General Debate

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

The Opposition says that they believe in equality, that Māori should be treated the same as all other New Zealanders. And do you know what? There isn’t a Māori who disagrees. That’s what we’ve been calling for for over 180 years. We’ve been wanting equal education outcomes. We’ve been wanting equal employment outcomes. We’ve been wanting equal health outcomes. We’ve been wanting equal housing outcomes. It would be nice if we could live as long as non-Māori and enjoy our superannuation for as long as non-Māori, given we too paid taxes for our entire working lives, although I hear that Shane Reti wants us to be happy that we don’t die in our 30s as we did 182 years ago at the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. He and his party’s top aspiration for Māori is for us to be grateful that we are alive.

Equality means that we should start on the same playing field and that we should all have the same shot but history has meant we don’t start on the same playing field. There is neither equality nor equity in Aotearoa, and the Opposition’s goal to slash and burn the Ministry of Māori Development, the Office for Māori Crown Relations, the Ministry for Women, the Human Rights Commission, the winter energy payment, and the fees-free scheme are all examples of agencies or policies designed to create equity for those who haven’t benefited by a system historically designed and propped up by and for the benefit of predominantly privileged Pākehā men.

The Opposition want to protect the status quo because the status quo is their system that looks after their needs and they like to think that, if only more people were like them, all the world’s problems would fade way. They conveniently overlook the fact that their wealth, their privilege, and their authority were built off the backs of other people’s misery and the entrenched inequality across generations.

So my tūpuna four great-grandfathers back was a rangatira who signed He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and at that time he was a businessman who was in the hospitality and entertainment industry such as it was back in the day. He was the owner-operator of two alehouses. He had market-sized gardens that fed the hapū. He collected customs duties off trading and whaling ships that came into the Bay of Islands. He was setting his hapū, my hapū, up to be productive and successful both socially and in commerce. He signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the mistaken belief that his valued possessions and resources would be his for ever.

But that was a lie. His property rights were forgotten. He was told he couldn’t collect the customs duties; only the Crown could. His pā and gardens were torched. He was arrested and imprisoned without trial or charges. He was told he couldn’t operate in the hospitality space because he needed to be licensed, but all of his means of revenue were confiscated. He was a chief who was made destitute by the system that created intergenerational poverty and inequity. He was made to relocate to a small area of the Bay of Islands. The pā that was torched and confiscated was recently sold for millions of dollars privately.

His descendants, who could have had lives of prosperity if Te Tiriti o Waitangi had been honoured, now number in the tens of thousands, and I would estimate that 80 percent of them live on the breadline. The Opposition fail to acknowledge that their prosperity was made off the back of my whānau’s misery. My hapū in the day were left with nothing. They could have done with a Ministry of Māori Development to help them get back on their feet. They could have done with Te Arawhiti, the Office for Māori Crown Relations, because I can tell you at that point the relationship between the Māori and the Crown was pretty sour. They could have done with the winter energy payment, because they were made homeless when their pā was razed to the ground, because they were made homeless at the start of winter. They could have done with the Human Rights Commission because their human rights were horribly violated and, as most of us are a product of our upbringing, the lack of equality through the generations has led to gross inequity.

Order! Order! The member’s time has expired.

We have made a number of announcements in the past week that really reflect where this Government’s priorities lie. We have had some challenging times—that would be, probably, an understatement—particularly in light of the pandemic that we have been faced with. However, not only have we been focused on ensuring that New Zealand is in the best place possible it can be during this pandemic and making sure that New Zealanders’ health is front and foremost the biggest priority, but we’ve also taken this time as an opportunity to make investments where they have been so desperately needed.

I was very proud to be part of the cross-agency announcement that was made the other day on driver licensing. There were a number of Ministers involved in pulling this together—an area that would seem simple from the outside but, in fact, has been overly complex and actually has had so many barriers in place to a large number of New Zealanders being able to access this kind of fundamental qualification.

We are going to be able to provide 64,000 New Zealanders with access to drivers’ licences. Why is this important? Because we as Government are focused on supporting New Zealanders into employment, and 70 percent of jobs that are promoted or that are advertised require that people have a licence of some sort. Why else is it important? Because a large number of New Zealanders that have interactions with the justice system usually have their first interaction being not having a driver’s licence at all or driving on the wrong driver’s licence.

I have seen a number of young people participating in these programmes. Not only does it give them better access to employment but we shouldn’t underestimate the role that it has to play with regards to lifting self-esteem and building their confidence. I am very proud of that announcement and very proud of the cross-agency work that took place to make it happen.

Also yesterday, another good example of cross-agency, cross-ministerial work, was our announcement around further investment into Apprenticeship Boost, Mana in Mahi, and Māori trades training. I think one of the most shameful parts of what happened during the global financial crisis was that actually, rather than investing more into the upskilling and training of New Zealanders, funding was cut to apprenticeships. As a result of that, what did we see? We actually saw workforce shortages in critical areas like the trades.

We took the opposite approach and have actually invested heavily in this space. What we will see with Budget 2022 now is that we will further be supporting another 38,000 apprentices into employment, education, and training. We will be expanding the already successful Mana in Mahi programme—that has already had 4,700-plus young people participating on it—so that we can provide a further 1,600 places to young people in Mana in Mahi.

