General Debate

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

Well, thank you, Mr Speaker. I have to say that, as I go around this country, I can tell you that the people of New Zealand are hurting and that they feel that we have lost our way and that this is a Government that is taking New Zealand backwards. And they are absolutely right, because inflation’s at a 35-year high and we have a situation where—now for three years—wages have not kept up with the prices of everything and everything is going up. We are at an incredible place where I have met Kiwis that are skipping meals because they cannot afford the food. We have families that never actually imagined they’d be in a food bank, and yet they are there in record numbers today. We have half of us worried about money on a daily basis. We have 430,000 Kiwis now not able to pay their debts, and families are using budgeting services because they want to keep their homes and they now have to magic up $700 a fortnight just to pay the interest rates that have gone sky-high, under this Government, on their mortgage payments.

The reality is: if you can’t own a home because house prices have continued to rise and interest rates are out of control under this Government, because of its inflationary policies, we end up in a place where people are having to pay another $170 a week in rent. And then you go and talk to small-business owners and farmers up and down this country, and they have been buried by this Government in endless, endless red tape. As a result, they start to wonder why they even bother trying. Then, you get out on the street and the reality is: the risk of you being attacked is higher than it’s ever been. Why? Because violent crime is up 33 percent, retail crime is up 100 percent, gang membership is up 66 percent, and we now have a ram raid in New Zealand every 15 hours.

When you can’t get kids to school because we have a culture of excuses around COVID, around cyclones, around teachers being on strike, or maybe the gang came to your town and shut your school down for a week, we have some other problems. We can’t get 50 percent of our kids to school regularly. We have 75,000 that are actually chronically absent from school today. And if you do manage to show up at school, 50 percent of our year 9 students aren’t at the standard that they need to be at. Half of our 15-year-olds fail the most basic maths, reading, and writing tests—and no wonder that New Zealand is now out of the top 10 countries in the world on education.

Incredibly, there’s one person who’s been in charge of education for much of the last six years. Who is it? Yeah, Chris Hipkins, education Minister, who put another $5 billion into education, hired 1,400 more education public servants, and, uniquely, with a very special and unique and special skill set, ended up delivering worse attendance records and worse academic achievement.

Mr Speaker, I just say to you: the most simple expectation we have is that our health system is there when we desperately need it. And we cannot say that that is the case today, because here are the facts there: 30 percent of Kiwis now wait more than six hours to see a doctor or a nurse at an A & E or emergency department. It used to be 9 percent of us waiting that amount of time. Now, 53,000 New Zealanders wait more than four months to see their first specialist. When we left office, there was a thousand Kiwis waiting more than four months. And now we have 30,000 more Kiwis on the surgical wait-list as a result. Unbelievably, in a developed country, we shut a school because of a measles outbreak. Why? Because immunisations are down 11 points, down to 77 percent.

So, I have to say, any one of these things would be a huge embarrassment for a Government. But, taken together, what they represent is a Government that cannot get anything done, and it has presided over a decline in the quality of life of New Zealanders here in this great country of ours. I have to say, the message I get from Kiwis day after day after day is “I’m working incredibly hard. This is a great country. My family is doing everything right, and yet I know that everything’s going in the wrong direction.” They see it: the economy is broken, it’s now in recession. We are the only country in the Asia-Pacific region in a recession. We’re one of only a couple of countries in the OECD that’s in recession—that’s a serious issue. It’s because of mass economic mismanagement.

Then, what we see is crime’s out of control, and we see a healthcare system and an education system that’s literally falling apart. So what’s the response that we get from the Prime Minister, the person I call the “guru of gaslighting”? He just says to us, “Look, it’s all OK. Everything’s fine. You’ve never had it so good.” And then, when he’s really pushed and he’s really under pressure, “It’s not my responsibility.” It’s sort of like, apparently, a continuation of unsubstantiated rumours—that’s his approach to it. Well, he is responsible and these outcomes are not being delivered for the New Zealand people.

So I’d say if you break out of the Beehive bubble and beltway and you see Kiwis, the answer is that they cannot get ahead. They are not making it up, they’re not imagining it; they are bang on: New Zealand is going backwards under a Labour Government.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. The other day, when Chris Luxon said the words “wet” and “whiny”, I didn’t realise he was giving us a preview of today’s general debate speech. Here we are in election year; one might think that the Leader of the Opposition might actually talk about what they want to do instead of spending five minutes complaining, and whingeing, and getting down to absolutely nothing except pointing out what he thinks is wrong. That is nothing to do with what New Zealanders want; what they want is a plan. They say they’ve got a plan, but actually they never talk about it. I think it’s quite clear why: because one and one doesn’t make three. They’re trying to make it out that that’s the case, but it simply doesn’t. They can’t promise to cut taxes, they can’t promise to pay off debt, and they can’t promise to pay more. Yet that’s what they’re doing. Every single day they’re going around telling New Zealanders what they want to hear, but not telling New Zealanders how it’s actually going to stack up.

