, part of the coalition Government, or at least a part of the mix, has said, look, here’s our vision. Well, I tell you what that vision is: anybody who’s worked hard, anybody who’s saved hard, anyone who’s succeeded in any way, we’re coming after you—we’re coming after anything that you have saved, all your effort, all your ambition, we want a bit of it.

So I turn to the Prime Minister and say to her today, so wealth tax, will you rule it out? No answer. Looks away, looks to the Speaker. Will you rule out wealth tax, again? No answer, won’t commit. Say, “I’ll talk about that when we get to that campaign.” No, Prime Minister, talk about it now because the country wants to know. What about income tax? What about income tax increases? No answer. Looks away—looks away. I think New Zealand knows what’s coming. They absolutely know what’s coming.

Willie Jackson can’t wait for it. On The AM Show last week, he was bubbling in excitement. It wasn’t just because he had seen an early copy of Judith Collins’ book, it was because he said, and I quote, “I can’t wait for it to be the Labour-Greens. It’s going to be us. It’s the Greens-and-us Government.” Well, we all know what that means: tax, tax, tax. And every hard-working New Zealander knows it’s coming.

So the question that we put to the Prime Minister, you see, she bats it away. Well, interestingly, roll back three years, in the election campaign we put to her the same question as the media did. What about the Green Party’s oil and gas ban? Is that part of your policy? “Oh no, no, no. It’s not exactly how we’d do it,” she said. She was pushed again: an oil and gas ban, is it your policy? “We’ll think about it.” What happened? An oil and gas ban, because that’s what the Green Party wanted.

Well, New Zealand, you can be assured that, as we go to this election, the issue of who is going to come into your savings, who is going to look at your home, your assets, everything that you have worked for over the last however many years of effort and ambition, that side, the Labour-Greens Government, as they will see it, is coming for it, because they totally, at their core, hold a view that if you are successful, that is something that needs to be attacked. They look at it through the lens of envy because we have succeeded, we have worked, and we have aspired. But we see it as something that needs to be grabbed and captured and reduced. I can tell you, when we are looking at the greatest economic crisis of a generation, 30,000 jobs a month going south, what this country needs is a Government full of ambition and capacity to actually drive results and an economic plan that’s going to work, not a Government that sits at its core and says, “What you have earned, we want back; what you have struggled for, we want a share of.” No, this party will ever position itself on the side of those who aspire, who work, who work hard for their families and actually want to achieve and not actually hold a view that if you’re successful, we want to grab more of it back so we can spray it against the wall and talk to New Zealand and say that’s economic management. That’s failure; this is success. Bring on 19 September.

Meanwhile, while the Leader of the Opposition was delivering that riveting speech—not—Paula Bennett and Simon are in the corner over there, having an intense conversation. We wonder what they’re talking about, on this side of the House.

Everything that came out of the mouth of the Leader of the Opposition was absolutely unbelievable. And we’ve been there; we know how much it hurts to be in Opposition, to have the polls right through the ground, to not have the support of the public, to not even have the support of your own caucus, and it hurts. I could see that it hurt, actually, when Grant Robertson was delivering his speech and he was throwing out a few constructive criticisms to the other side of the House and they were not taken well—they were not taken well at all. To point a finger at this side and say that we are not delivering is completely insincere—and that’s an understatement.

It’s 1 July today and already we’ve had Minister Robertson stand up and talk about some of the changes that will come in on 1 July, not least of which is the 26 weeks’ paid parental leave that so many people across this country worked hard to achieve, and we are finally realising it, despite the opposition from the National Party. Also, the introductions of our apprenticeships policy, and I do acknowledge the Minister of Education and also the Minister for Social Development for their work to implement that very, very, very important scheme. We’ve been accused of not delivering, and yet we have been able to support New Zealanders through one of the most unprecedented events of our history. We were able to act more quickly than so many other countries with respect to putting supports in place to support businesses, to support people that were out of work, to support people so that they did not fall out of work. And we’ve seen that through the ministry that I oversee, with the rolling out of the wage subsidy and, more recently, with the job loss cover that we have introduced to support people that have lost jobs because of COVID-19.

We shouldn’t underestimate how quick we were as a Government to respond to the needs of New Zealanders. We can see that when we look elsewhere, across to other comparable countries around the world and their response. Even with Australia, who did announce a very comprehensive wage subsidy package early on, they still were not able to roll theirs out until May; we were able to roll ours out in March, within a couple of days of announcing it. So to point fingers at this side of the House and to say that we are not delivering and, at the same time this week, to criticise us for going into urgency with the purpose of trying to get as much legislation through as we can before the election hits us—to say that we’re not delivering is completely disingenuous.