Quite often in this House, we are called to our feet to discuss the effectiveness of that programme. Make no mistake: it is successful. Around 89 percent of those that have participated in the programme have ended up completing the programme—or are still in the programme—and those that have left the programme have not ended up back on benefit. Considering the demographic that we are talking about, that is successful, and that is certainly the type of success we want to see across all of our employment initiatives.

I also want to acknowledge my colleague the Hon Willie Jackson and the role that he has played in a number of these employment initiatives, but in particular, with regards to Māori trades training, where will see further investment so that we can further support more young Māori being able to get into what really is sustainable and meaningful employment with a trade.

It’s not just about giving them access to the training, though. It’s actually working with Māori providers so that it is Māori doing this for and with Māori. I’m very proud of the announcements that we have made in the past week; they really are reflective of where our Government’s priorities lie.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. This week is Youth Week, and it’s an excellent opportunity for us to acknowledge and celebrate our young people across Aotearoa New Zealand and, also, to recognise the mahi of youth workers, youth-service providers, and all who work alongside and for our youth. This year’s theme is “Our voices matter, and we deserve to be heard.” It’s a theme that really resonates with me, and I’ll get to an explanation of why in a minute.

I started my Youth Week at a really uplifting event, which was the launch of He Kākano, a seed funding pilot. It was a collaboration between the Ministry of Youth Development (MYD) and the Prince’s Trust, and it’s really a pilot that gives young people who have decided to embark upon a business journey the opportunity to test the feasibility of their ideas. It gives them the investment, the mentoring, and the networking support that they need to scale up some of those ideas as well. Well, just like that event, there are about 277 different youth events happening across the motu; so, if members are keen to get out there, get involved, and support their rangatahi, I’d really appreciate that and encourage them to check out the details on the Ara Taiohi website or MYD’s website as well.

As the Minister for Youth, I really want to see our young people supported to thrive, and we can’t do that well unless we make space to really listen to them to understand what’s important to them, what their concerns and aspirations are, and then, to act on that. And that’s exactly what our Government is doing, and I’m incredibly proud of it. This is particularly important in the current environment, where we’re into the third year of a global pandemic that has disproportionately impacted our young people. The specific impacts on our youth include things like missed education, employment, and training opportunities, increased disengagement and disconnection, and significant impacts on their mental wellbeing as well. Now, none of these are new issues; they’ve experienced that before—they’ve been existing—but these have been exacerbated by COVID as well. And, as if the pressures of a global pandemic weren’t enough, we’re also seeing a global inflation spike as well as the result of ongoing supply-chain issues and the war in Ukraine, also.

And yet, though it’s been a tough few years—it’s been a challenging few years, especially for our rangatahi—we are also in New Zealand; we can take some comfort from the fact that, compared to others, we’re doing well. That means we’re now in a strong position to look at what investment is required to grow the economy further as we plan what the new normal looks like in a world where COVID is under control and inflation levels return to more normal levels as well. Because we need strong finances and sustainable growth as much as we need healthy and educated people, clean air to breathe, water to drink, and strong communities that actually look after one another, we need to look ahead to some of those big, complex challenges, because those, when I’m out and about engaging with our young people, are the issues that they talk to me about: being able to get a decent job that pays a decent wage, climate change, mental wellbeing, housing affordability, addressing family and sexual violence. And those are the areas that our Government is focused on.

In my last general debate speech, I talked about the 1 April changes that were brought into place—particularly the increases to the minimum wage and the halving of public transport costs—that young people have talked to me about. Minister Sepuloni has talked about the Apprenticeship Boost programme that will be extended. That is a programme that’s supported more than 43,000 people to get or keep an apprenticeship. It funds employers per apprentice, providing a financial incentive to keep them on, and, as a result, apprenticeships have increased by 55 percent in two years. We’re extending that to support around 38,000 apprentices—24,000 of whom are likely to be new. This is one of the reasons that we’ve kept unemployment at a record low. In addition to that, the Ministry of Youth Development supports youth-development programmes that keep young people connected to their communities, a sense of purpose, youth workers, and mentorships—all of this to ensure that, as a Government, we support our young people to be the best they possibly can be to participate, contribute, and thrive. Thank you.

New Zealanders are in the midst of a cost of living crisis. We wouldn’t know it from listening to the speeches Labour members give in this Chamber, because they seem to live in an alternative reality in which there is a money tree at the end of the Government’s garden that can keep paying for announcement after announcement after announcement, with no results, no outcomes, and an endless queue of New Zealand taxpayers lining up to pay for it.

It couldn’t be further from the case, because the New Zealanders I speak to and the New Zealanders we speak to are struggling. Food is up: 18 percent more for fruit and vegetables in the past year alone. Petrol looks set to go over $3 a litre again. Rents have gone up by the most in one year in New Zealand’s history: up $50 more a week. Mortgage-payers are looking at paying thousands more in interest on their loans.

People are falling behind, their wages are not keeping up, and they look to this Government and they say to them to come down from their Beehive offices and talk to the people and understand what they are going through. Talk to people like Anna, who shared on National’s cost of living website this insight. She said, “We struggle to make ends meet and keep food on the table for our kids due to the increasing cost of food, petrol, etc. We earn too much for assistance, but not enough to get by.”, and that is the story in thousands upon thousands of New Zealand households right now.