Mr Luxon’s net ratings are falling through the floor. He is getting so negative that he’s now barking at every passing plane. That is where we’re at: he wants to grab every opportunity to complain, and to whinge, and to moan. He called New Zealand businesses “soft”. He called New Zealand beneficiaries “bottom feeders”. He’s now having a crack at the Royal New Zealand Air Force; is anybody safe? Perhaps his childhood heroes the Crusaders are the only ones that will escape his criticism and his complaints. All the New Zealand public need to see is to look over at what the Government has in store over the next three years: a plan that adds up to start with, a plan that will help those that are struggling the most, that will keep people in jobs, and will invest in core service that this country needs.

Here’s the thing: if you cut taxes like the National Party are proposing, they also have to explain what they’re going to cut. They were finally pushed into a corner to explain how they were going to pay for something, and they found $400 million of savings from consultants. The problem is they’ve spent that four times over. It doesn’t add up. If they cut taxes that will disproportionately benefit the rich, it is the rest of us that will miss out, because we need to continue investment in health, we need to continue investment in education, and the severe weather events that have just happened show that we need to continue investment in infrastructure. Why is it that the National Party never want to talk about their history in investment in infrastructure? Because that investment doesn’t exist.

For nine years, they froze maintenance funding for State highways, and then they have the gall to turn around and complain about potholes. There is a simple premise here: if you invest in infrastructure, it doesn’t fall apart, and when you finally get a Government that does invest in infrastructure, we’re having to play catch-up with their lack of investment, and also invest in the future. They hate facing up to facts, and this is also the same for the water services reform. They have never shown their numbers—they laugh, they always laugh—but a simple question and a simple challenge: show us your figures.

Nothing. Silence. They’re going around pretending that the status quo will deliver for New Zealanders, yet we can prove that unless we reform, ratepayers will face bills they cannot afford. They don’t want to talk about that. They want to scaremonger, they want to race-bait, they do not want to talk about the issue that in a cost of living crisis New Zealanders can’t afford their rates. We’ve got a plan to deal with it. They’re ignoring the issues, like they have on so many other things.

So my challenge to the National Party is quite simple: if you’ve got an alternative proposal, tell us how it’s going to work. Tell us how you’re going to pay for it. Don’t stand there and announce something, and a very simple question, “How are you going to pay for it?”—you can’t answer. Say, “Oh, well, we’ll sort it out in a future Budget”. My pick is they won’t have a future Budget. My pick is that New Zealanders will see that—as it was just shown to us in that last speech—there’s no passion there, there’s no belief. They don’t believe in what they’re proposing because they know it doesn’t add up. New Zealanders aren’t dumb. They know how things work. They rejected Paul Goldsmith’s proposed Budget the last election; they’re going to reject Nicola Willis’ because they know that one and one makes two, not the false promises that the National Party are putting forward.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. At public meetings up and down the country, the ACT Party are hearing the main concern New Zealanders have: the increase in crime. The last 5.5 years of the Labour - Green Government has seen a moral decline in all areas of society and an unprecedented increase in lawlessness that the whole country is talking about.

We’ve got a 500 percent increase in ram raids. Serious assaults resulting in injury are up 121 percent. Knife crime is up 20 percent. Common assault is up 40 percent since 2017. Mental health call-outs are up 40 percent. And there’s a huge increase in sexual offending. Police morale is at an all-time low. Since 2017, assaults on police have gone up 300 percent. Retail workers are being beaten up, and 30 percent of those people that do it are repeat offenders. They receive no meaningful consequences, so why not do it again?

The Dairy and Business Owners Group presented a petition last week, together with a manifesto of ideas. They are pleading for help. A dairy owner in Wellington has had so many incidents of theft and violence that he’s given up calling the police. He won’t even employ his own kids to work in his shop, because it’s too dangerous, and he hates the fact that he has to employ other people’s kids. There’s talk of vigilante groups to keep the city safe. Yesterday, in Christchurch, a member of the public tackled a thief and called the police, for no one to attend, and he was told to let him go. It’s not the New Zealand I knew.

This Government trumpets a 1:480 ratio of police to public. Christchurch has a 1:658 ratio. Where have the 1,800 police gone? Since 2017, Police National Headquarters staff numbers have increased from 926 to 1,732. One hundred and eighty three of these are sworn staff who used to be on the front line. Eighty four went to the firearms unit. Media and marketing has increased from 13 to 45; ethnic services from one to 45. That would be great if there was less crime being committed. It doesn’t matter how many police there are; if they are not going to the right places, then it’s a waste of money.

When I was in the Wellington Police, Courtenay Place was a hive of activity and fun. People had a great time and they felt safe because police walked the streets, arrested people when they had to, and kept a lid on all types of crime. The public were treated firm but fair. Cuddles were reserved for when you got home. Being soft on crime doesn’t work, and anyone who has any anything to do with young people knows that what they want and need are boundaries. It shows them that you care. Consequences change behaviour. But the police Minister proclaims she thinks New Zealanders feel safer, and the rest sit in their air-conditioned offices and tell the country that everything’s going OK. This is the Minister who didn’t know that there was a major police operation going on in South Auckland with out-of-control gang members.