We’ve seen so many flip-flops from that side of the House, so many contradictions with respect to their views on closing the border or opening the border—did the Government do well with its response to COVID or did they not do well? And, on any given day—in fact, in any given interview—we see those flip-flops. Even today, can I say, with a bill that came through the House on superannuation, a bill that all of the House supported, we were criticised, on the one hand, for doing this through urgency, despite the fact that many of the Opposition speakers were saying that, actually, the changes in that bill were long overdue, and then, on the other hand, we were criticised for the fact that we’ve had to delay the commencement date due to the fact that the Ministry of Social Development has been a little bit busy. So it has been pushed out slightly. So, on the one hand, moving too quickly; on the other hand, moving too slowly. And that was in just one committee stage debate, on a bill that they actually support.

So the contradictions that are coming from that side are incredibly prevalent to not just us but to the general public, and I do say to the Leader of the Opposition that New Zealanders want to know what leaders stand for, and it’s very difficult to ascertain that when he contradicts himself—in one sentence, one interview, one day, and many times during the course of the week, as we all have seen since he came into power. And, as we speak, Simon and Paula continue to have a conversation in the corner, a conversation that I am sure entails something along the lines of “Well, I bet our caucus is sad, regrets the decision that they made now.” I’ll leave it at that. We are delivering—

Order! The member’s time has expired.

Mr Speaker, thank you. Look, I want to just reflect on the fact that we are entering into what will be—I think, without doubt, without dispute in this House—the biggest financial and economic crisis of our lifetime. It is at times like that, that the measure of any Government really comes to the fore. When you’re in a crisis that the Reserve Bank is telling us will be the biggest in 160 years, people need support, and that support is about having a job and is about managing their cost of living. On those two measures, this Government is proving itself to be an abject failure.

Jobs—let’s talk about jobs. Grant Robertson likes to pretend that New Zealand is in a good position because we went into this crisis strong, but here’s what he doesn’t want you to know: actually, before COVID, the number of jobless in New Zealand was the same as at the peak of the global financial crisis (GFC), more than 150,000. By the way, when this Government took office, that was at just 120,000. So over the economic good times that Grant Robertson and Labour inherited, we saw unemployment climb back up to the same number as the peak of the GFC. Since COVID, that has gone up by another 50,000-plus already, and that number is going to get worse. That’s playing out in a very real, a very human way.

💬 Hon Willie Jackson: Negative, negative, negative.

Well, Willie Jackson might like to say this is negative, but I think caring about whether New Zealanders have jobs and can pay their bills matters, Mr Jackson. We are going to talk about the fact that there are record numbers of people now needing food grants, there are record numbers of people now needing emergency assistance, there are a record number of people—in fact, three times as many as when they took office—waiting for State housing under this Government. Despite all of the talk about supporting their people, we heard from the last speaker, Carmel Sepuloni, the reality is there are more people out of work who don’t know how they’re going to pay the bills, who don’t know how they’re going to feed their family. And what is the answer from this Government? More tax—more tax and fewer jobs.

I’m going to come back to taxes, because that is the reality of life for New Zealanders. Can they pay the bills? Well, today, they find that filling up their car to get to work just got more expensive thanks to this Government. So in the time of a record financial crisis, this Government’s response: let’s put taxes up. Let’s make it harder and more expensive to fill the car. Let’s make it tougher for businesses to employ people. I want to just quote a letter that I got just today, actually, from a businessman in my part of the world who employs eight staff, has got a business that he’s been running for 25 years as an owner-operator. He has had to, so far, put $120,000 of his family’s money in just to keep it afloat and he’s written today saying that runs out in six weeks. He’s also told me that he has written to numerous parts of the Government pleading for help and has not even had a response. So this is a Government that talks a great game—and we know what great talkers they are, but words are hollow. Words don’t create jobs. Words don’t pay the bills. What we’ve got is businesses being ignored, jobs being lost, and the response from Government is “Let’s put up taxes. Let’s make it harder and harder to pay the bills.”

We know that post the election, if Labour gets returned, it is going to be a Labour-Green Government because we’re seeing New Zealand First really show their true colours in recent days. We’re seeing more and learning more and more about who influences that party and when they are gone at this election, as every single poll tells us they will be, it will be a Labour-Greens Government and the Greens have already made their price of power very clear. And that price is even more taxes on any New Zealander who has had the audacity to work hard, to save a bit, and to try and put a bit aside.

