"\u003C!DOCTYPE html\u003E\u003Chtml xmlns:xlink=\u0022http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink\u0022 xmlns:xsi=\u0022http://www.w3.org/2007/XMLSchema-instance\u0022 xmlns:mml=\u0022http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Chead\u003E\n    \u003CMETA http-equiv=\u0022Content-Type\u0022 content=\u0022text/html; charset=utf-16\u0022\u003E\n    \u003Cmeta name=\u0022viewport\u0022 content=\u0022width=device-width, initial-scale=1\u0022\u003E\n  \u003C/head\u003E\n  \u003Cbody style=\u0022font-family:sans-serif; font-size:100%;\u0022\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000001\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u002271f36823758b4e5c85084bf8b46a7123\u0022\u003ETUESDAY, 18 AUGUST 2015\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000003\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00220d1b320072304039811e48b9f1c4f433\u0022\u003ETUESDAY, 18 AUGUST 2015\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000002\u0022\u003EMr Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000004\u0022\u003EPrayers.\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000005\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022fb119a60053449de853447ab63830003\u0022\u003EMotions\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000006\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002271652fa7032d4d02974b1cf2668b9beb\u0022\u003ESilver Ferns\u20142015 Netball World Cup\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022603ae58e-47c4-46f9-bfc8-8355a48988ad\u0022 data-id=\u0022104ca13ebed14f47971bc2c0d556a950\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000007\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022603ae58e-47c4-46f9-bfc8-8355a48988ad\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022104ca13ebed14f47971bc2c0d556a950\u0022\u003EHon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister for Sport and Recreation):\u003C/span\u003E I seek leave to move a motion without notice and without debate to congratulate the Silver Ferns on their performance at the Netball World Cup.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000008\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226cd4b95a5b8c4fb39ec5313897e8b062\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to that course of action? There is none.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000009\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022603ae58e-47c4-46f9-bfc8-8355a48988ad\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b3d2aaa3b04c4ce1986f0d45753ea993\u0022\u003EHon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN\u003C/span\u003E: I move, That this House note the achievements of our national netball team, the Silver Ferns, who delighted us all during the World Cup, most notably in the victory over the Australian Diamonds during the preliminary round, and put on record how proud the country is of the way the team fought back during Sunday\u2019s final, after a very difficult first quarter, to finish within three goals of Australia; and congratulate the New Zealand Parliamentary Netball Team on their victory over the Australians in the Diggeress Cup. They are fine representatives of New Zealand, both on and off the court.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022 data-id=\u00222a0fd1e10ed34d509bb83d61bb97c2b9\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000010\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00222a0fd1e10ed34d509bb83d61bb97c2b9\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour\u2014Hutt South):\u003C/span\u003E On behalf of\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000011\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fb19827f79604cf3a507275ad32e6b2c\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! It is a motion without debate, so if the member seeks leave, I am sure\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000012\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225567629a2c3d4453872263e014d3db9c\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: Can I seek leave to reply\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000013\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b414ee195d624f73af4e382298bea9ba\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: That would be the best way forward. Leave is sought for the Hon Trevor Mallard to briefly respond. Is there any objection? There is not.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000014\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022951b39feb6c84a7e8b544c05c5409c99\u0022\u003EHon TREVOR MALLARD\u003C/span\u003E: Can I add the Opposition\u2019s congratulations to the team, in particular to the coach, Wai Taum\u0101unu, who took a high proportion of untested players; and to Casey K\u014Dpua, who recovered from what we thought was a career-ending injury to lead the team. I think that many New Zealanders felt despair after the first quarter, and some hope, if not expectation, later on. This is a team for the future, and I think we are well placed for the next Netball World Cup.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000015\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003EMotion agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000016\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022a6ba1707903e4cd2b680f06a39fafb7b\u0022\u003EPoints of Order\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000017\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022044d411094e44e53a72dde1defe1b419\u0022\u003ESpeakers and Presiding Officers\u2014Treatment of New Zealand First\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022 data-id=\u002216435b7a446c42e894b5af7fe1a08362\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000018\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002216435b7a446c42e894b5af7fe1a08362\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader\u2014NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I seek to raise a point of order at the first available opportunity to me. It concerns a comment made in this House on 29 July that was unparliamentary and requires an apology. The comment said was recorded on the parliamentary tape. I have heard it, and I seek an apology from you for the comments that you made.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022 data-id=\u0022252c9dfea4184f55961455e0ec18bd55\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000019\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022252c9dfea4184f55961455e0ec18bd55\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The only trouble is that the comment was not made by me. These microphones that I operate with are live microphones. I assured the House at the time that I never made that comment, and I stand by that statement again today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022 data-id=\u002227539a9e89554ad89812c60904aa6a18\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000020\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002227539a9e89554ad89812c60904aa6a18\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader\u2014NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Perhaps then you could tell me who it was who made the comment: \u201COh, shut up, Winston.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022 data-id=\u0022981ad1b4b01649b2bd07c801db4355b0\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000021\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022981ad1b4b01649b2bd07c801db4355b0\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: No, I do not intend to, but if the member takes time to think about the seating in the House\u2014[Interruption] Order! If the member takes time to think about the seating in the House and listens very carefully to the transcript he has recorded, I am sure he will come up with the correct answer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022909b8adb628647daaea09b835e903031\u0022\u003EOral Questions\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000023\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022c09942fa7a3940369f3375065cd1250f\u0022\u003EQuestions to Ministers\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000024\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022efc7ebc27a094ef785ef89ec172dd0a2\u0022\u003EEconomy\u2014Unemployment and Dairy Industry\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022 data-id=\u00225eacc7088fe942b9a5d272a99c8f557a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000025\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225eacc7088fe942b9a5d272a99c8f557a\u0022\u003EANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition):\u003C/span\u003E My question is to the Prime Minister\u2014[Interruption]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022 data-id=\u00229f2b49a3bf7440f78df45badbef5aca4\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000026\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00229f2b49a3bf7440f78df45badbef5aca4\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! I now require some settling in this House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022 data-id=\u0022ea7a55e1f34a41dba5bb48e089eb9601\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000027\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E1. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022ea7a55e1f34a41dba5bb48e089eb9601\u0022\u003EANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition)\u003C/span\u003E to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement that \u201CNew Zealand has a diversified economy\u201D, given that 82 percent of the growth in exports since the beginning of 2009 has been in dairy and wood, while manufactured exports have fallen by $1.3 billion?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022 data-id=\u00220dfd3e0695ee446bb38725579a1054ab\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000028\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00220dfd3e0695ee446bb38725579a1054ab\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister):\u003C/span\u003E Official data from Statistics New Zealand shows that between January 2009 and June 2015 New Zealand exports grew by just over $1 billion, but I have news for the member: I am advised that it is not the case that 82 percent of this growth in exports has been in dairy and wood. In fact, the real number is 20 percent, and I am advised that it is not the case that manufactured exports have fallen by $1.3 billion. In fact, they have increased by $138 million, or 13 percent, over the period that the member refers to. So I would say yes, New Zealand has a diversified economy, and I would also say that, like always, we should never believe the dodgy statistics that Labour brings to the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000029\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022614a0c6ff6e54d2d8fc100c450d8d213\u0022\u003EAndrew Little\u003C/span\u003E: Why has he failed to invest in diversifying the country over the past 7 years by backing research and development, investing in rural transport, and improving training for our young people; and why did he increase irrigation subsidies that encouraged more milk production instead?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000030\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022772efba0ddfc4f49aec8cd182b53d545\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: Despite what the member says, in fact, every single year that this Government has been in office it has invested more money in science and innovation. We have a highly diversified economy, and that is one of the reasons why it is doing well.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000031\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e8c4a0692b014e4b946e91a7d555ff6d\u0022\u003EAndrew Little\u003C/span\u003E: Given the 500 jobs lost at Fonterra, the 1,100 lost so far at Solid Energy, and the now 7.5 percent unemployment rate in Taranaki\u2014the highest in 21 years\u2014was it a good idea for his Government to concentrate regional economies on just a few basic commodities?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000032\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225bbecaa6505e460d8d344c76af408d8c\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: Well, I reject the proposition that we have done that. In fact, what we have done is enable the regions to diversify, and they have done that. The member might want to go around and ask the tourism operators around the region whether they are having a record time. The member might want to go out and look at information and communications technology businesses, around being supported by the roll-out of ultra-fast broadband and the Rural Broadband Initiative. The member might want to look at the science and innovation that has been rolled out around the country. The food industry\u2014there are many parts of the economy that are diversified. What is not diversified is the Labour Party, which has a one-track mind and thinks that everything is either dairy or housing. [Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000033\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e22fadabab3c4362801266b6232ca156\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! The level of interjection is now unacceptable.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000034\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cf85763bb5c94755b5210b2e2e0f77a0\u0022\u003EAndrew Little\u003C/span\u003E: With unemployment rising for the last three quarters and 50,000 more people unemployed today than when the member became Prime Minister, when will unemployment return to pre - John Key levels and where will the jobs come from?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000035\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e9accb48e3df4f2cb83529dc42bb51b0\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I do not have the numbers with me, but I know that over the past couple of years the number of jobs created in New Zealand is well in excess of 100,000. There are more people in work under this Government than there has ever been in the history of New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000036\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227a18241bd8b944a3902812bfdccde7dc\u0022\u003EAndrew Little\u003C/span\u003E: Given that dairy prices are so low, that manufactured exports are well below the level that he inherited, that the Canterbury rebuild has peaked, and that retail sales have stalled, how can he seriously regret the view of the leading bank economist that there will be no job growth in the second half of this year and that growth will slow below 2 percent?