Grant Robertson may think it’s OK to get up and say, “Well, it’s all fine. I’ve increased benefits. I’ve put in some more Working for Families.”, but he needs to remember that it is taxpayers that are funding that generosity and it is taxpayers who are finding that they are falling behind. We on this side of the House say, “Please do help the vulnerable, because you have pushed inflation so high that, if you don’t, they and their children will fall behind, but prioritise tax relief for the squeezed middle, who are struggling.”

But what does Labour do instead? They are embarking on the biggest Government spend-up in New Zealand’s history. In the Budget that Grant Robertson announces next week, he is planning to spend more, and bake it into future years, than has ever been spent before, because he’s collecting $15 billion more in tax from New Zealanders than was the case when he first became the Minister of Finance.

“What is he doing with that money?”, New Zealanders say to me. They say, “Just tell me it straight, Nicola. Where’s it all going?”, because they’re not seeing the improvement. They’re not seeing more hip operations. They’re not see more kids getting better achievement at school. They’re not seeing that, actually, the housing crisis has been sorted; in fact, they’re seeing four times as many people waiting for a house. They say, “Please, Nicola, can you just urge the Government to give us some tax relief, because we’re doing it hard.”, but will they listen? No, because, actually, on the other side of the House there is a smug belief that this Government can spend New Zealanders’ money better than they can, and there is no plan. In fact, the plan is spend more, dream up new ways to tax people for it, and then cross your fingers and hope it all gets better, and that is not good enough.

It’s not good enough for David Parker to wave around Thomas Piketty and say, “I’m dreaming up a new wealth tax.” It’s not good enough for Grant Robertson to say, “I’m just going to keep on spending and hope for the best.”, because, actually, New Zealanders are worried. They are worried that the debt levels in this country keep getting higher. There’s no plan to put the books back into balance, but all there is a plan to do is to keep taxing them more. There is a danger now that the wheels will well and truly fall off, and we have bank economists and we have thought leaders telling New Zealanders that it’s time to prepare for the worst.

So next week, when Grant Robertson puts down his Budget, I will judge it by this: does it respond to people like Anna and the thousands like her around the country, struggling with higher mortgage payments, higher rents, and higher costs, who work hard every week and who pay their tax? Does it respond to her? Can the Minister promise her that every extra dollar he is spending will result in better outcomes than she would get for that money in her household budget? I would put it to you that that is a grave responsibility and one that this Government has fallen short of again and again and again, and New Zealanders deserve better.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. There’s nothing like a busy market day, and I think most of us have them in our electorates. In Upper Harbour, if it’s a Saturday morning, you head down to the Catalina Bay markets. It’s not just the incredible goods on sale there, not just the honey made by Carlene and Terry, or the awesome new hemp spread product made by Sam, or the larger than life avocados by Jan, or the sunflowers that you can get from Agnes, who gives part of every purchase to those who are facing war in Ukraine. It’s the buzz of innovation, it’s the creativity, it’s that mixture of pragmatism and risk taking, that unique spirit that our business community bring to New Zealand.

Down at the markets, one of my favourite places to stop is a little mum and dad stall called Family of Nuts, and they make their product right down there in Hobsonville Point. It is more than a business, I know, to many of those business owners; it’s a labour of love. But I know that it’s also been a profoundly challenging time for them over the last few years, and the Government has done a lot of work in terms of supporting them through COVID times, which means that now many of our businesses are thriving.

The markets emphasise that buzz of the business community, but it’s not the only way that they connect with the flavour and the tone of who we are as a society. On a Monday in the Upper Harbour electorate, you’ll find one of our biggest industries getting up to work early. It’s our early childhood sector, because their clientele get up early as well. When I go out and I speak to them, they also talk about the supports that we’ve provided them through hard times so they can recover and thrive.

Now, over the past two years, there has been around $23 billion worth of support for businesses and workers through the wage subsidy, the resurgence support payment, and the Small Business Cashflow (Loan) Scheme. Upper Harbour has the eighth-highest amount of technicians and trade workers in all of Aotearoa’s electorates. It’s an industry that has had significant support from the Government through the resurgence payment. I am proud of the support that we’ve given them, but I’m also proud of the overall economic recovery that we’re seeing.

Our borders are reopening to tourists and business visitors from around 60 visa waiver countries as we continue our reconnection with the world. As announced today, our international borders will fully reopen to tourists and visa holders from 31 July. With our economic recovery now larger than pre-COVID levels—and we’re seeing a record-low level of unemployment—we are recovering; we’re providing the strong foundations for business to succeed. As we recover, our Labour values mean that we’ll continue to support all New Zealanders.

I hear how much this means on a regular basis to the people in Upper Harbour. A few weeks ago, I met with a grouping of principals, and I recall Rob Taylor, who’s the principal from Colwill School, telling me about how much the healthy school lunches programme means to him. He said, “Our school families really need it. It wasn’t until the lockdowns that we realised how much of a difference it makes.”

Labour values mean supporting all New Zealanders. I’ve spoken to a number of our retirees in the Upper Harbour community. There are almost 10,000 of them who reside in Upper Harbour, and they talk about what the increase to the super payment means to them. They talk about what the winter energy payment means to them.