Gang membership increased by 3,960—81 percent in five years—since 2017. They take over a town and get excused for their behaviour. Eight cars were stopped, with firearms found in five of them, and that’s considered a good-news story. There have been 2.8 firearm incidents involving gang members every day over the last year. On 20 June, the police Minister said that with a gun register we’ll be able to know where all the guns are. Gang members will not register their guns, Minister; they are the problem.

But it’s not just Labour’s fault. The Greens want to defund Police and refer to police dogs as “attack dogs”. It’s just nuts. The Māori Party blame everything on the police, justifying all crime with the lazy cry of “racism” whenever they open their mouths.

The ACT Party have seen this coming and have been warning the Government for years. We have policies that will sort it out: we will bring back three strikes, review electronic monitoring, provide more prison beds, and rehabilitation for all prisoners will be compulsory. New Zealanders are sick of crime and criminals. It’s the Government’s first duty to keep the people safe, and ACT will not hesitate to do it.

New Zealand police have been up against it for the last five years, but they are doing a great job. Unlike teachers, police can’t go on strike when they don’t get their way. But I hope the Minister is standing up and being a strong advocate for rewarding police appropriately in the current pay negotiations, because they deserve it.

It’s a pleasure to take a call in this debate, at the backdrop of Budget 2023, at a time of economic challenges. As the Minister of Finance said on Budget day, it’s hard to remember a time when there have been so many challenges in terms of our economic, environmental, and social systems, but I am confident that this Government has a plan to address those challenges and to build an economic recovery.

I want to start with the health portfolio and note that cost of living pressures are having an impact on how people can access the health system. That is why it is so important that we have addressed some of the costs of accessing care through Budget 2023, and we know that we’ve had tremendous evidence for the change we made to scrap the $5 prescription co-pay to make something as fundamental as medicine more accessible to people. I know this policy will make an amazing difference, when it comes into force over this weekend, to people who need that help. We’re talking about seniors who might have multiple prescriptions to fill, people who need routine prescriptions for contraception, for their mental health care. We know that there is a tremendous benefit in terms of the cost saved in terms of people’s health, because so many medicines prevent ill health. We’re thinking of pills like for blood pressure, for high cholesterol, that stop you from going to hospital later on, saving both the person suffering and the health system money. It is a tremendous investment in people’s wellbeing, in people’s back pockets, at a time of pressure and also in the sustainability of our health system. This Government has a proud record in terms of improvements to access to medicines, when you put this policy alongside our 47 percent increase in Pharmac funding that we have delivered over the five years that we have been in Government.

In terms of the economy, multiple Governments have turned to science and research as a way of driving economic growth. Not all go as far as the National Party do and step into the realm of magic, the realm of magical thinking, where they argue that genetic engineering will remove the need for us to do anything about climate change. The Government has a plan to increase its investment in science so we really can tackle the problems that face our economy, including how we transition our economy to one that has high-wage, low-emission jobs.

A cornerstone of that work is the Te Ara Paerangi science reforms, and Budget ’23 outlined the process that we would use to get us started on the journey of making that change. It includes investment in some of our most talented people. I’m so pleased to see us support applied—or some countries call them industry—PhDs. This is to get our PhDs out of the ivory tower and actually connecting with industry or Crown research institutes where applied research is done. We will support the funding for those initiatives to grow and to be scaled up, because it’s that opportunity to bring cutting-edge science into practical problems that can lead to so many innovations that help make a practical benefit to our economy. I’m looking forward to working with universities and Crown research institutes to see that change through.

In addition, we have greater fellowship supports for some of our most talented young scientists, and I’m so excited about this opportunity, because young scientists do have precarious employment, and the opportunity to see them really start on their career so they can make a difference to our future is thrilling.

In the background to that—I think it’s important—I’m proud that the Government has taken the step to address concerns raised by the university sector about the sustainability of their funding, and that was announced by Minister Tinetti the other day. Degree-granting institutions like universities and other providers play an important role in our economy and our democracy. They generate cutting-edge research. They are the source of our workforce, including our research workforce, not to mention having a role in legislation as the critic and conscience of our society. I’m pleased to see that we can offer them a reprieve that helps them address some of the structural issues that they are facing. But we also need to address some longstanding issues in funding systems, and, indeed, Minister Tinetti has announced a review there. I am pleased to see it includes the Performance-Based Research Fund, which is also very important to our science sector. The Government has a plan to drive economic recovery in this country, and I’m pleased to see that science and research are at the heart of it.

Well, Mr Speaker, thank you very much, and what a magnificent weekend was held in Wellington for the 87th annual conference of the New Zealand National Party—this weekend, just in Wellington. Hundreds of delegates were energised, enthusiastic, and keenly getting on with the job of changing the Government and getting our country back on track in October this year because we so desperately need it. They were so excited at the prospect of a Christopher Luxon - led new Government getting New Zealand back on track that they wanted to do everything possible to change the Government in October.

But while we had a good weekend here in Wellington, it was raining again in the beautiful Coromandel electorate, which I have the privilege of representing. Again, this week, highways around the peninsula have been closed, citizens have been disrupted, communities have been cut off, businesses have been impacted, and health and safety risks have been put to the fore.