Now, the message will be very clear. It’s clear from the Greens—and the Government won’t rule it out; the Prime Minister’s made that clear again—if you have the audacity to try and get ahead and build something for your family, to build that business that I just talked about, 25 years of slog to employ eight staff, this is a Government that will come after you. They will come after you because they fundamentally believe they can spend your money better than the earner can.

National doesn’t believe it. National believes in hard work. National believes in reward for hard work and success for those who are prepared to work hard. We will be a Government that will stand up for New Zealanders, that will make sure they have jobs, that will make sure they pay their bills, and we won’t tax them to death.

Order! Order!

That was a speech of concession where that South Island member, Amy Adams, has already acknowledged they will not win the upcoming election. Rather, they are continuing a campaign of sleaze—of bare-faced falsehoods about the party that I belong to. I want to set the record straight. This party believes in jobs and industry. This party, in the form of my good self, from time to time has attracted support from figures in industry. Those gestures of support are declared. That is how democracy is expected to work. But no, what do we hear earlier today? We hear during the course of Mr Carter’s contribution very defamatory things not only said about elements of the party I belong to but associated with people no less august than Graeme Hart. I challenge that member to go out of this House and repeat what he said in the middle of the debate on the Forests (Regulation of Log Traders and Forestry Advisers) Amendment Bill. He won’t, because he will discover he does not have short hands and long pockets; he will have empty pockets. That gives an indication, and I warn the other side of the House: do not run a campaign, in so far as I am concerned, with that level of taint and that level of stigmatisation. Be careful about the Pandora’s box of woe you open yourselves.

Now, let’s talk about things far more constructive to the future of the country: $3 billion on top of $12 billion, a perfectly clear long-term pipeline of certainty for this particular sector in the economy that comprises over 13 percent of GDP and touches the lives, in a fiscal sense, of 500,000 New Zealanders. Who has brought that to the fore? It was brought to the fore by a philosophy and a boldness to do what the other side of the House has never done in their political economy model: a willingness to leverage the Crown’s balance sheet to ensure we are endowing, post-COVID, the economy with infrastructure, with assets, and with facilities to smooth the path for future investment of a tertiary and secondary nature.

This party, this Government, has been willing to pour that level of fiscal stimulus through the education system, through the infrastructure spend, through housing, through rail, and through roads, and what do we hear in response? Apocryphal stories about tax rates. Let’s not forget about the GST hike back in 2008. Let’s not forget about how deeply, grossly at variance that act was with what was campaigned on. We’re far too clear-sighted, we’re far too four-square in our approach to delve into that level of muck. That is the side that has decided, through Mr Carter, to run a campaign characterised in that fashion. I give him fair warning: do not go outside this House and make those allegations, or you will be returning back to the South Island in a state of penury.

I am very disappointed that the context of a very simply occupational licensing regime bill, called the Forests (Regulation of Log Traders and Forestry Advisers) Amendment Bill, was defaced through such contributions. Of course, that bill has itself been catastrophised by the proxies operating on behalf of the foreign owners of the forestry sector—owners, I might say, that have been supported by this side of the House in liberalising and simplifying the overseas investment criteria for forestry purposes; owners and stakeholders in an industry that members on our side of the Government who have deep provincial exposure have been willing to stand up for. Well, I give fair notice—I give fair notice. After the election campaign, all bets are off. If that element and their approach of not only stigmatising but distorting think that there is not a response, we will respond positively to the farmers and the other calls of community leaders in rural New Zealand.

Thank you very much Mr Speaker. Well, if there was ever a sign of a Government in its first term that is incompetent and out of touch, it was its infrastructure announcements today. For the whole region of Canterbury we got a $15 million nice-to-have cycleway. What this Government did today is, this Labour Government has prioritised a nice-to-have cycleway over a vitally important roading project in my electorate, the Woodend bypass. We have a town of Woodend in Waimakariri that has 20,000 car movements a day. Mums and dads are taking their students across that State highway every day to the Woodend Primary School. We don’t even have a pedestrian crossing. Elderly are telling me they don’t want to cross the State highway to get to the bus services to go to their medical appointments. The businesses in Woodend are telling me that people no longer stop in their shops because they don’t want to head out back into the traffic.