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000037\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022868e2c4798af4f0c9c9a5b288ff4a6a2\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: If the member came to the House with the correct facts we could take him seriously. The BNZ - BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index has increased 33 months in a row\u2014[Interruption] It is 34 months; I stand corrected\u201434 months in a row. I know that the member wants to talk the New Zealand economy down, because he somehow thinks the doom and gloom is going to help his failing prospects, but I can assure the member that it will not\u2014it will not\u2014and that is why in the \u201CMood of the Boardroom\u201D they did not rate him very highly.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000038\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022825d8932091548a584b1c4d9f74f3cac\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! [Interruption] Order! Now the noise is coming from my left rather than the right, but it still must settle.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000039\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002266d11c592d134d41b11f36ea069b9a28\u0022\u003EAndrew Little\u003C/span\u003E: When he says that beef, fruit, wine, and tourism are growing, why does he not be straight with New Zealand and admit that growth across all those sectors is just $2.3 billion, while the collapse in dairy will cost the economy $8 billion? Tell the truth\u2014he has put all the eggs in one basket, and I am not talking about the poultry industry, either.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000040\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002236fd766df93040dfb14b8c4ff3fa94db\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: Again, the member comes up with dodgy statistics one more time, and that is why it is very hard to take him seriously. But, yes, actually lots of other parts of the economy are doing very well. The member gets up on his feet and says that because international dairy prices are down\u2014something that the Government cannot control\u2014it is our fault, but because international beef prices are up, that is nothing to do with us. Well, he cannot have it both ways. [Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000041\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d0cfa63576bf4a75a61532025e99aba1\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! Would the two front-benchers\u2014at the second request\u2014please settle. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000042\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022a266d101d53d4521921771c27348db8c\u0022\u003EFuture Investment Fund\u2014Investments\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022 data-id=\u002230d3a6b2e4584882806462f8bae5c10f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000043\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E2. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002230d3a6b2e4584882806462f8bae5c10f\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader\u2014NZ First)\u003C/span\u003E to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his statements?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022 data-id=\u00229864e101602e428cb937fb6a7bbd3c8d\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000044\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00229864e101602e428cb937fb6a7bbd3c8d\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister):\u003C/span\u003E Yes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000045\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002248fc7b2d619c4da7a76bee57b2a4a562\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: Does he stand by his statement of October 2011 that the proceeds of selling public assets like Air New Zealand and power generators will go, in his words, \u201Cinto a new Fund, called the Future Investment Fund.\u201D?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000046\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002266765afb854544c0b340010eb7e76f33\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: Yes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000047\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226dfeeb62aa814739a759d3be6be649f5\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: Can the Prime Minister confirm that his asset sales fund is being used to buy \u201Cassets that are long-lived, are here in New Zealand, and are owned by the Crown on behalf of all taxpayers.\u201D?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000048\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cfc849b4269f42a493a3b19dbb72059b\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: As a general characterisation, I would say that is correct.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000049\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022025ed54961ba42489bae6ddda829411f\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: Well, then, how does he reconcile the two answers he has just given when the Government\u2019s contribution to the Chinese-led offshore Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank of $140 million\u2014New Zealand dollars\u2014is coming from his Future Investment Fund?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000050\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ccc4660e6c1d4625874a8b48c7589834\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: New Zealand has long been a participant in putting capital into bodies like this, and actually that is a very good thing to do, because that collective capital will be used to build infrastructure projects right across the Asian region, which, actually, New Zealand companies may well also get an opportunity to participate in. The capital is used to support those projects and one day it will probably be returned to New Zealand taxpayers.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000051\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022825b4645e05f4eb2b3af95da1007ca61\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: If that is the case, then why did the Prime Minister not give the right answer the first two times, and, more important, will he confirm to hard-working New Zealand taxpayers that another $561 million is now, by underwriting, having to be put against the Crown accounts for that purchase?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000052\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d131bea4c6464d528f21d3493d8ec780\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I do not think that the member really understands basic accounting. To be blunt, we put money into ACC and the Superannuation Fund, and that is also equity in those entities. We are putting equity into the Asian bank that is owned by New Zealand taxpayers, who own that equity.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000053\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a14d71c8120a4885aa588e327578f79c\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: If that is true, why did he not tell the public the truth when he made those statements about it being all here in New Zealand, and with provincial New Zealand\u2014indeed, much of New Zealand\u2014struggling, does he not feel that, like with charity, nigh on $700 million ought to be spent at home in this country?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000054\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fb1d030a953048f9a389ab859d886843\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: For a start off there is no guarantee that the additional capital that is ever drawn on New Zealand would actually come out of the Future Investment Fund. That should probably strongly suggest that it probably would not, given the fund is starting to run down. But this is an asset held on the New Zealand balance sheet. That is at home.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000055\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022699e895c88984b80aff0d8feb247e9d1\u0022\u003EEconomic Outlook\u2014Reports\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022 data-id=\u00220aa8e30bdbf148f79234517022b8f203\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000056\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003E3. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00220aa8e30bdbf148f79234517022b8f203\u0022\u003EJONATHAN YOUNG (National\u2014New Plymouth)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Finance: How is the Government supporting the economy\u2019s resilience and long-term economic outlook?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022 data-id=\u0022889968e37ca840eaa19d5612dc9b633b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000057\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022889968e37ca840eaa19d5612dc9b633b\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance):\u003C/span\u003E Lower dairy prices and ongoing uncertainty in some global markets underlines the importance of New Zealand\u2019s economic resilience, which has increased in recent years. Household savings have lifted. More households have been more focused on paying down debt. New Zealand\u2019s banks are well capitalised. New Zealand\u2019s net international investment position, which measures our international indebtedness, has strengthened from 85 percent of GDP in 2009 to 64 percent of GDP today, a significant reduction in our international indebtedness. The Government, of course, is supporting this resilience through responsible fiscal management.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000058\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225198cf93c7a947deab730e406dbda085\u0022\u003EJonathan Young\u003C/span\u003E: What recent reports has he received on the outlook for the New Zealand economy, particularly in the banking sector?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000059\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002293970662dd3a4a0ebc55a1e857554775\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: Rating agency Standard and Poor\u2019s released a ratings update for New Zealand financial institutions last week. It affirmed the issuer credit ratings of 11 financial institutions and lowered its credit ratings on 13 financial institutions. Standard and Poor\u2019s said these changes reflected increased risks from rising house prices in Auckland and were not due\u2014not due\u2014to risks specific to any institution. It said that although rising housing prices in Auckland meant higher risks of a house price correction, this increase is off a low base, and a sharp correction remains unlikely. Standard and Poor\u2019s pointed to New Zealand\u2019s resilient economy and banking regulation as supporting a banking system that is low risk by global standards.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000060\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225f847edb78c946be8aa76105f19720c5\u0022\u003EJonathan Young\u003C/span\u003E: What do other international ratings agencies say about New Zealand\u2019s economic outlook?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000061\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222790ac71eafd4a53ae4624d3fd182c42\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: There have been a number of reports from other rating agencies recently. Moody\u2019s affirmed its AAA rating of New Zealand banks and said its outlook for the New Zealand banking system is stable, based on banks\u2019 healthy capitalisation, strong asset quality, and stable profits. Last week Fitch Ratings affirmed its AA sovereign credit rating with a positive outlook, noting that the New Zealand economy and banking sector are relatively well positioned to weather a cyclical downturn in the dairy market. Later this month Standard and Poor\u2019s is expected to update its sovereign ratings for New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000062\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cc9c47c0-4409-44ca-ad2f-498707f27d69\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022130b08094ba445e98eb0f5999f5abbfd\u0022\u003EJonathan Young\u003C/span\u003E: What recent reports has he received showing continuing moderate growth over the next few years?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000063\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c100f5e5dff14d2693d4f4e24f9352e7\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: Most forecasters are going through a re-rating of the economic outlook because it is softer. Today the ASB bank issued its forecast of growth at 2 percent for this year, 2015, rising to 2.9 percent in 2016. It points to the widely recognised challenges in some parts of the economy, including positives such as a rapid improvement in export-sector competitiveness, expanding tourism, strong employment growth, and lower interest rates. The ASB\u2019s outlook is broadly consistent with Treasury and the Reserve Bank, which forecast growth of 2 to 2.5 percent for 2015.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000064\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022f93a62515e41485db56c6ed3ecaf8389\u0022\u003EWorkplace Health and Safety\u2014Progress\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022 data-id=\u0022573a94e241234cb797db9766f38703ce\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000065\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E4. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022573a94e241234cb797db9766f38703ce\u0022\u003EANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition)\u003C/span\u003E to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement made after the Pike River disaster that \u201CWe\u2019re doing everything we can to make sure this tragedy isn\u2019t repeated\u201D; if so, does he agree with Olivia Monk, sister of Michael Monk who was killed at Pike River, that \u201Cthere have been 291 deaths since Pike River in New Zealand, within the workplace, and that is unacceptable\u201D?