We support all New Zealanders and we’re also planning for the future. Just earlier this week, Minister Robertson and Minister Hipkins announced that the Government is extending our Apprenticeship Boost programme, which means we’ll be supporting around 38,000 apprentices. I know this matters in Upper Harbour. Out in Massey, this is going to make a huge difference. Massey High School is the home to the innovative academy that trains people into trade and supports them into jobs that engage both their heads and their hearts.

We’re heading in the right direction. We’re reopening to the world. We’re growing our economy. We’re working to support all New Zealanders.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Over the past several weeks, I have been travelling right around New Zealand, talking digital connectivity, and hearing stories from people—whether it’s businesses or local communities at the pubs and restaurants—about their digital exclusion. From Mosgiel to Westport to Ross to Hokitika, even on the North Shore of Auckland, there are stories, time and time again, of people not having the digital support, and the connectivity issues that they face day to day. Considering the fact that it is 2022, when people are talking about gigabytes and terabytes, some people are struggling with dial-up speeds.

One in five New Zealanders faces digital exclusion—that’s extremely high—for one reason or another. It can be geographical, it can be accessibility issues, it can also be socio-economic, and it can be because of the changing world, I guess. Particularly people in the disability sector, people who have disabilities, are some of the hardest-hit communities—also, the elderly community. Elderly New Zealanders, particularly in the rural communities, are excluded as Government and services withdraw from their small towns in New Zealand. They cannot even activate their EFTPOS or credit cards or do their transactions, due to the lack of connectivity or, worse, the tyranny of distance to their nearest bank.

Rural New Zealanders face kilometre after kilometre of no mobile coverage on our State highways. On regional roads, in short, if they crash and have an accident, if they’re injured, they could be walking or actually limping for hours before they could get to the next cell signal so that they can make a 111 phone call. This is absolutely disgraceful in 2022. The Government should do better. Our State highways stretch over 11,000 kilometres, and, actually, over 20 percent of this, our national road network, has no connectivity—20 percent of our roads have no connectivity. This has to be addressed.

Only 36 percent of State Highway 94, for instance, will have mobile coverage by next August; right now, it’s only about 15 percent. The road from Te Ānau to Gore, for Southlanders, is a death trap due to the lack of connectivity. State Highway 6 is 1,162 kilometres long, it stretches the breadth of the South Island, and I travelled much of it recently, actually, during the recess, from Westport to Ross. Over 40 percent of it has no connectivity. Even when the black spot coverage roll-out is complete next September, there will be stretches culminating of 186 kilometres of roading that will remain without telecommunication services.

Madam Speaker, I’d just like to take this opportunity to thank you, as the chairperson of the Petitions Committee, for supporting me in having the topic of digital exclusion be debated in a special debate coming up on 28 July, as determined by the Business Committee today. I’d like to thank the Citizens Advice Bureau of New Zealand for bringing this topic, because it was heard in the Petitions Committee.

Elderly communities face these issues every day, whether it’s actually cheques not being accepted or the fact that, as I mentioned, their bank cards and EFTPOS cards cannot even be activated, because they cannot get to the bank to activate it, because the banks have closed in their small towns and they have no internet connection to even do any banking from their rural homes—the tyranny of distance: the fact that they can’t even connect to their digital cell sites; the fact that they don’t even get a tsunami warning if they happen to be living in a place like Dunollie, which I have actually mentioned in this House before.

Digital connectivity in a world where the Minister of the digital economy is actually sitting in the House looking down—but he needs to fix these issues for New Zealand. National believes that the future is digital and everyone, every single person in New Zealand, must have the tools they need to be part of our digital world. No one should be left behind. It is a failure of this Government to not deliver better, faster. Do better, please.

Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. Thanks very much, Madam Speaker. I’d like to take the opportunity to talk a little bit about a fantastic announcement that was made on Sunday that has provided record investment in the justice sector, for law and order in New Zealand. The investment announced last Sunday delivers a police force that is the biggest New Zealand has ever seen, and continues investment in the police after the goal of an additional 1,800 police will be achieved by the end of the year. That’s six months ahead of where we were scheduled to be.

Extra funding is set aside to grow police to match population growth, which in the past hasn’t been kept up with in previous Governments. This will ensure that there is at least one police officer for every 480 New Zealanders. In addition to this, there’s another $94 million specifically targeted for gangs and organised crime, funding to support businesses to protect from ram raids, and also targeting gun crime with the establishment of a new firearms unit within police.

We’ve also increased safety to front-line police with a nationwide roll-out of the tactical response model, with the training of police officers up to Armed Offenders Squad standard. Breaking the cycle of reoffending is just as important as investing in front-line capability, and that’s exactly why there’s a $193 million investment to break the cycle of offending in New Zealand, and funding on top of this for an additional 518 extra Corrections staff to support rehabilitation.

Now, I want to go back a little bit to 2016, to when the Minister of Police, Judith Collins, stated that there were not enough police to respond to retail crime. There were a couple of dine-and-dash incidents I recall, and the Government, she admitted, had not kept up with the modest goal of one police officer to 500. Now, this Government, under Minister Poto Williams, has delivered, and will deliver, 480 people per police officer.