Six months after the collapse of State Highway 25A, the main arterial route across the Coromandel—six months almost to the day, work has yet to commence on reconstruction and reopening of that road. Now, there has been six months of dithering, delay, and excuses from our Government, from the New Zealand Transport Agency, and, indeed, from even our local council, who seem not to understand at all the impact that that road’s closure has on our region.

Every day that that road is closed, the Coromandel region bleeds, and this week, finally, after six long months, we have a proclamation from the New Zealand Transport Agency that it’s going to be late March 2024 before that highway will be open. Now, that’s just outrageous—completely outrageous. We’d been promised by this Government for months that it would be early 2024. Now, they are begrudgingly saying that it will be late March 2024. That will probably kick into April or even later.

Actually, what should have happened is that there should have been every possible push made and every possible resource allocated to have that highway opened before Christmas this year, because not having that highway open for Christmas this year means that the people of the Coromandel will face a fourth consecutive disrupted summer economic period. Some would say, “What does that mean for real jobs and businesses in the region?” Well, let me put it to the House this way: the reality is that for many of the businesses in the Coromandel, 80 percent of their annual revenue is generated, usually over the three- or four-month period of the peak summer season—80 percent of their annual revenue.

The last few summers have been badly impacted by COVID, then we had the dreadful weather events and road closures last summer, and now, because of inaction, a lack of focus, and a lack of urgency by this Government and its agency, the Transport Agency, we are facing a fourth consecutive miserable trading summer. Now, that simply means that jobs will be lost and businesses will close—and they have already; jobs have already been lost—but it also means that people are going to be inconvenienced and are having to add cost and time to the hours-long detours that are in place around the peninsula.

So communities like Pāuanui, like Tairua, like Whangamatā, like Hāhei, and like Cooks Beach are hurting and hurting very, very badly. Visitors simply aren’t coming—visitors simply aren’t coming. I’ve spoken to so many people recently who have said to me, “Oh, we’re sorry to hear about the Coromandel. When’s it going to be open again? We’ve got a place at Pāuanui”—or they’ve got a place at Whitianga or they’ve got a place at Tairua—“but we haven’t been since the road has closed because it takes so long to get there. We can’t be sure that the road will be open and we don’t have any certainty that the road will be open when we want to leave, and we’re fearful of getting stuck there.”

So six long months after the drop-out on State Highway 25A, we are no further ahead. We have a plan—at long last—maybe for an opening in March 2024, but no opportunity for a summer season in the Coromandel this year. So it’s with some sadness but also a sense of optimism that I say to this House that the Coromandel is battered and bruised, but we’re not beaten, and we will continue fighting on.

I join this general debate and want to acknowledge just how challenging it is for whānau and communities at this time. New Zealand is not immune to the impact of unstable global inflation rates, especially the impact on mum and dad mortgage holders, those renting, and those on fixed incomes. There’s also the constrained supply chain, which is having an impact on certain goods that consumers here in New Zealand are reliant on, like food and fuel, and a low unemployment rate where some sectors are still finding it difficult to attract the right skills in the right place with greater certainty.

Times are tough and the Government’s efforts to build a stronger and more equitable New Zealand during this challenging time means getting our priorities focused on families, on communities, on services, and on cost of living. A report recently released by the Ministry of Social Development shows that for those receiving a main benefit, total incomes after housing costs are 48 percent higher, inflation adjusted, than at the end of 2017. We cannot have those most vulnerable less assured and less secure about how they make ends meet. Our plan makes a huge difference for them.

This Government’s focus has been on easing the pressure of living costs for families. We continue to champion tangible steps towards making our welfare system fairer so that our fellow Kiwis on benefits do not fall further behind. These are the hallmarks of a fair and decent society that our Government will continue to stand up for. In addition to that, take our Families Package, where benefit increases and changes to Working for Families have made a vital difference in the lives of many low-income and modest-income whānau who work hard and want to get ahead.

We’ve also seen record numbers of people moving off benefits and into work, aided by the significant increase in the minimum wage. And as part of our plan to build a future where all whānau can get ahead, we’re making investments in areas that are critical to growing our economy: skills, science and technology, and infrastructure. We want Kiwis to seek out opportunities in low-carbon growth areas, and that’s why we’re backing, for example, the video games sector to expand and optimise the talent we have here in New Zealand and the global network of opportunity they can plug into across a rapidly growing tech and creative sector. We want to create high-wage jobs for the future, and for that to happen, we have to back the talent we have here at home and keep it here.

We continue to navigate through COVID-19 even better than the global financial crisis (GFC). I can remember when members on that side of the House from the same party took an approach after the GFC of austerity: “Cut, cut, cut.”

Hon Michael Woodhouse: No, they didn’t.

Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: Oh, yes, they did. And it’s no surprise that that same message is being reflected and mirrored by the same party right now, even though we’re facing more difficult challenges.