And here we have a vitally needed roading project that that community has petitioned the transport Minister, Phil Twyford, on. They even protested in February. They had the Woodend rally. They packed out Owen Stalker Park. All they’re asking for is a vital transport investment that they need for a high-growth area that’s causing real safety concerns for that community. This was the time that this Labour Government could have listened to the people on the ground and heard them, and validated their concerns by backing them with vital roading funding. And what do they do? They kick them in the guts and they announce $15 million for a nice-to-have cycleway in another part of Greater Christchurch. What do these people have to do to be heard by this incompetent and out-of-touch Government?

Let’s take ourselves back to when this first happened. The National Government announced the Woodend bypass in 2017. This Labour Government came in in 2018 and changed the Government policy statement, and what that did for transport is it stripped $5.5 billion out of State highway funding and redirected it to Auckland public transport. And now we know they’ve failed to deliver that. That’s been scrapped. Yet people in Canterbury, they’re the ones that had $5.5 billion stripped out of State highway funding. The New Zealand Transport Agency turned up at the start of 2018 and they told the Pegasus Residents’ Group and they told the Woodend residents group that the Woodend bypass was now off the table because the Government had changed its priorities. Instead of investing into vital roading infrastructure and growing regions like Greater Christchurch and Canterbury, they redirected that money to roading and public transport initiatives in Auckland.

Where does that leave us today? Here we have an incompetent and out-of-touch first-term Labour Government that makes a big song and dance about infrastructure announcements. Those people in my area of Waimakariri and North Canterbury and Canterbury, they were listening this morning because they thought their time had finally come. And what does this Government do? Gives them a kick in the guts by announcing a nice-to-have $15 million cycleway.

You go and tell those parents who are worried about taking their five- and six-year-olds across a State highway with 20,000 thousand car movements a day that you guys prioritised a cycleway. This Labour Government prioritised a cycleway over elderly and disabled people who no longer cross that State highway to get to public transport, the bus stops, to get to the medical appointments because this Labour Government prioritised a cycleway.

That’s why it was great to have Chris Bishop in the Waimakariri last week, who announced at Owen Stalker Park, where the locals had a protest, that when re-elected a National Government will deliver the Belfast to Pegasus motorway, including the Woodend bypass, because what we know how to do, on this side of the House, is deliver. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

I suggest that member, Matt Doocey, checks his own internal polls, and then he’ll find out how far away he is from Government. This Opposition is a disgrace; it’s got the stench of an Opposition rotting from the inside—no doubt about that. I can think of no better example today as we watch the two exceptional former Māori leaders plotting and strategising on the other side of the House. Todd Muller had no control over them, but if you have ever seen a better example than the Paula Bennett resignation, I’d like to hear it or see it. Where else would you have a former Deputy Prime Minister telling her leader to get—I can’t go on about it. Just like Mr Sainsbury, I can’t go on about it. But who would say that about their leader and their leadership? Paula Bennett. Paula Bennett—what a resignation, what an outro.

I know Dan Bidois agrees with her. He’s grabbed his seat today because he knows there’s a reshuffle going on in the National Party. They’re trying to find a Māori to go to the front bench, and Dan Bidois has promoted himself today. He showed a lot of loyalty to Paula and Simon—none—and, while his mate Shane Reti is away, he’s jumped into the middle row. So good luck to Dan Bidois in terms of getting up there in terms of the front bench.

But the National Party’s been struggling—struggling—in terms of the reshuffle and finding the right Māori, but I’ll say again: well done to Paula Bennett; what a resignation. OK, you know, I take back some of the things I’ve said about her in the past. She’s a mana wahine—she can’t dance, sadly, but she outro’d in the right way.

In terms of Simon Bridges, he’s a relation on the Ngāti Maniapoto side, and we watch him on TV every second night, wandering the corridors of Parliament looking for an interview. “Who will interview me?” Simon Bridges says, “Who will interview me? Oh, I’ll talk with you, Tova!” It’s great what’s going on in the National Party. The constant undermining—the constant undermining—and the leaks.