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022 data-id=\u0022dd5f04d3008c48d790d91f48bb0925fc\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000066\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022dd5f04d3008c48d790d91f48bb0925fc\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister):\u003C/span\u003E Yes; and yes that it is unacceptable. That is why the Government has conducted the most significant review of workplace health and safety in more than two decades. However, it should be noted that I am advised by WorkSafe New Zealand that since Pike River, the number of fatalities has been 233. I am further advised that in the 5 years prior to Pike River, there were 331 fatalities, so the number is trending down.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000067\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022469ffe14d3324a0db5fec0416b740bfc\u0022\u003EAndrew Little\u003C/span\u003E: In light of the presence around Parliament today of some of the families of the Pike River victims, is the real reason for the delay in the passage of the Health and Safety Reform Bill that there are internal divisions in the National Government and difficulties with support parties?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000068\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c67c96cb26664b07a28c70bd93290696\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: No. There is a genuine desire, and also a need, to work with our support partners to actually get the legislation correct. Actually, I stand by the Government\u2019s record in health and safety, which has been to set up the Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy, to establish the High Hazards Unit, and to establish the Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety. We have introduced new underground mining regulations, we set up WorkSafe as a single-focus independent health regulator, we provided $35 million of additional funding, and we have boosted up to 167 the total number of health and safety inspectors.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000069\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022eeca1bc22ebc4e39b98bee90344bd6bd\u0022\u003EAndrew Little\u003C/span\u003E: Does he stand by his statement that \u201CThere have been too many deaths on farms for there not to be changes.\u201D; if so, would he guarantee that agriculture will be included as a high-risk industry under the Health and Safety Reform Bill?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000070\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ccea929166544517a48e7086c1bb13eb\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, I stand by my statement. No, I would not guarantee that agriculture with 20 or fewer employees would be deemed high risk. What the Government will do is take the best advice, and the Minister will be introducing that tomorrow.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000071\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225e24dc1d98364c4892014b446bd3fee6\u0022\u003EAndrew Little\u003C/span\u003E: How many deaths have there been in the agriculture sector since 2010, and what is that as a proportion of the workforce in that industry?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000072\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002219d2da5b284f45c1bcc7e95df9718e26\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I do not have that information with me. The member would need to put it down in writing, and I am more than happy to get the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety to give it to him.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000073\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b628064ca8144cffb7fb4f7eaed99be9\u0022\u003EAndrew Little\u003C/span\u003E: Given that around 290 more New Zealanders have died at work since the 29 deaths at Pike River, despite his promise of better laws\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000074\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ea56207738784a2183e2cf0a0bc0abec\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Obviously, it is important that the House is not misled\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000075\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002252d5093b894d4ec4aae3eff24602b7f9\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! [Interruption] Order! That is not going to help the order of the House. I heard the answer that the Prime Minister gave. The Leader of the Opposition is now quoting another figure. It is in order for the Leader of the Opposition to do so, but I imagine that the response will be fairly robust when the question is completed. I invite Andrew Little to complete his question.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000076\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002262fd9705f0a444e6ac3e57bb68d6fd73\u0022\u003EAndrew Little\u003C/span\u003E: Given that around 290 more New Zealanders have died at work since the 29 deaths at Pike River, despite his promise of better laws, does he seriously think that he has done enough to protect Kiwis at work?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000077\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002243850e0f24d349aaa60427b781bd41ca\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I think the member is deliberately misleading the House. The correct number is 233.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000078\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223e24c2af0761419f96a53ebbfad971bf\u0022\u003EAndrew Little\u003C/span\u003E: Will he come to the workplace safety meeting today at 6 o\u2019clock in the Legislative Council Chamber, and will he look the Pike River families in the eye and tell them that he has done all he can to prevent other families from suffering losses like theirs?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000079\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225b6fe69942414cd89769b35b90769fc7\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I have met with the families on many, many occasions. I would be simply more than happy to reaffirm to the families that this Government has utterly stood behind the commitments that it has made, and I personally have utterly stood behind those commitments. They include setting up the Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy and establishing the High Hazards Unit, with 17 specialist inspectors to oversee the safety of our mining and petroleum sectors. We have established the Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety. We have introduced new underground mining regulations. We have set up WorkSafe as the single-focus independent health and safety regulator. We have provided $35 million of additional funding for the regulator, bringing total resourcing to $80 million per year. We have boosted the number of health and safety inspectors to 167. We have developed the health and safety charter in Christchurch to assist the Canterbury rebuild. We have introduced a safety assurance regime for adventure activity operators. We have supported the industry-led Forest Industry Safety Council. We have worked with industry to introduce the Safer Farms initiative to\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000080\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222ad7e84fde7842519f25ff1b4c1510ec\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! Bring the answer to a conclusion.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000081\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002283858f50a5b54245a37a93a9196e8370\u0022\u003ERegional Economies\u2014Development\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022 data-id=\u0022ce18ee655067478980386dabc3e21ff3\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000082\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003E5. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022ce18ee655067478980386dabc3e21ff3\u0022\u003EJOANNE HAYES (National)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister for Economic Development: What progress is the Government making in its regional development programme?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022 data-id=\u00223087cb3c938444aba7f419f63e2b68b6\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000083\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223087cb3c938444aba7f419f63e2b68b6\u0022\u003EHon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Economic Development):\u003C/span\u003E Very good progress. The recent household labour force survey highlights that the economy is continuing to diversify and grow jobs in many regions over the past year, despite sharply lower dairy prices and other international uncertainties. There are 69,000 more New Zealanders working than a year ago, including 2,000 more jobs in Otago and Southland; 9,000 more in the Waikato and 3,900 in Manawat\u016B-Wanganui, with strong growth in the red meat sector, for example, including the value of beef exports up around 35 percent in a year; 11,000 more in the Bay of Plenty, on the back of a strong rebound in the Kiwifruit industry; and 3,300 more in Gisborne and Hawke\u2019s Bay, partly due to a strong and growing wine industry and also a strong and growing fruit industry. There has also been good growth in other industries, with tourism up 7 percent on the year, 24,500 more people in manufacturing, and international education up to now $2.85 billion.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222fb26ec8d9ad4515b176d0f7176bf211\u0022\u003EJoanne Hayes\u003C/span\u003E: What is the Government doing to encourage growth in the regions?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000085\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022540574369a9e4aebb4bb3d83bb0f9f23\u0022\u003EHon STEVEN JOYCE\u003C/span\u003E: We are doing a range of things. For example, we are investing in critical infrastructure, like the regional roading programme, the roads of national significance, and ultra-fast and rural broadband, to connect our regions with the rest of New Zealand and with the world. We are updating the regional business partner network and introducing regional business hubs to make it easier for businesses to access what they need to grow nationally and internationally. We are establishing regional research institutes. We are working closely with a number of regions to help them make the most of their opportunities and attract more investment for more growth and more jobs.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000086\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022758dcaf3-9976-43ac-8593-79f66ee4da22\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a6ae5bed80a9408db9baf00dc3a3ec8f\u0022\u003EJoanne Hayes\u003C/span\u003E: What has been the response from regions on their opportunity for growth?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022918b2333ee574f6eb7a4d4ddcde8f406\u0022\u003EHon STEVEN JOYCE\u003C/span\u003E: A very good response, including in the Manawat\u016B-Wanganui. We had a very good turnout from local leaders to endorse the regional growth opportunities report in that region. Last month I was down on the West Coast\u2014of course, they have their own examples of diversification, like the $120 million nutritionals plant currently being built by Westland Milk Products. We are investing in a range of infrastructure projects, like the Taramakau bridge, and the ultra-fast broadband in Greymouth and soon in places like Westport. I am working closely with the Buller mayor on a range of projects to attract new investment opportunities there. Also, last Friday I was in Hawke\u2019s Bay. The feedback there was very strongly in favour of regional development. They are very focused on the Ruataniwha dam project and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, so they were a little surprised when their local MP was coming out and marching against the Trans-Pacific Partnership last weekend.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022b150144ead914a3eb1a3fc0d22748cf0\u0022\u003EChild Poverty\u2014Household incomes in New Zealand Report\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022 data-id=\u002289c6b772cd0b4cccb414f89dbc464d5b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000089\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E6. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002289c6b772cd0b4cccb414f89dbc464d5b\u0022\u003EMETIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader\u2014Green)\u003C/span\u003E to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his statements?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022 data-id=\u0022e4c9d9030cf449988a12afc1851c6022\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000090\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022e4c9d9030cf449988a12afc1851c6022\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister):\u003C/span\u003E Yes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000091\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222883e4f41dbd4cc9bd5af96763616e18\u0022\u003EMetiria Turei\u003C/span\u003E: Does he stand by his statement to this House that Bryan Perry\u2019s inequality report Household incomes in New Zealand is \u201Cthe definitive study in this area and it is correct\u201D?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000092\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022924e0ef28a844a53b3e6610d06b836da\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: Yes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000093\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022be4e6181a11a4647b5d84e6c9b9faf97\u0022\u003EMetiria Turei\u003C/span\u003E: Does the Prime Minister agree with the report\u2019s finding that 45,000 more children are living below the 60 percent after - housing costs standard poverty line?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000094\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223e3b3eba474a48b09d486286213bb60a\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I agree that Mr Perry has put out the latest report. It does show that increase. It also shows a plethora of different measures for poverty. He also goes on in the report to say that there is no evidence yet to support the view that inequality is widening out.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000095\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c31b60958bb94585a336224ffb0ee077\u0022\u003EMetiria Turei\u003C/span\u003E: So is the Prime Minister suggesting that the fact of 45,000 more children living in poverty in just 1 year does not matter?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000096\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fed9d01e09b843dbafba22cd2125e875\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: No.