I know that it’s important to ensure that the Government responds to the real needs that families are facing right now. Food security is real to whānau, so increasing our investment in food banks is a small measure to continue to reflect that we’re hearing and responding to the growing needs in our communities. It’s a short-term measure because we must have a more sustainable approach to helping whānau out of hardship. We’re providing the funding to community organisations on the front line, and it will help to ease the burden on families through these community organisations working tirelessly—tirelessly—to respond after the extreme weather events that have been felt by families.

We’re aware that many households are still finding it tough. However, we remain optimistic that New Zealand’s future is dependent on our economic plan, and that’s why we have to ensure that we’re doing things practically at a local level, like scrapping the $5 co-payment for prescription medicines, extending 20 hours early childhood education a week to two-year-olds, and cutting public transport costs for our young people. These measures might not solve everything, but they will most definitely make a difference in the lives of many Kiwis right now.

We’re also wanting to ensure that we have an economic plan that seeks to build and lift opportunity. Tourists are returning. Overseas workers are filling job vacancies. We’re upskilling more Kiwis and our debt levels are among the lowest globally and in comparison to those that we would compare ourselves with. We’ll continue to push ahead to diversify our export markets through the EU free-trade agreement (FTA), through the UK FTA, and through other trade agreements. We remain committed so that we can ensure every New Zealander can have opportunity. But we know that it’s about having a plan. We know it’s about doing things locally while having our eye towards our economic strategy. We have a plan. We know where our priorities lie and we know we have more to do so that everyday Kiwis can feel the benefit of a Government who cares.

What a mess this Government has made of our valuable tertiary education sector. What a mess! First, the shambles of Te Pūkenga: the mega-merged polytechnic which has wasted over $200 million already and will waste another $220 million if it is allowed to continue. Last year, it produced an $86 million deficit, frittering away the hard-earned reserves of successful polytechnics and their communities. And now, the deficit disarray in the university sector that somehow escaped the notice of the Minister of Education, Jan Tinetti, and Minister of Finance, Grant Robertson, prior to the Budget just one month ago. So yesterday, they had to make a special announcement of a bailout. What is it about this Government that they just don’t see these disasters coming that are of their own making? They have been very good at spinning the story that New Zealand is just experiencing what every other country is, but that is so very wrong. This Government has mismanaged the New Zealand economy and left each of us—our families, businesses, and community organisations—in a precarious situation because of the toxic combination of high inflation fuelled by wasteful Government spending, high interest rates, a severe balance of payments deficit, and now a recession.

So how has this played out in the tertiary education sector? Well, like everyone else, the universities and the polytechnics have had their operating expenses skyrocket with inflation, but they have also been hit with low international student numbers because this Government was slow and lazy with getting international students back into New Zealand. Australia wasn’t—they put in place incentives like dropping student visa fees, additional post-study work rights, and increased hours of work permitted while studying. They knew how important it was for their education sector to get international students back, and how important the pipeline of international graduates into skill shortage areas and their businesses and their industries was for the economy. Australia was out there promoting their country to the world, and what was our Government doing? Dithering about whether we actually wanted international students back in New Zealand and prioritising offering our education offshore—anyone who has tried that knows how difficult it is.

What does the Government not understand about the ripple effect of expenditure out into the community and supporting our industries and businesses in times of skill shortage constraints? And how about the impact on our universities of secondary school students who spent their senior years locked out of school? There are low first-year retention rates right across the university sector because many students haven’t been well enough prepared for the rigours of tertiary education. This Government has driven our universities to the positions they are in now, and yesterday’s bailout announcement will not stop the redundancies reverberating through the sector. It is band-aid politics: trying to cover up the inaction of this Government over the past six years. I have watched how heartbreaking it is to see good staff lost to the polytech sector, and now the universities are going through the same process. This could have been minimised if we had not had a Minister of Education preoccupied with the ideological centralisation of polytechnics and industry training organisations, misguided intentions to constrain the number of international students coming back to New Zealand, and mismanagement of our economy. The plight of our tertiary sector lies fairly and squarely at the feet of this Labour Government, make no mistake about that. National knows that our school pupils need to have a better grasp of the basics of education. We know that the Immigration Service must unblock bottlenecks—

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

PENNY SIMMONDS: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I’d like to continue on the theme of education today and talk about this Budget and how it is providing everyday support to households who have students—it’s expensive to have a student in your household—and how we’re supporting those households for today but also investing in our future, because putting money into the education system is an investment; it’s not a cost. So in addition to cheaper public transport, 20 hours of early childhood education, school lunches, period products, removal of NCEA fees—all of those costs that add up when you’re supporting a young person in your household as they go through education.

But it’s not just about today; it is about investing in tomorrow. I just want to note one little line in the Budget about Ngā iti Kahurangi—our little treasures—and the addition of 175 schools to that programme that includes, at the moment, 600 small and remote schools around the motu. It is $63.1 million and it makes a difference to children in our remote schools. I think about one of my neighbouring schools, Ratapiko School—a fabulous Enviro School. The last time I went there it wasn’t so successful because we were meant to be planting fruit trees and the weather, surprisingly, in Taranaki, wasn’t so great that particular day. But every time I go there, the students are so excited about sharing their sustainability journey with me, and it’s a really busy place. It’s two classrooms that cover eight year levels. In those sorts of environments, having really good lighting and really good acoustics makes a difference to the learning for those students. They are wonderful, busy places, and I applaud those teachers who have to cover all those curriculum areas across many levels. They’re doing a fabulous job of supporting our rural communities and giving every young person access to great education.