And, of course, then there’s my good mate Judith Collins, and she puts her book out. Who puts a book out three months before an election? Judith Collins, she loves playing the game. She doesn’t really like Todd; she knows he’s going to collapse, given the latest internal polls. We all know the polls. I won’t mention ours, because we don’t talk out of school, but we all know the National Party’s—it’s all over the media this morning, and it’s a shambles and things are getting worse for poor old Todd Muller. He’s giving it a good shot. Every chance he gets, he blames me for all the unemployment in terms of the COVID crisis. It’s all Willie Jackson’s fault! Yes, OK, I’ll take that, Todd Muller. It’s all Willie Jackson’s fault! Never got a question for six months; then Todd turns up and it’s all the Māori fulla’s fault who’s got the Employment portfolio. It’s that Māori’s fault! It’s Kelvin Davis’ fault that no tourists are coming into the country! Great strategy, Todd Muller, great strategy! Pick on the Māori, but here’s the challenge, Todd. Will you put Dan Bidois up? Will you put Dan Bidois up—and Shane Reti? Get back to work. Get back to work, because old Mr Bidois’ going to cut your throat!

I was meant to be relentlessly positive about this one, and I see the boss down there, Chris Hipkins—I apologise, but Kieran McAnulty put me on the wrong strategy. He said, “Get into them”, and I am enjoying this, because the National Party are an absolute shambles and mess. They are a disgrace; they’re running a strategy of hysteria at the moment. But here’s the thing—no one believes them. They’ll have you believe, oh, you’re going to get COVID—you’re going to get COVID! The only people who get it are at the borders. That’s where they’re meant to get them. Tell Todd Muller that. They’re not getting them in your city, Lawrence. They’re not getting them on the North Shore; they get them at the borders. We’ve got security there, we’ve got police there; we’ve got this under control. We’ve got Megan Woods and we’ve got Jacinda Ardern. We will lead this crisis. It’s manageable. We can organise it. Stop running your stupid campaign of hysteria and maniac allegations. No one cares. Look at your internal polls. Kia ora, Mr Speaker.

Well, you wouldn’t believe that, would you? He’s spent four minutes and 45 seconds, as the Minister of Employment at a time when we’ve got record unemployment, talking about the policies of the Opposition. He’s absolutely terrified of both the Opposition and of Dr Shane Reti, who asks him questions every question time he’s here. He’s just hoping he’ll get promoted to something else so he gets rid of him out of employment. I could not believe it.

Now, the other thing that bemused me a little bit was Minister Jones, and I didn’t come here to talk about this at all, but he talked about leveraging the Crown’s balance sheet. What he forgot was that the Crown’s balance sheet belongs to the people of Helensville, the people of Waimakariri, and the people of Rangitīkei, and they will have to pay that money back as Mr Jones leverages the Crown balance sheet and forks money out all over the country.

Industries come and go, politicians come and go—as we’re about to find out in three months here—but the capture of seafood for human consumption has been around as long as humans have been around, or at least it was before we got a coalition Government running the fishing industry. I want to just talk for a minute about the introduction of the Hector’s dolphin and the Māui dolphin threat management plan that’s coming into force on 1 October and the impact that’s going to have on rural, provincial towns where we have our fishermen and women living. That industry is getting hammered at every turn. Those people are extraordinarily hard-working, and I think it’s a tragedy that we continue to put pressure on small businesses—small family businesses—at a time when the country is in a great deal of trouble.

So we’re really looking at the actions of a dysfunctional coalition Government, unable to make decisions to improve the security and safety of our fishing industry. Food is a critical topic for New Zealand, and the provision of food safety, and the safety and the reputation that that food carries with it as it is marketed around the world is hugely important to us, so we need to be sure that we are operating sustainable businesses. To this end, the provision of cameras in part of that industry is absolutely critical to the credence and the viability of the future of that industry as we go forward, and we’ve got a Minister of Fisheries unable to deliver on that—an issue that will become an essential tool in the provision of efficacy for that industry going forward. Not only that, but we have a Minister who subsequently leaks to the media and undermines the credibility of an industry, and I think that’s very unfortunate.

Then, we have New Zealand First being accused by the Minister of interfering in a process, and Greenpeace also accusing New Zealand First of taking money from industry players to influence policy. It’s a shambles, and the challenge of this is that it undermines the credibility of the fishing industry. I don’t mind what happens in this Parliament, but it undermines an industry that is hugely valuable to New Zealand, that returns $2 billion worth of benefit to this country, and that employs some 13,000 people—primarily in provincial New Zealand—with 2,500 of them taking great risk at sea.

The fishing industry has been under fire from environmental groups and so-called green politicians around the world for many years now, and a lot of money is sourced internationally to try and influence policy in communities and fishing businesses like we have in New Zealand, and I think that’s very unfortunate. We’re quite capable of managing our own fishing industry, and I think we need to be let go and let do it. This Māui dolphin and Hector’s dolphin thing is a very interesting piece of policy. But we’ve seen since 1921 five recorded captures of Māui dolphin, and since, I think, 1991, we’ve seen some 29 Hector’s dolphins caught or entangled in fishing nets, and we’re putting a massive structure in place that’s going to damage large numbers of fishermen and women around the country in order to save a very small number of dolphins.