And the response we’ve had from those opposite, in particular Mark Mitchell, who has mentioned that that’s a knee-jerk reaction—that additional funding and more police on the front line won’t help the problem go away. His answer to the problem is greater consequences for criminals and also greater powers for police. But we know for a fact—we know for a fact, on this side of the House—that you can’t arrest your way out of a problem; you have to be a little bit smarter than that. And, sadly, that’s where Mr Mitchell falls down. That number that we’re forgetting is what happened under the last Government in terms of getting tough and giving police more powers—that Government was torn straight down the middle when it came to firearm prohibition orders, and that’s exactly why that piece of legislation was never delivered upon in nine years. That Government was split right down the middle, between Paula Bennett and, I think, Judith Collins, who wanted to have warrantless, causeless searches—and then on the other side, Amy Adams, who kind of knew that we had a New Zealand Bill of Rights Act and that it wasn’t so cool. Then I remember it sort of all came to a head when we had Paula Bennett, then as the Minister of Police, saying that some people have more rights than others.

I think that quite aptly sums up the position of the National Party on just about everything, to be frank. That is why it’s important we stick to facts and not fiction, and that’s why I’d like to conclude by talking about a few facts that are important to remember—and that’s, in the past 10 years, what our youth justice figures have done—a 61 percent reduction in the number of children going to a family group conference or in court action. That’s 2,900 fewer children offending, and that’s 8,500 fewer 14- to 16-year-olds offending. That’s a fact. Youth crime has decreased. And the response, once again, we’ve had from that member opposite, from Mr Mitchell, is that he called it fake news. That was the response in general. I’m going to quote, “Oh, look, I was going to say, ‘Don’t be fooled by these stats. Youth crime is not trending down. Any Kiwi that applies the common-sense rule’ ”—not sure what that is—“ ‘knows that because they hear and see what’s happening every day, the reality is that this Government has found different ways of capturing stats.’ ” Fake news is what we get from the other side.

So, to wrap up, I’d like to say that I am proud of what this Government is delivering for New Zealand communities to keep them safer. The real truth is that a bunch of anecdotal war stories does not add up to a strategy that actually reduces the drivers of crime in our communities. Cutting funding and increasing police powers is not a strategy. This Government knows that we can’t arrest our way out of a problem, and we are working to deliver on those underlying drivers of crime. And I’m proud of what’s being done. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Order! Before I take the next call, I’d like to welcome the visitors to the gallery but also remind them that the rules in this House, including the gallery, are to keep us all safe, and that is that all members—except when they are speaking—and all visitors are to wear their masks correctly, covering over the nose and mouth.

Madam Speaker, thank you very much. He mihi nui ki a koutou katoa i roto i tēnei Whare. Yesterday I was privileged to announce $114.5 million towards Te Aorerekura, towards achieving the vision of everyone in Aotearoa living free from family violence and sexual violence, living with peace.

I firstly want to acknowledge the fantastic crowd out at Porirua Ngā Uri o Whiti Te Rā Mai Le Moana Trust and particularly their kaimahi, their leadership on the ground, and people like Saviour, who delivered a fantastic mihi to this work, to the care that they have for their community. And my outstanding colleagues who were there to announce this incredible piece of work following Te Aorerekura, the launch of our strategy to eliminate family violence and sexual violence at the end of the year last year.

Now, what has become very, very clear is we have to do things differently. This budget is the first budget, the first financial commitment that we see from Government following the launch of that strategy. And it’s clear that Te Aorerekura is about generational change. It is a 25-year minimum commitment and has pathways to six key shifts that we must change if we have real hope—and I think we all do and can and must have real hope of eliminating family violence and sexual violence. A whole lot of work needs to be done. It won’t all be done at once. But what the strategy has done is outline the key pathways that the research has shown, that the community have called for, that the sector and expertise have called for, that we collectively have agreed are the ways towards achieving that vision and that goal for our families and communities.

So the budget that I announced yesterday is across all of the key shifts that are in Te Aorerekura. For example, there is $38.1 million in shift one, and that is where people were clear that we had to have an approach towards strength-based wellbeing. Shift two has $4 million towards mobilising communities, and that was about making sure that we are having a wider, deeper, more expanded reach across Aotearoa to work properly with and engage the leadership to mobilise communities to be at the centre of their own solutions. There is an entire shift dedicated to increasing the skill and the quality and capability capacity of our workforce. If we are going to do this work, we need a workforce who are supported, who are valued, who have the resource, the knowledge and the expertise, training and development that they want and need to do good work so that when someone puts their hand up for help, they are given the level of support they deserve. Everyone deserves the level of support they require towards restoration and healing to overcome trauma and to interrupt intergenerational trauma.

We also have massive investment in primary prevention—that has been one of the biggest gaps and lacks in successive Governments’ approaches to this work. For decades and generations, we have focused on being the receiving ambulance at the bottom of the violence cliff. We’ve known for a long time, and now we are finally dedicating huge resource and support not just to fiscal primary prevention strategies and programmes but through a collective understanding that we must commit to stopping violence before it happens—and that there are complex dynamics, shifts in cultures and attitudes and behaviours that are going to be the only way we can change the environments that allow violence to not just happen but allow it to continue to happen. Primary prevention is a third of the amount that I announced yesterday, $37.6 million, and it will be led with the leadership of communities in authentic partnership with Government.