It is an exciting initiative. So what they’re focused on is improving classroom environments. It may sound mundane to be talking about lighting and sound and heating, but we’ve heard from principals about how those acoustic panels and the addition of LED lights has made a significant impact on their classrooms. The thermal insulation—and from this year, those schools will be able to get new carpet. That doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re sitting there having your story read to you by your teacher, new carpet ain’t a bad thing.

The result is that by being able to better manage sound—we heard from a principal about how with the choir, you know, getting their students to sing, and what a difference it makes when you’re singing in a space that is built to capture your singing in a different way from what it used to be. It’s really great for our students who have sensory challenges, and to make sure that lighting and good sound management means that they are much better able to access their learning.

Every little bit counts. It reduces the costs from their five-year plans. It frees up cash for those small schools to invest in other parts of the resourcing. It also has an impact on their ongoing operational costs, because we’re able to help reduce their costs for things like electricity. It’s exciting because those rural and small schools have additional challenges. It is expensive to get supplies out to a school and it is expensive and difficult to get tradies. These principals are the caretaker. They don’t employ a caretaker; they are the caretaker. This project means that schools are able to be bundled up, they have a project manager who can come in, and by bundling those schools, they’re able to have economies of scale and procurement, and they are able to make sure that these schools can access opportunities by improving those classroom spaces.

So why was the project expanded? Well, because it was successful. How do we know that? Because this Government does not just chuck money willy-nilly into projects that they think might make a difference. They go into classrooms, they do assessments, and then, after the work has been done, they do another assessment and make sure that it is having a real impact. We take our responsibilities to investing in our school system very, very seriously. It’s a wonderful thing, and it is a really great example of where we are investing in the future of our nation. It’s great to have the opportunity to have a shout-out to our rural schools at the heart of our rural communities.

Just when you thought the saga of this Government’s three waters reform programme had come to an end, this Government has slipped one more bill through at the last minute. Blink, because if you missed it you are not alone. But, in fact, the last bill passed last Thursday, and members of the public only have seven more days in order to submit and provide feedback on that. Labour’s “three waters back-down bill” is the legislative equivalent of building a plane as you’re flying it, and at the 11th hour they’ve added new funding entities, more entities, and more bureaucracy.

Kieran McAnulty wants us to believe that he has made fundamental changes to this reform, those introduced by Nanaia Mahuta are long gone, and that affordable water reforms have nailed it. At the same time, he tells this House that this bill is simple and that the changes are so minor that the select committee process isn’t even necessary and Kiwis only need 12 days to consider and give feedback on this bill and that is sufficient. Labour has given this Parliament a masterclass on how to fail and not sell and not deliver policy. Years from now, people will reflect on the Labour Government’s three waters reform programme and acknowledge this as the point at which this Labour Government truly lost the New Zealand public.

Remember that these reforms—the Government went out to councils and told them it was optional. Of course we found out eventually that this was not the case. Cabinet papers demonstrated clearly this was an asset grab by force, long before councils were told. Then there was a bill with over 80,000 submissions from the public, overwhelmingly opposed to these changes. But that wasn’t enough. They then decided “How about we entrench it?” They got caught red-handed trying to entrench parts of the bill that couldn’t be changed later on. Then they had the guts to tell the New Zealand public “Nothing to see here. Just one big mistake.” We all make mistakes, we all forget to take out the rubbish or maybe we leave something in the oven for a bit too long, but how many of us can say we accidentally broke the New Zealand constitution? Well, just the ones over there.

That is bad enough, but now we hear that the cost of this reform is around $100 million a year; $25 million a quarter, $2 million a week, $280,000 per day—that’s pretty bad. And you might think “What are they spending all this money on?” Well, $15,000 to write a job description for an entity that no longer exists as a result of this legislation, because now it’s 10 entities, not four. Consultants filling jobs like executive assistants for three times the rate that the average public servant gets for the same role, or $3 million on advertising campaigns that are blatantly saying that green slime is coming out of the taps and poor quality is the fault of local government.

This Government has no legs to stand on in regards to three waters and no legs to stand on in regards to fiscal management. Thankfully, there are only 107 days to go before the election and this Government is out of here. Only National has a plan in regards to dealing with and putting in place comprehensive reforms for three waters. Within our first 100 days, we will repeal this three waters legislation that is on the Table. The assets will be returned to our local communities where they belong and where they will stay under a National Government.