The Minister’s estimates of the cost of that policy, and this is the ministry’s estimate of it—wait for it—is between $29.3 million and $70 million. I don’t know where he got the $0.3 million from, but when you’re that far out in your estimates, what’s the use of an estimate like that to an industry that’s going to be significantly challenged by the change in policy.

So it’s very unfortunate, I think, that this is being dealt to our fishing industry at a time of great challenge for them. I’ve travelled around New Zealand speaking to fishermen all over the country. They’re extremely worried about their futures as the cost is added to their business. They’re also worried about the turmoil that’s being created for their business as a result of COVID. This Government needs to treat small family businesses with respect—

Order! Sorry, I apologise. I wasn’t watching the clock. The member’s time has expired.

There is enough—we know there is enough in our beautiful Aotearoa for everyone to thrive, where everyone can meet their own dreams and their own goals about their life and engage in their communities how they want to. We know that ensuring that everyone can live decent lives is about setting ourselves up for our future generations. We’ve seen this in the community generosity just recently and right now, through COVID-19, and the response of community, knowing the responsibility of stepping up to make sure that everyone is helped. But we are not quite there yet at the beautiful country and the vision that we can have. We need to move further and faster to realise this, because far too many people are faced with the impossible trade-off of having to choose between the rent and healthy kai and the power bill.

The struggles are not new, and many have struggled for a long time, and through COVID-19 we have realised as a country just how important it is to have a strong social safety net that treats people with dignity. We have an opportunity right now to know that we can fix our current social safety net, which does not always treat people with dignity and does leave far too many people on unlivable incomes and does not give the help that is needed. We need a circuit-breaker to really plan for long-term vision for our country to be strong for good, and the Green Party’s Poverty Action Plan will support everyone when they need it, through a guaranteed minimum income that will give a decent life. To fund this healthier, safe future for all of us, those with a lot of wealth will pay it forward so that there is an income for everyone to rely on—because, as I said, we do have enough. The tax will have little impact on those with a lot of wealth but it will make a huge difference to those people who need it.

I really wanted to highlight our Agency for Comprehensive Care and the fact that right now we have a two-tiered discriminatory, unfair, confusing, and unhelpful system of treating people whether they be ill long term, have a disability, or are recently injured from an accident, for example. We would bring all health-related support into one agency focused on prioritising the health needs of everybody, no matter how you got to that situation. The significant disparities between these support systems have been doing harm for far too long, and I am pleased to hear from the people living it every day, that they are welcoming of our Poverty Action Plan so that ACC can actually offer humane support for everybody.

I also wanted to put in a bid for an election that actually upholds the dignity of our campaign and tells people the truthful accurate facts about policies, and I join the Prime Minister in her plea for making sure—either the Opposition cannot count or they are making a decision to put out information that is inaccurate. Our people are worthy of an election campaign that is at least truthful and actually has faith in people to choose politicians based on merit, not on misinformation and purposefully inaccurate information. I have trust in our people to be able to do that.

To close, we can end generations of systemic poverty in this country if we choose to, so that people can be in control of their lives. We know that working hard and getting a free ride is not restricted to any one income level, and I put an end to that narrative in this place, from these representatives who want to confine the way that we give back to our communities to only one group of people. That has never been true of this country. That will never be true of this country. People can be working hard even when they are not in paid employment. That is the value and the contribution that I want to support as the co-leader of the Green Party, and I look forward to putting our Poverty Action Plan in place. Thank you.

It’s a pleasure to take a call in this general debate. Today, I specifically want to focus on delivery, or lack of it, of this Government in my own electorate. It’s become abundantly clear to me over the last six months, but particularly in the last week, that the Ministry of Health and the Minister of Health clearly do not know what’s going on with my own electorate and the capital programmes that are meant to be delivered. Equally, housing is woeful, and I’ll come to the point of the stats I now have leading up to the election, which are woeful.