We also know that, while we want to prevent violence from happening, it is still happening and we must improve our responses. We must have responses that are safe, that are timely, that are appropriate and, most of all, accountability from our Crown agencies and Government departments—

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The member’s time has expired.

Kia ora, Madam Speaker. I want to reflect on the sun and the sun that shines down upon us as a nation, but I also want to focus on the sunniest city in Aotearoa for 2021. Of course, I see the Hon Kiritapu Allan is in the House this afternoon and she would say Whakatāne, right? She would say this is her place, this is her spot, and you probably think about that as well, but it is not. I’m sorry, it is not the Labour stronghold of Whakatāne.

Then, of course, Rachel Boyack, the MP for Nelson, a wonderful Labour member of Parliament, and often we think of Nelson as the sunniest place; unfortunately, not. Well, actually, fortunately not, because of course—it is not my place of birth—it is New Plymouth! The wonderful Labour stronghold of New Plymouth, and for another year running we are the sunniest place and it is wonderful. But then this morning I did get a text message from a friend of mine with Maunga Taranaki with a light dusting of snow that came on overnight. We feel the temperature beginning to drop and we are beginning to feel the effects of autumn that is upon us.

Of course, when autumn hits, the temperature drops and when the temperature drops we turn our heaters on, we light our fires, we close our windows, and we’re sure that we are cosy and warm. But this isn’t the experience for some people. For many people within our communities and in our nation, there are people who don’t turn their heaters on or light their fires during winter. There are those that don’t have double-glazed windows, don’t have insulation, don’t have all those mod cons of modern housing—those who do it tough, and those who suffer because of that, because of health and respiratory issues.

That’s why I’m glad that, as of the first of this month of May, yet again, we as Government have brought in the winter energy payment, running from May through to October to ensure that families aren’t stressed about turning that heater on to make sure that people are warm. I was in the wonderful small and sunny town of Ōpunake on the weekend and got to catch up with Bev, who’s a 94-year-old constituent, still lives in her own home, a little old State house that’s been converted. I know that she was grateful for the fact that she isn’t worried about turning a heater on this winter, because she has got the support of the winter energy payment. There’s also, of course, what we brought in earlier this year in terms of making sure that there’s an increase to the main benefit. There’s obviously an increase to the New Zealand superannuation, Working for Families, and, of course, raising the minimum wage, ensuring that people are looked after. Now, I know we’ve got further to go. I understand this is no silver bullet. This will not fix everything that is happening in our society at the moment, but this is a step. This is a way forward for us, and we will continue, as we always have in Government, to support people in terms of those who are going without.

Which, of course, brings us to the cuts in fuel tax and the half-price public transport. Since this has come in—you hear news of the big urban centres, obviously, with their buses and their fleets of public transport, but out in the provinces we have them as well. I can say that the Connector bus, which takes people from Hāwera up to New Plymouth and back again, in terms of those using the bus service on those half-price bus tickets, it has been going gangbusters in the last few months with these half-price fairs. I own a little Bee Card. I know I live in the provinces but we have the tap on, tap off and we’re able to use the same amenities that many people in the urban centres have. So I’m proud to know that, as Government, we’re doing things that are ensuring that people are better off; we’re making sure that people are cared for.

Finally, this afternoon, I want to talk about apprenticeships. And, again, we’ve been having so much going on in this space, and, again, Minister Robertson and Hipkins announced in terms of boosting the apprenticeship programme. We were supporting around 38,000 apprentices, 24,000 of whom are likely to be new apprentices, and the 14,000 whom will continue to benefit from the programme beyond August of this year.

Now, I know a young person, Jayden, who used to live with me and he is an apprentice. Recently I was at an event and it was a competition for young apprentices. He was so excited because, after spending years and years of coming and going from jobs and unemployment to now being working with Cleveland Construction as an apprentice, he is excited about his future and even said to me, “Next year, I’m going to be in this competition, and next year you’re going to be giving me the award for the top apprentice.”

For me, this is what this Government is about. It’s about empowering people. It’s about lifting people up, and it’s ensuring that people have a place to work and a warm home to live in.

Well, I don’t want to be unkind in using Glen Bennett as an example, but that might as well be a valedictory speech. Someone who holds the seat of New Plymouth by a majority of 2,500—on current polling, he’s gone. He’s not the only one on the Labour Party backbenches who knows that it’s exit time and time to talk to a recruiting agency. Nothing sharpens the mind like an imminent exit from this place—nothing dulls policy ambition.

We know that the Labour Party has been all aflutter in their caucus this week talking about three waters, saying to each other—yeah, they know. You can see the response. They know. They’ve been saying, “Do we really want to do this? Is it really worth it, botching this thing, so that we lose our seats?”—all of those provincial seats. Paul Eagle is about to announce his mayoral run. He’s less worried about it. But someone like Shanan Halbert from Northcote, he’ll be thinking, “Is it really worth it? Is it really what I want to do, to put co-governance through everything?” Is it a worthwhile goal to try and be the first country in history to achieve equal rights for every citizen and then, as if engaged in some historic shuttle run, to run back in the opposite direction and create different categories of human, where you get seats at the table on these water entities based on your ancestry rather than being elected by your constituents? That’s the problem that this Labour Party has. It’s not a policy that was ever worth doing.