Instead, we’re going to give councils the opportunity to be financial sustainable. Regulation in regards to water quality and economic regulation—this is critical, and this is what National will deliver. The message is clear: only a National-led Government led by Christopher Luxon will protect local assets. Only a National Government led by Christopher Luxon will deliver better water services. And only a National-led Government led by Christopher Luxon will repeal three waters.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I think it’s an absolute pleasure to be talking in this general debate. I thought I’d bring the temperature down just a little bit and reflect on who we are as a nation, because today marks the 50th anniversary of Norman Kirk’s Labour Government’s protest against French nuclear testing. And I think it’s a good opportunity to look at how our Budget fits in with Labour’s commitment for a world-leading nuclear-free policy. On 28 June 1973, Fraser Colman, the then immigration Minister, left Auckland on Her Majesty’s New Zealand Ship Otago headed for Mururoa. This was the first act of our nuclear-free campaign, and it was a defining moment in New Zealand’s history and has shaped our nuclear-free policy and relationship with the Pacific ever since. It has led us to become pioneers of nuclear-free legislation. It’s pushed us to develop our own independent foreign policy, and it has made us realise that we are a Pacific nation. It has become part of our identity, and I think that we all agree that this is a source of national pride that we New Zealanders are ready to stand up for what is right and punch above our weight.

I want to highlight how our recent Budget continues this tradition and embodies the spirit of independent nuclear-free New Zealand. And as I said before, when we sent one of our Ministers to protest against the nuclear test, he sailed with vessels from across the Pacific, and it was a show of solidarity with the other Pacific Island nations, and it led to the Treaty of Rarotonga, where we worked with our Pacific neighbours to establish the world’s first international nuclear-free zone. We showed that we were good neighbours and that we could collaborate to protect a shared vision. This Budget continues that tradition of Pacific cooperation. This Government is investing in building up Pacific resilience with a $14.1 million investment in Pacific community resilience and wellbeing, which aims to strengthen the capability and leadership of the Pacific workforce. There are also capital injections of over $16 million planned for 2023 and 2024 as part of our Pacific Reset investment policy, and we are also investing $1 million into the Pacific Cooperation Foundation for the promotion of mutual understanding between New Zealanders and other countries and also people within the Pacific.

These are just some of the initiatives in this Budget that build on and strengthen our special relationship with our Pacific neighbours. New Zealand’s commitment to a nuclear-free policy was also the beginning of the development of our own independent foreign policy, a foreign policy that represents our values, even if at times that policy is at odds with our neighbours. This Budget also gives us the tools to pursue this foreign policy. It provides $277 million for the delivery of all elements of New Zealand’s foreign policy and $87 million on departmental capital expenditure. And this allows us to maintain our embassies and project our presence globally. Part of these expenditures is the refurbishment of our embassy in Moscow. To some, this may be a contentious issue, but in these uncertain times, maintaining diplomatic ties is absolutely essential. If Russian aggression leads to a period of nuclear brinkmanship where multiple sides rush to establish escalation dominance, Aotearoa, with our strong nuclear-free credentials, can be the voice of reason to work with all sides to prevent a nuclear exchange in Europe.

This Budget builds on our independent foreign policy. It builds Pacific resilience. It builds on our commitment to the international rules-based order. These are foundations of our nuclear-free culture that is part of our identity, an identity that is more relevant now than ever before. And this is something that we are respected for internationally and something that we should be absolutely proud of. In a time when there are forces acting around the world and within our country that aim to divide us, it’s important that on days like today, we reflect on those moments in history that have united us. And 28 June 1973 was one of those days—a day that helped shape us as a nation. So thank you, Mr Speaker.

E te Māngai, tēnā koe, tēnā koutou e te Whare. In 2023, this is the state of housing for renters in Aotearoa New Zealand [Holds up images of rental properties]. But in 1988, our national Housing Commission declared—and I quote—“New Zealand does not have … huge, insoluble problems of homelessness and substandard housing that confront many other nations.” This was the final report of the then disestablished Housing Commission, which, to that point, had reported detailed data every five years to keep the country and policy makers informed about the foundation of what we then considered a stable society. It was, of course, a home for all New Zealanders to call their own.

I was born six years after that report, and in those years and across my lifetime, deliberate political choices—specifically political choices—made by people sitting in these chairs in this Chamber have shredded that housing dignity and stability, once guaranteed for all New Zealanders, trading it for a game of Monopoly, which the pecuniary interests register tells us also happens to disproportionately benefit around half of the MPs in this Chamber with interests in more than one property.

The housing crisis—which means that, in raw terms, we have the most expensive housing in the world on pretty much any metric you choose to measure, not to mention that that extortionately expensive housing is also making people sick—didn’t happen overnight. This dire situation is the direct result of political decisions. It is disproportionately hurting the 1.4 million New Zealanders who rent in this country that this Parliament, by a majority—and as an overwhelming majority of comfortable homeowners—continues to structurally disempower.

In 2017, we in the Greens worked with Labour to introduce the healthy homes standards and a slate of amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act, removing, for example, no-cause convictions and allowing renters to go to the Tenancy Tribunal anonymously. Some standards, we agreed, obviously, were better than nothing—a set of rules to ensure it’s clear how a game should be played is important, but those rules are pretty meaningless if there is no referee to meaningfully enforce them.