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000097\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223991bd5264a348309be880c4c095be82\u0022\u003EMetiria Turei\u003C/span\u003E: Beyond the hardship measures that the Prime Minister is concerned with, is he saying to this House that he is committed to resolving the poverty suffered by those additional 45,000 children as set out in Bryan Perry\u2019s report?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000098\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022622e859ad66f4900b1b4efd9d7714b73\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: I think it is worthy of noting that there are literally hundreds of measures in the report. The member has quoted one, and that, in part, is because the median income has risen. But, yes, the Government remains committed to helping all New Zealand children.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000099\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fbeae4d7038448a897da5944c60001c6\u0022\u003EMetiria Turei\u003C/span\u003E: Does the Prime Minister agree with the author of this report, the most definitive study in this area, that because the incomes of the bottom third of New Zealand families have not moved but housing costs for those families have increased substantially, there are now 45,000 more children living in poverty than before?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000100\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222889a3213aac4fbd9ce6b353e61347a9\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: As I said before, there are many, many different measures in the report. There are many different ways of looking at it and cutting the numbers in different reports that are in there. What is clear and what the report says is that it is not clear yet that there is a trend of rising income inequality in New Zealand. Some of the data that the member mentions is a result of the median income rising.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000101\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002235370830f5324deab466df449c551141\u0022\u003EMetiria Turei\u003C/span\u003E: Given that the Prime Minister\u2019s economic plan has failed to prevent 45,000 more children now living in poverty, will he consider working with me and others on a cross-party consensus on child poverty alleviation policies?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000102\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220114d47fad4545e3ae4604d4d6d842f7\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY\u003C/span\u003E: No. I am happy to stick with the plan that the Government has got, which is actually working, in my view. This is increasing benefits\u2014the first time a Government has done that for 43 years. It is also around measures for a strong economy, because, actually, as we know, when people ultimately can find employment and can move into employment, their average household income rises. It is one of the reasons why, through a strong economy and the welfare reform measures this Government has undertaken, we now have the lowest number of people on the equivalent of the old DPB since 1988. The measures are working. There are many ways of cutting the numbers in Bryan Perry\u2019s report.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000103\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00221a4ddc4b2bbb4c21a6460e90c8f51d59\u0022\u003EIrrigation\u2014Central Plains Water Irrigation Scheme\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022ee649aea-c6fa-4610-9fcf-5c4bb2d3cd33\u0022 data-id=\u00221e20475e96354cf49c2715d4e6aedd25\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000104\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ee649aea-c6fa-4610-9fcf-5c4bb2d3cd33\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00221e20475e96354cf49c2715d4e6aedd25\u0022\u003EMATT DOOCEY (National\u2014Waimakariri):\u003C/span\u003E My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries\u2014[Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022 data-id=\u00225da0962667714624ab224e34a4f0fcc7\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000105\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225da0962667714624ab224e34a4f0fcc7\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! [Interruption] Order! I am going to invite the member to start the question again once the interchange has finished between the two front rows.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022ee649aea-c6fa-4610-9fcf-5c4bb2d3cd33\u0022 data-id=\u00225ac46872c0a34a609480e0c9f2175201\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000106\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ee649aea-c6fa-4610-9fcf-5c4bb2d3cd33\u0022\u003E7. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225ac46872c0a34a609480e0c9f2175201\u0022\u003EMATT DOOCEY (National\u2014Waimakariri)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister for Primary Industries: How is the Government supporting irrigation in the Canterbury region?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002223de6bd3-0482-495d-88f4-7cc3f75d8442\u0022 data-id=\u00225543f08d81e94100aa8856872d2065fc\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000107\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002223de6bd3-0482-495d-88f4-7cc3f75d8442\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225543f08d81e94100aa8856872d2065fc\u0022\u003EHon NATHAN GUY (Minister for Primary Industries):\u003C/span\u003E Last Friday I attended, with the Prime Minister and many other supporters, the opening of stage 1 of the Central Plains Water irrigation scheme in Canterbury. This scheme has the potential to create more than $1 billion in new economic activity. When all stages are complete, the scheme will irrigate about 60,000 hectares of dairying, arable, horticultural, and other livestock finishing land as well. The Government has supported this project through Crown Irrigation Investments, which has invested $6.5 million in stage 1 of the Central Plains Water scheme, and the Irrigation Acceleration Fund, which invested $5.3 million in the early stages.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000108\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ee649aea-c6fa-4610-9fcf-5c4bb2d3cd33\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221560f28471654f86bd6777927dd7a161\u0022\u003EMatt Doocey\u003C/span\u003E: Why is supporting irrigation so important for our region?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000109\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002223de6bd3-0482-495d-88f4-7cc3f75d8442\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bc2b000f513044eaa4a95ded7632df75\u0022\u003EHon NATHAN GUY\u003C/span\u003E: A very good question. The need for new irrigation and water storage has been highlighted recently by several droughts over the past couple of summers. I have seen for myself what a positive difference irrigation makes to rural communities and rural towns. It revitalises schools and is a huge economic driver as well. There is the potential for an extra 420,000 hectares of land across New Zealand to be irrigated by 2025, and that will create thousands of new jobs and boost exports by $4 billion a year.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000110\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c7fdbb62b867469a8aebdbf9fc0c6418\u0022\u003EAndrew Little\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table a report from WorkSafe New Zealand confirming that there have been a total of 299 workplace deaths in New Zealand since 2010.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000111\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224dbc41e4201e4aa691ad0d5e4d55f290\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought to table that particular document. Is there any objection? There is none. It can be tabled.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000112\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000113\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c4497f978a7a41449829823b26301af3\u0022\u003ETim Macindoe\u003C/span\u003E: What are some of the environmental benefits of the Central Plains Water irrigation scheme?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000114\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002223de6bd3-0482-495d-88f4-7cc3f75d8442\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a3761dc1daa34e708a2e932da8873a70\u0022\u003EHon NATHAN GUY\u003C/span\u003E: That is a very good question. Water storage infrastructure often has real environmental benefits, because it means more consistent river flows in summer and it reduces the pressure on groundwater aquifers. In this particular scheme, 75 to 80 percent of the current groundwater takes will be replaced by surface or river flows, and, of course, that has a benefit to the tune of 15 to 20 percent of that water being estimated to flow into Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora. So there are numerous environmental, social, and economic benefits from water storage projects in New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000115\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022372de5f23647414a99feeb6eb20508d0\u0022\u003EEconomic Programme\u2014Performance\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022 data-id=\u0022186e9be3df1348d7a1ffaeff7bee1698\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000116\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E8. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022186e9be3df1348d7a1ffaeff7bee1698\u0022\u003EGRANT ROBERTSON (Labour\u2014Wellington Central)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Finance: Does his plan A for the economy include negative per capita growth, rising rates of unemployment, credit downgrades for New Zealand banks, and the lowest levels of business confidence in 6 years; if so, why is he rejecting the call from 75 percent of business leaders in a recent survey for a plan B for the economy?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022 data-id=\u00226e595bd648b544579be6847a6147e930\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000117\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226e595bd648b544579be6847a6147e930\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance):\u003C/span\u003E No, the Government\u2019s economic plan is based on an economy that is resilient and adaptive to the pressures of the global economy, and it is continuing to deliver higher wages, increasing employment, and a growing economy. If the business leaders did have a plan B, we would know because Labour would have plagiarised it by now.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000118\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002231c0ff68ae634c7ca40910ac34b7d3fb\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000119\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222180ad219dc0453099fc67c021fdee4f\u0022\u003EGrant Robertson\u003C/span\u003E: How can plan A be working when there are 146,000 people unemployed today\u201411,000 more than at this time last year\u2014and the unemployment rate is knocking on 6 percent and forecast to go higher, or is higher unemployment really part of plan A?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000120\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228ef97cbe59a34cfea9dc4ccaae23d73a\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: The plan is working because the economy is quite rapidly making the adjustments it needs to make to the change in the global markets that we deal with. Dairy prices have dropped sharply, the exchange rate has quite quickly dropped by almost 20 percent against the US dollar, and interest rates are now falling\u2014not rising as we expected them to\u2014and this is going to flow through to stronger export performance, particularly in those markets like tourism where demand is strong, and continued growth in jobs and investment. The adjustments that one would expect to occur are occurring, and the Government should make sure that it does not get in the way of sensible New Zealanders doing the right thing under the pressure that they feel.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000121\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221037a5032d764e7ba9b0bd5875fe75dd\u0022\u003EGrant Robertson\u003C/span\u003E: In light of the rosy picture that the Minister has just painted, how does he explain a string of business confidence surveys that show the lowest levels of business confidence in 6 years, the latest of which being from the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, which shows that only 15 percent of its members actually think that things will get better in the next year? How does he explain that, if everything\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000122\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002229570644ede64c1abbb6b66ac4dad987\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! The question has been asked.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000123\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f125e7f6f16b4c739ee75801332de294\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: If the member had been listening to my last answer he would have heard that I was not painting a rosy picture; I was painting a picture of an economy adapting to global forces that are impacting on us\u2014the same as business confidence is. It was at a very high level and the world outlook has softened for New Zealand, and so business confidence is adjusting to that pretty quickly. But I can tell you that that confidence would certainly erode further if the Government followed that member\u2019s advice and panicked about low dairy prices.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000124\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002232cab14c6b1d48a09b1877f8093697db\u0022\u003EGrant Robertson\u003C/span\u003E: Can he confirm his statement in this House\u2014which he also repeated at the \u201CMood of the Boardroom\u201D last week\u2014that the only plan B for the diversification of the economy he has is for it to occur as a result of falling dairy prices?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000125\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221329dc7b42b3488285524a9db523dbdc\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: As has been rehearsed many times in this House, the New Zealand economy has been diversifying for some time, but I would have to say that if the member does understand the economy, he would understand that when prices drop in one sector and, effectively, go up in another, like tourism, investment is going to shift from one sector to another. That is not an original idea; that is one I have plagiarised from the economists. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000126\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221c826dd7eebd4c159b0b80c182fa059c\u0022\u003EGrant Robertson\u003C/span\u003E: Having failed to find a plan B for the economy, is he now on to plan C, which is to break his promise about asset sales and begin to hock off what is left of our State-owned enterprises?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000127\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d4fd574dcb344480b74427ba699a93ae\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: I can assure the member that plan A is not copying and pasting other people\u2019s policies. It is to stick to our policy for an adaptive and resilient economy, and of course we will be adjusting to circumstances, in exactly the same way that businesses and households today, particularly in some of our dairy-intensive provincial areas, are having to adapt very quickly to the changing circumstances. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000128\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002226e5da4ec45949d591f4f988db562b90\u0022\u003EGrant Robertson\u003C/span\u003E: Has he instructed boards of State-owned enterprises other than Landcorp to investigate selling down capital; if so, which ones?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000129\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229b618160c55a43ddadae18926e9888f6\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: No, we have not instructed boards to sell down capital. We have instructed them to show respect for the capital they have, which is hard-earned from New Zealanders who pay their taxes, their rail fares, or their postage, and make sure that they are using it very carefully. We have also instructed them that if they have spare capital\u2014that is, unutilised land, for instance\u2014they should sell it, because they are wasting it, and that is hard-earned cash. It is hard-earned capital funded by New Zealanders\u2019 cash.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e7d75a1fb7374d3982ab25d06bed42e6\u0022\u003EGrant Robertson\u003C/span\u003E: In light of that answer, can the Minister of Finance confirm that he has just told the House that he is breaking the National Party\u2019s promise to not sell any more assets?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000131\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b7966644874f433fac55ba507da0952f\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: No, and we disagree with that member\u2019s irresponsible policy that if, for instance, a Government-owned business has land it no longer needs, then it must hold on to it for ever because that is the policy. If it no longer needs land, for instance, in Auckland, we would rather it sells the land in Auckland so we can build houses on it, and that is exactly what we are going to do.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000132\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222836b964c1514173acbe773a6aaf5ffd\u0022\u003ERt Hon John Key\u003C/span\u003E: Can the Minister of Finance confirm that if Meridian were to sell an asset it held in Australia called Southern Hydro, that would be an asset sale?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000133\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002264f5fa70fb42485a86656d8531aacfa4\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, I can. Having listened to this line of questioning for some time, I went back to see whether, under the previous Labour Government, any assets were sold. I found out, much to my surprise, that it had sold $600 million of electricity assets in Australia\u2014and apparently that broke its policy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000134\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00223a08a77e268c45cfa102709c4d2feb58\u0022\u003ESuperannuation\u2014Residency Requirements\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002247c29b78-eee0-4c91-afdf-7b07be780e1a\u0022 data-id=\u0022520c90e34874472eb27917921ab46708\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000135\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002247c29b78-eee0-4c91-afdf-7b07be780e1a\u0022\u003E9. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022520c90e34874472eb27917921ab46708\u0022\u003EDENIS O\u2019ROURKE (NZ First)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs: Does he have confidence in the Government-appointed Retirement Commissioner Diane Maxwell?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002253f86481-33c1-48b2-893b-c11cc0bd673d\u0022 data-id=\u002292bb5c0981ea4399ae4911b4a70ee50a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000136\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002253f86481-33c1-48b2-893b-c11cc0bd673d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002292bb5c0981ea4399ae4911b4a70ee50a\u0022\u003EHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs):\u003C/span\u003E Yes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000137\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002247c29b78-eee0-4c91-afdf-7b07be780e1a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d4246122666b40b9a2e252f3eec106e7\u0022\u003EDenis O\u2019Rourke\u003C/span\u003E: Does the Minister agree with the Retirement Commissioner\u2019s comment that New Zealand should be lifting the bar for immigrants on their entitlement to full New Zealand superannuation and that \u201Cuncomfortable, difficult things\u201D have to be discussed?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000138\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002253f86481-33c1-48b2-893b-c11cc0bd673d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aef8c19aa9c74aacba5bbfd0fd58643c\u0022\u003EHon PAUL GOLDSMITH\u003C/span\u003E: I am not responsible for policy on New Zealand superannuation. The commissioner has an independent role to comment on all sorts of things. I disagree with some and I agree with others, but I retain confidence in her. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000139\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002247c29b78-eee0-4c91-afdf-7b07be780e1a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cd83b53f34224ac69b231087379c6e98\u0022\u003EDenis O\u2019Rourke\u003C/span\u003E: Is the Minister concerned that in the last 15 years almost 80,000 immigrants over the age of 50 years have been granted permanent residence and that the proportion of older immigrants is steadily increasing each year?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000140\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002244c959b5c42047a0aef05bf856c227af\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I call the Hon Paul Goldsmith, in so far as he has ministerial responsibility.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000141\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002253f86481-33c1-48b2-893b-c11cc0bd673d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c158ffb8a18544b8832a7693982bf238\u0022\u003EHon PAUL GOLDSMITH\u003C/span\u003E: I suggest he refers that question to the relevant portfolio Minister, but I would say that the Retirement Commissioner\u2019s work is very important. Raising the capability of New Zealanders\u2019 financial understanding will make a big difference to this country.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000142\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002247c29b78-eee0-4c91-afdf-7b07be780e1a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002246ebcc818d2b4b638c5e45efb04d9586\u0022\u003EDenis O\u2019Rourke\u003C/span\u003E: Does the Minister think that the minimum residency requirement of only 10 years for entitlement to full New Zealand superannuation is still appropriate, or would he be willing to consider changing it for a fairer and more appropriate alternative?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000143\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002251ffc5763bdd479c8ccbef496a2269c9\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Again, in so far as there is ministerial responsibility, the Hon Paul Goldsmith.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000144\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002253f86481-33c1-48b2-893b-c11cc0bd673d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022463a136b4c3c424085206ece1f01dc47\u0022\u003EHon PAUL GOLDSMITH\u003C/span\u003E: I would be happy to send that member a list of ministerial responsibilities. Which letterbox would he like me to send it to?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000145\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022fc3acc8f5f59472490d46c375517d872\u0022\u003EHealth Services\u2014Surgical Specialist Assessments\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002261720d2e-5b1d-4742-b4f0-30424316ccc1\u0022 data-id=\u0022dcfcc545f3ef481295b7d558b6c63aba\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000146\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002261720d2e-5b1d-4742-b4f0-30424316ccc1\u0022\u003E10. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022dcfcc545f3ef481295b7d558b6c63aba\u0022\u003EBARBARA KURIGER (National\u2014Taranaki - King Country)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Health: Can he confirm that the number of patients benefiting from first surgical assessments has increased from 261,226 in 2008-09 to 322,196 in 2014-15, and that this is an increase of over 60,000 more patients now receiving first surgical assessments each year?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022603ae58e-47c4-46f9-bfc8-8355a48988ad\u0022 data-id=\u00228b9bc7ccb1fe43768a61e7d7043c86d9\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000147\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022603ae58e-47c4-46f9-bfc8-8355a48988ad\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00228b9bc7ccb1fe43768a61e7d7043c86d9\u0022\u003EHon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister of Health):\u003C/span\u003E Yes, I can. When National was elected in 2008, increasing the number of surgical specialist assessments every year was a top Government priority. Now, new official figures show that a record 322,196 New Zealanders received their surgical first specialist assessments in 2014-15. This is a remarkable increase of 60,000, or 23 percent, on 2007-08. This is in part achieved by the over $500 million a year average increase in the health budget under this Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000148\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002261720d2e-5b1d-4742-b4f0-30424316ccc1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229874b566d4294220bc5c7a7f33124304\u0022\u003EBarbara Kuriger\u003C/span\u003E: Can the Minister advise whether this positive growth of surgical specialist assessments is across the main specialties, and does he expect to continue to deliver further increases in the number of patients receiving these assessments?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000149\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022603ae58e-47c4-46f9-bfc8-8355a48988ad\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e24eced5ba754124b336f35e2fbf0d61\u0022\u003EHon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN\u003C/span\u003E: This growth in surgical specialist assessments has been spread across the specialties, including ear, nose, and throat; ophthalmology; and cardio-thoracic specialist assessments. It also includes an increase in orthopaedic specialist assessments from 43,200 in the 2008-09 year to 55,526 being assessed in 2014-15. That is 12,000, or 28 percent, more being done. It is my expectation that district health boards will continue to deliver increases in specialist assessments, and that is supported by the extra $92 million the Government has invested for elective surgeries in the Budget.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000150\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00223a0db233d1b84c3c8ee78e15eb96beb2\u0022\u003EOverseas Investment\u2014Farm and Forestry Land\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022 data-id=\u00223f890e800d9b42aa8d2ced7bde3473e2\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000151\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003E11. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223f890e800d9b42aa8d2ced7bde3473e2\u0022\u003ESTUART NASH (Labour\u2014Napier)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister for Land Information: How many hectares of New Zealand agricultural and forestry land are owned or controlled by foreign interests?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022 data-id=\u00228cab064537cf4cefb02dd6025fb18603\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000152\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00228cab064537cf4cefb02dd6025fb18603\u0022\u003EHon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Economic Development)\u003C/span\u003E on behalf of the Minister for Land Information: It is not possible to give an answer to that for a number of reasons, and let me take the House through them. Firstly, often overseas owners sell land back to New Zealanders. Consent is not needed to do this, and no record is kept. Secondly, overseas owners can change their status\u2014for example, they can become New Zealand citizens or permanent residents. Thirdly, overseas owners sell land to each other. Fourthly, the Overseas Investment Office records grants of consent; it does not necessarily mean\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000153\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227dfc36c0502144fe9a79257d9881126f\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! The Minister will resume his seat.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000154\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a94c425c266d4e46a3fb6a6775ea150d\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. If you look at the question, it required a simple answer, not a long, obtuse\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000155\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c3dbf4d2a7c34dad8cbc685e2f2076ff\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! The member will resume his seat immediately. I will be the adjudicator of how long a question is to be answered for, and that will be greatly determined by the measure of interjections that are coming from areas in this House. If there are interjections, then a Minister will certainly be given more latitude in responding to those.