You see, there might be a problem with three waters, but logically if the difficulty is that councils don’t have enough money from existing ratepayers to fund the infrastructure and the fixes for the broken infrastructure, neither will these new water entities—unless the Government underwrites the new entities. And if the Government can underwrite the new entities, it could’ve just underwritten the councils and solved the problem that way.

So why do we have these new water entities? Well, in part, because—let’s tell the real secret—three waters was never about a viable solution to our infrastructure problems. It was a Treaty settlement in disguise. Didn’t we just hear that from the member from Northcote, saying exactly that? That’s what it was all about, but unfortunately—you can hear them in the Labour benches getting upset, because they’ve been going back and forward in caucus.

Here’s a prediction: the back-down has begun. They’ve decided it’s not worth losing those seats like New Plymouth for something that never stacked up anyway, and so they’re going to say, “Oh, it was never”—they’re going to change the language first. They’re going to say, “It was never about co-governance.” And then the next thing that they’re going to say is, “Well, actually, we’re going to have equal representation. That’s what it’s about.” Finally, when they realise that the spin doesn’t work, the people don’t want it, and their own political careers are in jeopardy, the Labour caucus will vote to abandon three waters, if it hasn’t already. That is what is going to happen, and you heard it here first.

Kiritapu Allan, she is wise. She’s smart. She knows it’s the truth, and I can see it on her face, because when the ship goes down, she is far too smart to go down with it for no reason whatsoever. She’s one of the sensible people, who, I suspect, has actually been saying to people that this policy, three waters, a Treaty settlement disguised as an infrastructure project, does not make sense. It’s not good public policy. It’s not worth our careers. It’s not worth losing our seats for, because the people know that it makes no sense and the people are going to vote us out if we don’t start listening to them. That’s what the people are saying in the Labour Party—

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Order! With apologies. Order! I ask the Government members—remind them that interjections are to be rare and reasonable, and a barrage of shouting is not acceptable.

Well, there you have it. It is clearly the case that the Labour Party cannot hack it. They don’t like backing down, but the back-down has been voted in their caucus. It’s coming, and we are not going to see three waters as advertised, because they’ve finally realised that it just doesn’t stack up as a policy and it’s not worth losing your seat for bad policy. That’s why three waters co-governance is on the way out. Ka kite anō.

Tēnā koe, Madam Speaker. Look, it’s always a pleasure to take a call in the general debate, particularly after Mr Seymour has resumed his seat. Mr Seymour, keep trying—that’s what I say. My message to you is keep trying. It’s getting pretty tired, actually, Mr Seymour. It’s just more absolute unnecessary chat from members on that side of the House yet again. Actually, let’s remind ourselves and remind everyone else in Aotearoa New Zealand what Mr Seymour and his party is seeking to cosy up next to, in arrangement with the National Party, and what the alternative is.

Let’s just briefly have a look at that because Mr Luxon has been the Leader of the Opposition for six months now, and he says that he has some new ideas. Let’s remind us all about what those new ideas are: minimum wage increase, which this Government has consistently delivered on, gone; Labour Day public holiday gone; fair pay agreements gone; public transport subsidies gone; and CEO tax bills gone as well. Not to mention the happiness of increased incomes in that member’s back pocket as a result of what is proposed. So let’s just remind ourselves and remind the hard-working Kiwis in this country what the alternative is under Mr Seymour and his buddies. On this side of the House, we’re not going to stand for that.

But I’m not going to dwell on the negativity, because I want to share some news with the House. I want to share some news with the House about colleagues who have recently visited the mighty Manawatū. We’ve had Minister Faafoi visiting the mighty Manawatū and acknowledge the immigration announcements that have been made by the Government this afternoon. We’ve had the Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall meeting with our public health workers—doing a fantastic job. Consistently, I’ve made a point in my general debate contributions of acknowledging the hard work that those people are doing in that particular part of daily life, and today is no different for that. She met with seniors in Palmerston North, who were delighted to hear of, as Mr Bennett has said, the continuation of the winter energy payment, and the increase to superannuation rates from 1 April—making a huge difference, providing a welcome boost to households.

In terms of a boost, I’m delighted that last week I was able to visit Norwood’s—a strong local business operating in my community of Palmerston North—who were saying to me how important the Apprenticeship Boost opportunity has been. I was there to actually look at their national training centre—I met with some of the apprentices, who had travelled from all around the country, from different franchises and opportunities, to be trained in Palmerston North—and to hear about the good work that Norwood’s, a strong local business, is doing in my rohe. So it’s a fantastic opportunity to acknowledge the extension of the boost initiative, making sure that that increase of 55 percent within the apprenticeship opportunities over the last two years has solidified and will continue as well.

Yesterday, I travelled to Parliament on my local train service, the Capital Connection. I want to thank Minister Wood and others for including that local train service in the 50 percent fare reduction. That makes a huge difference to my constituents—and I know my colleague the member for Ōtaki will agree with that because it makes a huge difference. It is a longstanding service that connects the capital to Palmerston North and all of the places—

💬 Rachel Boyack: What a great place.