In November 2018, the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board asked the Government for $10 million to replace the radiology department at Hawke’s Bay Hospital. It was a joint investment—$10 million from saved money from the DHB; $10 million from the Government. That money was approved by the Capital Investment Committee in August 2019—August last year. As I was seeking to find out what was happening with these projects, I was provided an answer from the Minister that the money was put in the Budget—Budget 2019. It was put in the Budget and it was funded. Further on in the questions, the Minister said he’d never received any advice from the Capital Investment Committee to support this. Clearly, the two don’t line up. So, late last week, an urgent paper was given to the Minister of Health, and, on Monday, he wrote to the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board saying that on Friday he’d approved it.

I raise that because the net result is a loss of nearly a year from when that project could have been funded and built, and the people in my electorate could have had an upgraded set of radiology equipment. In my electorate, in the Hawke’s Bay Hospital, the radiology equipment is that old that, in many ways, staff are refusing to work on it, and some of the accreditation is gone.

I then also checked on what happened to the surgical services upgrade—basically, another theatre block. Delays in that have pushed the price up by $4 million, and lo and behold, subject to my questions, on Friday that was also put in front of the Ministers and yesterday it was approved. Without me showing what was going on, none of those projects would have happened.

Then I come to the much-awaited concept in Hawke’s Bay: the announcement in August 2019 of a new linear accelerator for the region. That means that people in Hawke’s Bay do not have to travel to Palmerston North for radiology treatment. Lo and behold, what do we find? No business case has even been started. No money has been set aside, nor even an application made, for the bunker for that facility. This was to be delivered in 2020-2021. Not a single piece of movement had happened, and, when I questioned it, they say that COVID came along. Yes, COVID did come along, but, actually, developing a business case for a linear accelerator and putting a case up to the Government could have been done during that time, but it hasn’t been. So once again, the people of Hastings, Napier, Wairoa, and Central Hawke’s Bay are denied the opportunity of a linear accelerator for at least a year, in my view—maybe longer—because the ministry and the Minister cannot get their act together to deliver what they promised. They promised in August 2019 that this would be delivered in 2020-21.

Now, I wish to close on housing. Housing is a disgrace in Hastings, and the stats—the latest stats—don’t paint a very nice picture. In 2017, there were 163 people on the housing waiting list, when this Government took office. In March of this year, there were 500 people living in temporary accommodation in Hastings, despite the fact that there are 2.5 hectares of vacant land and this Government could have built some houses. The latest report I have back is that 12 houses have been built in Hastings in two years; another 38 are meant to be built by October—that’s for the election. But guess what! At the same time they’re building 38 houses by October, they’re also going to demolish 28. The net result: in three years in Hastings, despite the fact that there is vacant land and despite the fact that the waiting list has gone from 163 to 500, the delivery of houses in Hastings is a net 22. It’s a disgrace.

Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te Whare. So much doom and gloom from the previous speaker who just resumed his seat, Lawrence Yule; although, if he were to just put his mind to it, if the previous Government had actually built houses nationwide at the rate that this Government is, there would be no public housing waiting list. But today’s a day for celebration. There is so much that we have to be proud of on this side of the House, and I want to focus on that and not the doom and gloom from the other side.

Today brings great news for our parents, because, from today onwards, paid parental leave goes up from 22 weeks to 26 weeks, and with a higher maximum payment as well. This allows parents to spend extra time that is precious with their little ones, with their babies, and that is so crucial to the growth and the development of their babies. I want to quote my colleague Willow-Jean Prime, in one of her first speeches in Parliament—because this was, of course, the first bill that our Government passed, way back when. Willow-Jean Prime said, and I quote: “ ‘Te piko o te Mahuri, tērā te tupu o te rākau.’—the way in which the young sapling is nurtured determines how the tree will grow.” And to quote Dame Whina Cooper, “For how the children grow, so will be the shape of Aotearoa.” So can I just acknowledge everyone: former MP Sue Moroney, the 26 for Babies coalition, and everyone who worked so incredibly hard—and the Government on this side of the House that actually made it happen at the end of the day. Can I acknowledge them all for this incredibly monumental movement.

Today’s also a day of celebration for homeowners, with cheaper building levies and more freedom to make alterations without a building consent. It’s also a great day for teachers, with pay increases for qualified early childhood education teachers, as well. This builds on the exceptional work that this Government has done and continues to do in terms of responding, recovering, and rebuilding in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I just want to touch upon the border, because there’s been a lot of talk about the border of late. The border remains our main line of defence against a second wave of COVID-19 here in New Zealand, because it continues to be rampant overseas, and cases continue to increase globally. The border remains our protection against community transmission, and can I say this for the record: we have no community transmission in Aotearoa. The cases that we’ve seen are at the border, and that is indication that our border regime, which is one of the strictest in the world, is actually working. It would be reckless and it would be risky to reopen our border now, as many have called for, including the Opposition. I just want to take a moment here, though, to acknowledge the fact that it’s been tough for many, including migrants here in New Zealand and members of our ethnic communities who have family overseas, because there’s a huge amount of anxiety for many. I know that the border closure represents them being cut off from their family, and I just want to acknowledge that. However, we’ve always said that a strong health response is what we need here. It is also the best economic response for us.