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000156\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223df001192c5e4d36a0d435aa05db4e82\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000157\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b8faae6f1cf446f2bc5d174f5cd94d69\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! Would the member please resume his seat. I have ruled on this matter, but I just want to give the member a warning that might be of some relevance to him. If he continues to relitigate that point of order, that is seriously disorderly, and I will deal with it appropriately. If the member wishes to raise a separate point of order, I am happy to hear it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000158\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bb219941613646fa8d4a973362649459\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: I am not contesting what you have just said. What I want to know is: could I have some prior Speakers\u2019 rulings or Standing Orders that reference the right of a Minister to go on and on, on the basis of\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000159\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a8f37cc642964f7d929995320bf93df5\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! The member is in serious risk of being thrown out of the House on a second occasion for exactly the same reason. I have ruled that I will adjudicate the length of the answer, and that will be determined by the level of interjection that I perceive to be coming from any area of the House. Would the Minister like to complete his answer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000160\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d75482901239467f810559595c670a5e\u0022\u003EHon STEVEN JOYCE\u003C/span\u003E: The fifth reason is that the Overseas Investment Office has records dating back to 1998 only, as prior to that time, consents were granted by the Land Valuation Tribunal, which kept no data. So for those five reasons, and more, it is not possible to provide an answer to the member.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000161\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ac479e9498bc4c34b02d8228bc67442b\u0022\u003EStuart Nash\u003C/span\u003E: Does the Minister for Land Information think it is acceptable that she can approve sales of New Zealand\u2019s agricultural and forestry land without ever knowing the total number of hectares of New Zealand productive land that is going into foreign ownership or control?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000162\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b0355227b6bc4d529d90c53357d3d261\u0022\u003EHon STEVEN JOYCE\u003C/span\u003E: The point is that we actually test every single transaction. In fact, this Government tightened up the Overseas Investment Office consent process by increasing New Zealand participation, protecting New Zealand\u2019s economic interests, and limiting vertical integration. If the member would like to go over the history of some of these transactions and which Government sold what to whom, I am more than happy to indulge him.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000163\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002257c7ad335fc54c28af90f8282f764e5d\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: No, that will not be necessary.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000164\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226cfd098cd15f411e8ff4d903531eb49f\u0022\u003EStuart Nash\u003C/span\u003E: In light of the answer that the Government tests every sale, how many jobs have the 716 overseas investors, who promised to create jobs, actually created; if the Minister for Land Information does not know, why not?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000165\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022eee3bc625a41485e90dae6d35935082e\u0022\u003EHon STEVEN JOYCE\u003C/span\u003E: I do not have the total, but I can give him an example that I think is an important example, because one of the transactions relates to a purchase of Carter Holt Harvey\u2019s forestry assets. This is an important example of\u2014[Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000166\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cce99c375dd04e44aca4b54b004ded2d\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! [Interruption] Order! If I hear interjections of that level coming from two particular New Zealand First members, they will be leaving the House immediately.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000167\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223bc93deb75a04b59b54983ae423e1d4f\u0022\u003EHon STEVEN JOYCE\u003C/span\u003E: So one example is the Carter Holt Harvey forestry assets, which included 3,380 hectares of freehold land that was purchased by Oji Paper Co Ltd, which, the member may be aware, is the operator of the Pan Pac Forest Products Ltd mill in Whirinaki. It employs very many New Zealanders and is developing those assets, so if he wants to continue down that line of attack\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000168\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002282d8d5267134406c89c37dc37302d5fa\u0022\u003EStuart Nash\u003C/span\u003E: Point of order\u2014[Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000169\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c033f73a44ca48e2b7b77b666bc35fb2\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! I have a point of order from Stuart Nash, and I certainly hope that it is not attempting to relitigate on the length of this answer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000170\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c006872f686e425796a15dce47750c36\u0022\u003EStuart Nash\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Not at all, Mr Speaker. It was a very clear question. I had the answer within 2 seconds. Can I please ask\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000171\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c1d2a02072804d01ae3866790d8e6581\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! That is relitigating exactly what I have already handled. The member is very much in danger of having the same treatment as the others. Does he have further supplementary questions?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000172\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d43c05c8e2954e33a3fa70d1c76f8d85\u0022\u003EStuart Nash\u003C/span\u003E: Does New Zealand not need a publicly accessible register listing foreign ownership and control of our agricultural and forestry land?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000173\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f978cfbbbcac447eb9282dff12705bd7\u0022\u003EHon STEVEN JOYCE\u003C/span\u003E: No, I do not believe so. What New Zealand needs is the ability to vet each transaction, which this Government does, just as other Governments did before it, to ensure that there is economic benefit for New Zealand. And the member knows, from his own electorate, that there are some very good examples of foreign investment in New Zealand, and the Pan Pac Forest Products Ltd mill at Whirinaki is exactly one of those examples. It also owns foreign land for forestry purposes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000174\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222bb28aaa16f749ecb2d19a1be1a47f20\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! [Interruption] No, I think that on this occasion the answer is certainly long enough. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000175\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bbded2ec-ac25-4a73-a380-3f4d87693084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d992cba9e28a4320b75d6ef1c253c2b7\u0022\u003EStuart Nash\u003C/span\u003E: Will the Minister for Land Information approve the sale to foreign interests of any of Landcorp\u2019s 160,000 hectares of farms and forests; if so, why?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000176\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a244152-977c-48d2-bf53-4f3a369a27a9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022304d8ef507d94dc18f59e1e070e6b384\u0022\u003EHon STEVEN JOYCE\u003C/span\u003E: She cannot make hypothetical decisions on individual pieces of land, but she would probably be more careful than the Labour Government from back in 2004, which sold 170,000 hectares of the Kaingaroa Forest to a Harvard pension fund, and that particular transaction was authorised by one David Parker.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000177\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00223e012c3a86b04891ab9f707763a0c819\u0022\u003ENo. 4 to Minister\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000178\u0022\u003EQuestion \u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022 data-id=\u0022748cef42a178403d92b0e5efb8bdd3e7\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000179\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220083bcaa-f44d-4b70-97de-d091a209b88c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022748cef42a178403d92b0e5efb8bdd3e7\u0022\u003ERt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister):\u003C/span\u003E I seek leave to table a WorkSafe New Zealand report that shows quite clearly that since the Pike River mine disaster, there have been 233 fatalities\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000180\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022076f93d5ee924a01985df52144e83bdf\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought to table that particular document. Is there any objection? There is none. It can be tabled.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000181\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000182\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022c680f752001a4bd1bad27242950b64bf\u0022\u003ENo. 2 to Minister\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000183\u0022\u003EQuestion \u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022 data-id=\u00224d3d07018c414e179c63874c05c460fc\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000184\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00224d3d07018c414e179c63874c05c460fc\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader\u2014NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E I seek leave to table an answer to an Official Information Act request, setting out that the Government is using the fund that was for only New Zealand asset purchases to buy assets offshore. It is all here.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000185\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224962e6090ec54417b1c99e15bd1829cc\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! I am not sure what I am seeking leave to table, to be honest.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000186\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c57081a5bdf24d269b2b096fe4bc5d39\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: Well, I will explain it again.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000187\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002269045b0df230472788060b418acb017c\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Please explain it briefly.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000188\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002227217defe1cc458ab6f8923b6089a2e7\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: Once more, very slowly, it is an Official Information Act answer demonstrating that the Government\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000189\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aac5d94c9ab54d34ada59af632ba0ec0\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order! Can I have it\u2014[Interruption] Order! This is a particular response as a result of an Official Information Act request. Leave is sought. Can I just have the date of the document?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000190\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002271b67fe83f40493c9abc6909d1d562cd\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: 11 August.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000191\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002223a2dce358b24a12b0e2b0ff845d3e98\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: 11 August, I presume, of this year.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000192\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002287f0b91fc23746a6bce078c7183fef4b\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: Take a wild guess. Yes, this year, Mr Speaker.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000193\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f0b9fab2461b4969acc28a98569e7968\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Thank you very much. Leave is sought to table that particular document from 11 August 2015. Is there any objection to that document being tabled in this House today? There is none. It can be tabled.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000194\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000195\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002239d9372d5081452f97178d44113564a0\u0022\u003ELandcorp\u2014Dairy Conversions\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220ee528dc-7870-4553-95ed-5ec0cab60f07\u0022 data-id=\u0022dfa66b783b314f95b73cec742d6f5095\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000196\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220ee528dc-7870-4553-95ed-5ec0cab60f07\u0022\u003E12. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022dfa66b783b314f95b73cec742d6f5095\u0022\u003ECATHERINE DELAHUNTY (Green)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister for State Owned Enterprises: Is he comfortable with Landcorp\u2019s large-scale dairy conversions in the Waikato?