—in between. A fantastic place it is. Thank you, Ms Boyack. And it’s also convenient. So I’m proud to be part of a Government that is continuing to invest in rail infrastructure but also meeting the demand and the needs of local communities when it comes to the accessibility of public transport.

In racing parlance, I guess you could say that this week is something of a quaddie—there are four things going on this week. It is New Zealand Sign Language Week, and we acknowledge our signers and our interpreters all around Aotearoa New Zealand. It is Road Safety Week, and I want to particularly give a shout-out to our road patrollers in schools. I stopped by, on Monday, one of my local schools—Central Normal School—to see the teachers but also the students doing that diligently in the morning and again in the afternoon. It is Youth Week, and the Minister the Hon Priyanca Radhakrishnan has touched on the importance of that. Finally, it is Rotuman Language Week. While that is a small community, is an important one. I think, actually, it might be the only Island nation that is at the apex of Macaronesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. So that’s important to acknowledge that as a special identifier there.

Finally, in terms of accolades, can I acknowledge New Zealand’s top scholars, who have been acknowledged here at the Parliament today. In particular, can I acknowledge Palmerston North Girls’ High School’s Myrna Brown for being the top scholar in painting. It was fantastic to see national achievement in our young people, and I congratulate them all. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Before I go into my primary speech, can I acknowledge the manuhiri who are gathered here today—tēnā koutou katoa, ngā mihi nui ki a koutou e te Whare Pāremata ināianei. Hoki mai and haere mai to the Hon Marama Fox, and I see also the Hon Rick Barker, so haere mai—welcome. Can I also follow in the footsteps of the previous speaker, Tangi Utikere, and acknowledge our top scholars. Two—I might up the ante here—two from Glendowie College: Damon and Joshua. Very, very proud of you both.

But now to turn back on to the Government after bouquets, so to speak. On Friday—not Friday, Monday, oh the days blend. On Monday night, hundreds of locals in my electorate of Tāmaki gathered to talk about crime and safety in the community. It’ll be no surprise, regardless of my electorate or across New Zealand, the grave and strong concerns people have about the ongoing crime. I have almost—almost—lost count of the number of ram raids alone in my electorate, having visited over 25 businesses in recent months. That’s 25 businesses in my electorate alone, ram raided. That is on top of the myriad of cars stolen, antisocial behaviour, assaults—particularly of our young people, and the list goes on. But people gathered together, along with our police commanders and councillors, on Monday night to discuss how we move forward.

One of the things that was very striking was actually the support of our policemen and -women on the front line. I’d have to report to this House, because I am an honest man, believe it or not, the police got more claps than I did. Maybe that isn’t a surprise to people, but actually they were being well thanked. But the point being the anger and the frustration of my community was with a Labour Government that has been soft on crime; that has ignored the crisis in front of us—a Government, in fact, that tells us they reject the premise of the very question that there’s a problem of crime. So it’s a rhetorical invitation at this time, but the Prime Minister and the Minister of Police are very welcome to come to my electorate and to meet my people, who want to say to them that they want the Government to take this seriously. They want to see more resourcing for police, they want to see more patrols, and they want to see more focus on truancy when hundreds of our young people are not attending school. They want fewer excuses from a Government that sees every person as a victim and not an opportunity, and that in particular was a focus on our young people. They want the young people to be given hope, not a path towards the gangs. And in fact, as one person pointed out, they want to see fewer Government Ministers having a chat with gang members. They want, actually, the Government of the day to talk to young people and give them hope and inspiration. They want more support for our businesses. They want bollards; fog cannons; cameras; and as I said earlier, more patrols. These are just some of the points of feedback.

But the last point that came up, and well just by pure coincidence of course, fits—one of my portfolios is corrections. They are sick and tired of a failing corrections system. They are tired of a Government which is appropriating, basically, a catch and release approach. The Government trumpets almost 4,000 fewer people in our prisons. Well, that would be all well and good if those men and women who have been in our prisons were given proper rehabilitation. But, do you know what, the Government has spent more money in corrections but is actually offering fewer rehabilitation slots and processes. This is a failure of public spending, and it is a failure of a duty of care to those men and women in our prison that deserve a second chance, a third chance, and even fourth and fifth chances. They are catching and releasing them.

And I hear laughter from the other side, as if it’s funny. Recidivism rates are just as bad now as they have been in years past. They’re letting more prisoners out with less rehabilitation, and recidivism rates are as bad as they’ve always been. We’re seeing more money, as I said, being spent. On top of all of that, we’ve now found out that since 2017 the Department of Corrections, get this, has doubled the number of its back-room staff—doubled the number—a 50 percent increase to be completely accurate, but only a 16 percent increase of people on the front line. And, if you’re talking to corrections officers like I am, there’s low morale; they’re frustrated. And yet there’s more people working in the back office. It’s completely and utterly a shambles. Spending more money, more back-end staff, and more reports on strategies—could probably point a stick at God knows how many of those. Yet, as I say, more prisoners being let out, delivering fewer rehabilitations, very little improvement to recidivism, no implementation of the strategies—don’t even get me started on that—and ignoring the needs of prisoners and staff. It’s an utter shambles, and this Government is responsible.

The debate having concluded, the motion lapsed.