In the time that I have left, I also want to touch on another change that comes into effect today, and that is specific support for foreign nationals who are here in New Zealand who are facing serious hardship. We know that there are many here in New Zealand who have lost their job. Many of them are on temporary visas with the eligibility to work. There are many who are unable to find that work and find themselves in serious hardship. For them there is a specific fund that is open today, if they are unable to return to their home country because of COVID-19 restrictions, if they were on a temporary visa that was valid as of 23 March 2020, if they are in serious hardship, and if they have exhausted all their means of any other financial help. I just want to make note of that. I also want to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) for what was the most significant consular exercise, during the lockdown period and now. We’ve seen 70,000 New Zealanders return, and 70,000 foreign nationals who’ve been helped to go back to their home countries, as well. I thank MFAT for their considered response any time MPs have contacted them to support individuals, as well.

I’m incredibly proud of the work that this Government has done under the leadership of our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, and our Ministers, and of the work that is ongoing to support the rebuild as we rebuild together in New Zealand. Thank you.

Never in recent times have we witnessed the incompetence of a Government than with this Labour-led Government. They are so incompetent they can barely organise a barbecue, let alone a Government or an economic recovery.

💬 Kieran McAnulty: Oh, nailed that one!

They have failed to deliver for—yes, that’s right, Kieran McAnulty—my community in Northcote, they’ve failed to deliver for Aucklanders, and they’re going to fail, and they have failed, to deliver for our country.

Let me talk about three key areas where they’ve failed to deliver. The first is transport in Auckland. Need I say more than “light rail”? Two years ago, or three years ago, this Government promised light rail; two years later, they’ve cancelled it. In the last election, this Government promised the SkyPath and committed $30 million to the SkyPath project; 2½ years later, not a single shovel in the ground has started on this project. What about East-West Link, a really important project for the Auckland community? That was cancelled even though the Government then later committed funding to it, and they’ve failed again to signal whether they’re starting this project or not.

What about workplace relations, my area of expertise? Well, again, this Government talked up a big game on the future of work, which is all around preparing New Zealand for a greater environment of technology and improved economy. They talked up a big game, and the Minister Grant Robertson said that they’d been an active participant on how the future of work would take place. The business sector was excited, and yet what have they delivered on this? Nothing. A Productivity Commission report came out—fantastic recommendations, none adopted by this Government. The Business Advisory Council that was looking after the Prime Minister made some fantastic recommendations in this area, and all but one have been shelved. This Minister, Iain Lees-Galloway, has been sitting on reports and working-group documents—whether it be the Holidays Act review, documents around contractors—and they have failed to deliver in this area.

I ask you: why is this important? Well, it is important because New Zealand is entering a period of deep economic contraction. Treasury figures indicate that over 140,000 people will lose their jobs in New Zealand over the next year, and many from my community of Northcote. Yet this Government has failed to move in any positive direction to signal that they know what they’re talking about.

Let’s come to workplace health and safety. All of us want to make sure that people come to work and go home safe in this country. This Government again talked up a big game in the area of health and safety. Iain Lees-Galloway said New Zealand can become world leaders for workplace safety if we get our attitudes and practices right, but what has this Minister delivered? A report out this week—an independent report from WorkSafe—has indicated deep challenges and problems with the way WorkSafe conducts its investigations: not enough staff, poor training, and poor practices for investigations. We’ve seen workplace deaths rise under this Government, even after you take out the sad tragedy of the White Island events. Workplace accidents have increased under this Government, and this Government has failed to do anything about it.

So the bottom line is this: for this election, the choice is clear—if you want a Government who says what they want to do and delivers on that, there’s only one choice, and that is a National-led Government. When National says and makes promises around housing, the economy, and the environment, we will deliver for New Zealand in this area. We’ll deliver because we’ve got a fantastic team of people who have come from the business world, who have led financial crisis recoveries before, and we’re going to because we’ve got Todd Muller and the vision that he provides for the National Party and for New Zealand in the future.

The debate having concluded, the motion lapsed.