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c0f78f60-c2fd-46f4-8138-72f39692fc20\u0022 data-id=\u002277bea39f0b3f432ca23b99f72c47e6c3\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000197\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0f78f60-c2fd-46f4-8138-72f39692fc20\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002277bea39f0b3f432ca23b99f72c47e6c3\u0022\u003EHon TODD McCLAY (Minister for State Owned Enterprises):\u003C/span\u003E In general, yes, although I would note that Landcorp continues to consider a number of uses for that land, including dairy. However, fluctuations in international commodity prices are likely to impact on its financial performance, like many dairy farmers in New Zealand. Investment in dairy is generally undertaken on the basis of a long-term view on average dairy prices through time. The contractual agreement signed by Landcorp in 2004 means that Landcorp is contractually obliged to undertake land conversion activity on the Wair\u0101kei estate until 2049. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000198\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220ee528dc-7870-4553-95ed-5ec0cab60f07\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002262ee5eace7554f0296836b78ab365b88\u0022\u003ECatherine Delahunty\u003C/span\u003E: In the light of that answer, will this Government review the contract between Landcorp and Wair\u0101kei Pastoral and tell the public what options there are to stop the conversions, which will not only undermine farmers downstream and pollute the environment but also impact on Landcorp\u2019s balance sheet?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000199\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0f78f60-c2fd-46f4-8138-72f39692fc20\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d4d507a146a84db2b0df17c57c1adeaf\u0022\u003EHon TODD McCLAY\u003C/span\u003E: That is an issue for the Landcorp board. It is the one that entered into that obligation, and it is the one that has the obligation through that contract. But I would say to the member that the time for a Government to visit that contract was in 2004 before it was signed. I do understand the Government at the time was consulted, and the Ministers gave their assent to that contract that has entered into force and will be in place until 2049. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000200\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220ee528dc-7870-4553-95ed-5ec0cab60f07\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b64080a9db01406c8b168fc8679e063a\u0022\u003ECatherine Delahunty\u003C/span\u003E: What will it take for the Government to place a moratorium on Landcorp dairy conversions, given the overwhelming evidence they are economically risky and environmentally irresponsible?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000201\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0f78f60-c2fd-46f4-8138-72f39692fc20\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f3c2eb1441044bc383aaa0bf31efc4c1\u0022\u003EHon TODD McCLAY\u003C/span\u003E: Again, it is not for the Government to make that decision. As Minister I expect Landcorp to meet all of its environmental obligations anywhere it farms in New Zealand, including in the Waikato. We expect it to meet the full requirements of the Resource Management Act. This is a discussion I have had with the Landcorp board on a number of occasions. To the best of my knowledge, it meets those obligations and requirements. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000202\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227e22bb95-9afb-449c-bcd2-de9fd4f2277c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d04d3623e7ba4248af50d5b039759761\u0022\u003EDavid Seymour\u003C/span\u003E: Is it not a conflict of interest for the Government to be both the owner of a dairy-oriented company and the regulator of the environmental impacts of dairying? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000203\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0f78f60-c2fd-46f4-8138-72f39692fc20\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221356c9605a2946d59a0a71d35cff67ce\u0022\u003EHon TODD McCLAY\u003C/span\u003E: No, it is not, although I would say to the member that this is not a dairy company; it is a farming organisation that has diverse farming interests across a spectrum of farming operations within New Zealand. Secondly, though, when it comes to the operation of Landcorp or any other farming entity in New Zealand, the Resource Management Act suggests\u2014or dictates\u2014that it is regional councils that have the competence that he is speaking of. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000204\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220ee528dc-7870-4553-95ed-5ec0cab60f07\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cebe4f98219c44b0881b13af6fd3d0cd\u0022\u003ECatherine Delahunty\u003C/span\u003E: Is the Government ruling out selling off Landcorp farms to foreign owners rather than keeping this strategically important farmland in New Zealand hands?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000205\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0f78f60-c2fd-46f4-8138-72f39692fc20\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f96aa40079c84486bbc3c7a673bae6b1\u0022\u003EHon TODD McCLAY\u003C/span\u003E: Landcorp buys and sells farms all of the time\u2014indeed, it has almost always done so. The Government expects it to manage its business well. We want to see a reasonable, fair return to the taxpayer. We do not want it to have unnecessarily high levels of debt that could put its business into some form of peril. This is, again, a conversation I have been having for a period of time with the Landcorp board. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000206\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227e22bb95-9afb-449c-bcd2-de9fd4f2277c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002256de087328ce45149178cea2c2d695a1\u0022\u003EDavid Seymour\u003C/span\u003E: Are there good reasons for the Government to be in the business of farming, and if there are, why stop there?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000207\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c0f78f60-c2fd-46f4-8138-72f39692fc20\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227e5b9f74df214706bf4053a297c62c6a\u0022\u003EHon TODD McCLAY\u003C/span\u003E: There are many reasons why the Government is involved in Landcorp. Some of them are good. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000208\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022764fe03b568e4caa995efb1b2483e70d\u0022\u003EImprest Supply (Second for 2015/16) Bill\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000209\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022ecd7c4a43a5d4eb78c9ead239756ce13\u0022\u003EFirst Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022 data-id=\u0022137cd10ed57d402ea7fc084c6f015937\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000210\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022137cd10ed57d402ea7fc084c6f015937\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the Imprest Supply (Second for 2015/16) Bill be now read a first time. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u00224d9971f2c7704071bdf4fff4282d42a1\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the Imprest Supply (Second for 2015/16) Bill be now read a first time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 59; M\u0101ori Party 2; ACT New Zealand 1; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 32; Green Party 14; New Zealand First 12.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EBill read a first time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000211\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00224a1a67860f784128b401298d08d8be3f\u0022\u003EAppropriation (2015/16 Estimates) Bill\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000212\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022bd9baaa50e46480a92ef87c3563e8c49\u0022\u003EThird Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000213\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00227ee5c030918049acafe25b90fa949803\u0022\u003EImprest Supply Debate\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000215\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002236ad5c8c6ac64790865d15db48d5e266\u0022\u003EImprest Supply Debate\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022 data-id=\u00229f652117d4574f16b0369faee8e78fe6\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000214\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00229f652117d4574f16b0369faee8e78fe6\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the Appropriation (2015/16 Estimates) Bill be now read a third time and the Imprest Supply (Second for 2015/16) Bill be now read a second time. This third reading brings to an end the debate on Budget 2015. I want to take this opportunity to remind the House that the fundamental job of the Budget is to raise taxes and distribute the expenditure\u2014that is, it is focused primarily on the business of the Government. I want to acknowledge all those public servants who apply themselves with dedication and professionalism every day. There has been something of a trend in recent years to acknowledge our front-line public servants and also those who work for other organisations funded by the Government, and I want to do that today because we rely on their efforts to meet the needs not only of New Zealand\u2019s most vulnerable citizens but also of every New Zealander, often in their time of greatest need.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000216\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EI also want to acknowledge the back-office public servants, because putting together a better kind of Budget that focuses on having more impact on the lives of New Zealanders is proving to be an intensive exercise\u2014resource intensive, intellectually intensive, and challenging. Over the last few years many public servants have provided a great deal of professional support for the Government\u2019s objective of doing more for less\u2014that is, putting together a Budget that has new spending at levels that are lower, even now, than at any time since the late 1990s, and yet, year on year, the Government, along with the Public Service, is producing more services and better services, even though the finances have been tight.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000217\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EThis Budget, which we are debating today, is the second one to show some signs of the impact of the Government taking a broader view of how to support individual New Zealanders to succeed. At the heart of this Budget was, of course, the hardship package\u2014the first increase in benefit levels for families, beyond the Consumers Price Index, for 43 years. [Interruption] And I am not surprised that Labour did not like it. In fact, as I recall, the record of this House will show that the Labour Party voted against the first increase in 43 years, over and above inflation, for New Zealand\u2019s hardest-up families.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000218\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EAlongside that increase, in this Budget we are also starting to see the impact of the Government\u2019s social investment approach. There has been a lot of discussion in the Public Service\u2014less in the public\u2014about what this amounts to, but it has got some pretty simple principles, and they will certainly be features of the next Budget of the John Key - led National Government. Probably as its first principle, it has a focus on the customer. I use that word deliberately, because it makes people feel uncomfortable but, actually, we should treat every single New Zealander who is in need, no matter how difficult or challenging their life is, as someone who is capable of being hopeful about their future, capable of following their own aspirations from wherever they start, and capable of exercising preferences about how we offer support to them.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000219\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EI know that it has been profoundly motivating for Ministers, public servants, and politicians to see some of the analysis that shows what happens for children in New Zealand\u2014the 1 percent of them\u2014who are born into the most vulnerable and challenging households, where we know that we will spend up to $1 million in today\u2019s dollars during the lifetime of that child. Of course, that leads to the obvious question: what are we doing now, spending so much money that is not making much difference? How could we do better to change the pretty predictable life course for that young New Zealander or other groups? There are 50,000 New Zealanders who, basically, have bad backs or mental health problems and whose average length of stay on benefits is 20 years. Can you imagine that: being on New Zealand\u2019s lowest income and having musculoskeletal problems or carrying the burden of mental illness. Historically, what we have done is send them to the doctor, give them a certificate that says that they cannot do anything, and then send them home, and that is it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000220\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EThe lazy welfare State\u2014that is what it has done, and we do not think that that is good enough. So our Ministers have devised a whole new way of bringing up the information about those 20 years and of giving us the tools to enable us to decide what can be done with a 23-year-old with significant depression\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000221\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c18a4a858a0f4df8b8fc7c0fe8f56546\u0022\u003ETim Macindoe\u003C/span\u003E: Give them hope.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000222\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c66c8d1d881c48f38ed04f6b2ed43e22\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014give them hope\u2014so that they do not find themselves on an invalid\u2019s benefit until they turn 65, when they go on to New Zealand superannuation, because we believe that that is not good enough for those New Zealanders. So that is what we are seeing the first signs of in this Budget, and that is what the next Budget will certainly focus on.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000223\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EThis is all happening in the context of a softening economy, but the good news for those who do depend on the Government Budget for their welfare is this: we have an adaptable, resilient economy that will enable the Government to sustain the income support and the programmes that get them through day to day and week to week, because in the broader economy, New Zealanders are adapting quickly to events like the sharp drop in dairy prices. They are not sitting around like the Opposition with their head in their hands crying \u201CPanic\u2014where\u2019s the Government?