That’s what we have with the healthy homes standards. Last year, my written questions exposed that the Government has no idea about the level of compliance with regards to healthy homes standards for private rentals, it has no idea how many landlords or property managers have self-excluded themselves from compliance to the healthy homes standards, and it has no idea how many companies are holding themselves out as capable of verifying compliance with the healthy homes standards, let alone the variance in their approaches. The 1.4 million New Zealanders who rent are left to shoulder the burden of enforcing these basic rules—their foundational human rights to adequate, affordable housing.

It’s a funny thing, because whenever the Greens mention renters, we are immediately shouted down and told that the solution to this problem is somehow that landlords just aren’t given enough free rein, that the solution is somehow more commodification of basic human rights. Ironically, this is exactly what the national Housing Commission warned against back in that 1988 report: that the shifting of responsibility from the State to the private sector, that the selling of State houses with rent controls and the creation of the accommodation supplement would—and I quote—“‘add little to the total housing supply while allowing private landlords and property speculators to make even higher charges for a non-expanding supply of housing’, which would in turn ‘raise the purchase price of land and rented property’.”

Of course, we now know that they were right. We remain one of the only countries in the developed world that continues to provide special tax treatment and preference to properties, incentivising the flow of capital into unproductive property speculation, or what the University of Auckland researchers called—and I quote—“a politically condoned, finance-fuelled casino.”

In fewer than 40 years, political decisions have made housing not only one of the major drivers of inequality in this country but one of the major determiners of physical and mental health, not to mention educational achievement and school attendance. Who pays the cost? Well, disproportionately, it’s 1.4 million renters in this country.

Over the last few weeks, over the noise and the nonsense that comes out of this place, we’ve been asking them to tell their stories, and we’ve compiled just 50 of the 700 diabolical stories that we have heard, which we know are just the tip of the iceberg. We know this because we have spoken to those renters and we have seen the outright fear that they have expressed in coming forward and risking a black mark against their name. We know the solutions: it’s a rental warrant of fitness, a register for property managers and landlords, and rent controls—Parliament’s move next.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. It’s a pleasure to be the last speaker in this general debate. Labour is backing our tertiary education. In the last few weeks, as a proud Wellingtonian and a former cleaner, student, and union organiser at Victoria University, I was deeply concerned by the proposed job cuts at Victoria University. The university is a key part of our city; it provides culture, energy, and jobs. I have spent the last few weeks, like many people, talking to many people from Victoria University—academics, students, and staff—who were very concerned about these proposed cuts. We all listened to their concerns and I’ve also been talking to my friends and colleagues in Government.

I’m proud to be part of the Government that is finally listening to these concerns and is stepping in to keep this vital sector thriving. We are providing an extra $128 million over the next two years for this sector. That’s on top of Budget 2023, which increased student subsidies by 5 percent, providing the biggest boost in university funding in 20 years. I want particularly to highlight the more than $28 million that Victoria University of Wellington will get from this over the next two years—that will make a real difference for Wellington students and academics. The extra funding comes from a transfer of funds that were not spent in Vote Tertiary Education. The fees freeze came due to the lower enrolments. We know this is not going to be enough, but this is going to make a huge difference.

I’m proud to have played a small role in advocating for this. But we know also that there are structural problems in universities’ funding as well, and that’s why the Government is also establishing a review to take a thorough look at tertiary education funding. The additional funding we have provided for the next two years will let the sector breathe for now. I have spoken to Dougal McNeill, who was a key in advocating for this, and he said, I quote, “This is a lifeline. It will never solve the whole problem, but this provides us with a lifeline. And thank you.” I understand the students and the staff are now calling for a moratorium on staff and programme cuts. Universities have an operational independence, but I hope this funding is considered as part of any further decision on courses and jobs. Victoria University has been a big part of my life and in the lives of so many Wellingtonians and we need to do everything to keep it alive and thriving.

I want to thank many people who advocated for this. This includes Dougal McNeill, who is from the Tertiary Education Union; Vice-Chancellor Nic Smith; and Jessica Ye from Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association, and I want to keep working with all of them on what we can all do to keep Wellington succeeding. I would like to thank the Minister, who stepped in at a critical time in doing this and providing this funding. She engaged. She listened. She was concerned like many of us. She stepped in at the right time.

Budget 2023 does a lot of things, but, for me, part of the proud moment is just this week we reached the milestone of 12,000 public houses. Like many low-paid people, when I moved to New Zealand, I was provided with a Kāinga Ora house and that gave me a head start in life. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here today. I wouldn’t be able to be doing what we’re doing. So what Labour is providing, by providing 12,000 public houses, is changing people’s lives. We are helping people to thrive by having a roof over their head. Wellington will have a good share of this. There will be 300 new homes, which will provide homes for 900 people, which is the Arlington project—something that we are very proud of.

And finally, Budget 2023 also stops the $5 prescription fees. A few weeks ago, I spoke to a friend who runs a pharmacy here in Wellington, who told me that the Government needs to step in and do something. After the announcement, immediately she called me to say thank you to the Labour Government, but also to say shame on National, who is vowing to bring this policy back.

We are proud of Budget 2023. We are proud of Grant, who did the unthinkable in putting this Budget in at such a difficult time. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

The debate having concluded, the motion lapsed.