\u201D; they are out there on the dairy farms, in the mud, in the toughest part of the year, getting on with changing what they do, where they can change it, and working out how to get through one or two tough years, because they have long-term confidence. That is where Labour members failed the test. At the first sign of a softening in the economy, did they show long-term confidence in the New Zealand economy and the New Zealanders who make it work? No, they said \u201CCrisis.\u201D, they said \u201CPanic.\u201D, and they said \u201CWhere\u2019s the Government?\u201D. Well, no one else in New Zealand is doing that; they are getting on with the job.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000224\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EThe Labour Party used to be a sensible, middle-of-the-road party, as exemplified, apparently, by Stuart Nash. He is meant to be the sensible centre, but he is out there marching against free trade. I never thought that I would see the day when I would see the sensible centre of the Labour Party marching against free trade, because if there is one thing that we used to all agree was at the core of New Zealand\u2019s prospects in the world, as a small trading economy, it was free trade. And now the right wing of the Labour Party is against it. In some respects, I should not be surprised. It withdrew from the bipartisan consensus on the Reserve Bank legislation. The Reserve Bank legislation is gone, free trade is gone, and fiscal discipline will certainly go under Grant Robertson, the spokesman for student unions from the 1980s. In case Labour is not aware, he is still doing it like he was then. He is still doing it, except that students used to be against plagiarism. That was a fundamental principle of university life: do not plagiarise other people\u2019s ideas. Well, I just wish that the Labour Party would plagiarise ours, because then New Zealanders would think that they could support the Labour Party, but, instead, the Labour Party is getting increasingly dragged to the left, opposing free trade, opposing the Reserve Bank legislation, and, oddly enough, also opposing increases in benefits for New Zealanders\u2014increases in the benefit level.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000225\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EI have asked the question before, and Labour has not answered it: if it opposes increases in benefits, what is the Labour Party for? Increasingly, what it is for is rent-a-crowd for the Greens.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022 data-id=\u0022bbc0e9a1805b4fa888ca49d1e52d5d58\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000226\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022bbc0e9a1805b4fa888ca49d1e52d5d58\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I am sorry to interrupt the member\u2014[Interruption] I am sorry to interrupt the member, but his time has expired.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022 data-id=\u002236b842a2421c4973838c005f4c97d29f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000227\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002236b842a2421c4973838c005f4c97d29f\u0022\u003EANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition):\u003C/span\u003E I begin with a very solemn duty to the people of New Zealand and, principally, to those many people from overseas who may be interested in investing in New Zealand, which is to point out that that, believe it or not, was the nation\u2019s Minister of Finance and that is the best he could do. If there is one thing that has become patently obvious in this Budget, which was obsolete on the day it was delivered, it is that this Government does not have a plan. It has nothing to say to the hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders who are doing it tough, who have been squeezed, and who are looking for a future. Well, they will not find it on that side of the House, and they will not find it in that person who parades as the Minister of Finance, because the Government has no plan. Actually, that is not quite correct. We have discovered, in today\u2019s question time and in that speech, that there is one plan emerging, and it is all around tourism. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000228\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003EWe have not heard about tourism for most of the last 7 years, but now a new tourist opportunity has opened up. It is going to involve weekly visits to the Cabinet room and the Government is going to call it \u201CFantasyland Tours\u201D, because that is all it has got left. Government members have lived for the last 7 years with their heads buried firmly in the sand, with a rising tide of indebtedness by the Government, concern by the people, and falling dairy prices, and they have nothing to say about any of it. It was a Budget, as I said, that was obsolete on the day it was delivered. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000229\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003EThe Government\u2019s sole claim to fame is that on 1 April next year, after years of poverty by those who are doing it the toughest, those who are dependent on a benefit to get by, it is going to increase benefits by $25 a week\u2014well, some of them, anyway. This follows its great strategic decision in 1991 to slash benefits harshly, and it now claims credit for half undoing what it did wrong 20 years ago. That is its plan. That is all it amounts to. There is no morality, no principle, and no real looking after of those who are doing it the toughest. That is all the Government has to say and do. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000230\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003EJust remember what the underpinning of the expectation of this Budget was: that unemployment would fall to 5.6 percent by March. What is happening now? It is rising. Government members said that unemployment would be 5.1 percent by next March. Westpac is now saying it is going to be 6.5 percent. The Budget forecast the milk price to be over $3,000 a tonne by now, and now it is less than half that. This is the Budget that got it all wrong. This is the Government that is getting it wrong for New Zealanders every day. There is no plan, there is no idea, and the Government does not know what it is doing. There is spin, there is rhetoric, there is dissembling, and there is obfuscation. That is all it has got left\u2014and Mike Hosking. That is the other part of the plan. It has got him as well. He will look after those members for a while. He will look after them for a while, but it will not last. The truth is this: New Zealanders are far too canny for that. They know a dead man walking when they see one. They see it in that Minister of Finance and they see it in this Government. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000231\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003EWe know that Government members are desperate because all of a sudden, 7 years into their Government, when they have stood on the sidelines cheering on dairy, cheering on wood prices, and cheering on the things that they have had absolutely nothing to do with\u2014reducing interest rates, a stratospheric exchange rate, and high dollar\u2014they have started talking about diversification, but they talk about it only when they get the patsy questions in Parliament. They talk about it around here for the first time, only because they have not done a thing about it. They have ignored it. They have ignored what has been happening in New Zealand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000232\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003EThey have ignored for far too long what has been happening around the world and the impact that those things have been having on the New Zealand economy, and now the chickens are coming home to roost. Hard-working New Zealanders are now paying the price. They are losing their jobs. They are losing their jobs in the hundreds, and Solid Energy workers are just the latest. Who knows what is going to happen to Landcorp workers when the Government starts flogging off bits of that successful enterprise. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000233\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003EThe truth is this: when this Government took office, it had the strongest balance sheet in the OECD. That is what it had in 2008\u2014zero net debt and the lowest unemployment in the OECD. My, how things have changed. It has been a long 7 years\u2014a long 7 years. The Government has not diversified the economy. It promised that it would lift the proportion of the economy given to exports; it has gone down. The Government cannot even get that right. The Government has scrapped research and development tax credits. It introduced unaffordable tax cuts. It has made housing unaffordable for more people, and property speculation is now running rampant. This is the legacy of Bill English. This is the legacy of the most ideological Minister of Finance we have had since Ruth Richardson, and he was around at that time as well. He obviously learnt a thing or two. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000234\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003EThe Government ignored the Goldman Sachs reports last year that predicted a dairy glut that would last the next 5 years. Steven Joyce dismissed it because the Government just does not want to face up to the truth, and now we have had a collapsing dairy price and nothing else to show for it. Well, I can tell you this: what has become very clear in the last few weeks and the last few months is that New Zealanders are sick and tired of the spin and the obfuscation. They are sick and tired of the Government trying to put them off the scent. They do not want a flag referendum. They do not want to spend $26 million on a distraction; they want a Government that is going to deal with the answers to the economy today. They want a Government that is going to stand up for the people who are doing it tough, who now include a large number of dairy farmers who traditionally voted for National. They are the ones who are looking for answers. They are the ones who are looking for the leadership that this Government has proven incapable of providing. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000235\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003EI want to say this also. I want to tell members what the people of New Zealand are also sick and tired of. They are sick and tired of Government support parties that parade around the country criticising a Government that they are part of, telling people that they can do better, criticising it for all manner of things, moralising, proselytising, and saying that it would never happen with them, but then going ahead and supporting the Government. So the challenge is very clear to the support parties to this Government: stick to your own word. Stick behind your words. Vote against this Budget. Show this Government that you stand for something. Do not say one thing to the people of New Zealand and then come around here and slink around and do a different thing in this House. Think very carefully, because New Zealanders are looking for leadership and, most important, they are looking for honesty. They want an honest picture about where things are at. They want an honest picture about their prospects and their hopes, because they are not getting it from here. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000236\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003EThe country is calling for a different path. People are calling for a different approach, and they do not want State houses\u2014which are there for the most vulnerable, for those who are doing it the toughest\u2014sold off. They do not want Landcorp sold off. They do not want Crown business after Crown business run into the ground by negligent, reckless Ministers who are asleep at the wheel, turn up and get the salaries, and drive the cars but do nothing for it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000237\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003ENew Zealanders are looking for something different. They want a Government that cares about this country and its economic prospects. They want a Government that is thinking about the future, the future of work, and where those work opportunities are going to come from. They want a Government that is thinking about future investment opportunities. They want a Government that cares about job generation and new investment and investment that generates new wealth. They want a Government that cares about the incomes that New Zealanders are on. They want incomes that mean they can live in dignity and fulfil their dreams and aspirations, because for far too many people that is slipping by. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000238\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022106966ef-8cc3-434a-9dbe-dd76b708c2a1\u0022\u003EThere are so many New Zealanders now, thousands of them, who cannot afford to buy a house in the city in which they live and work\u2014Auckland\u2014and that is a disgrace. What do Government members do? They bury their heads in the sand: \u201CNot our problem; we do not have an answer.\u201D Actually, what they are saying is that they just do not care. New Zealanders are sick and tired of being treated by this Government as though they do not matter. New Zealand needs a better job. It needs a better Government, and it is on its way.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022eaf79431-1033-44f1-a633-22633da52c0d\u0022 data-id=\u00225973d5e83e704db5a07a021b5683d368\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000239\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaf79431-1033-44f1-a633-22633da52c0d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225973d5e83e704db5a07a021b5683d368\u0022\u003EDAVID BENNETT (National\u2014Hamilton East):\u003C/span\u003E Better government is here, and it will not be coming from that man, Andrew Little, who is the only dead man walking in this House. The best part of his speech was when he mentioned Mike Hosking. It was the only time that his members actually supported him during his speech. What a pathetic speech by someone who is attempting to lead what was, but is no longer, the biggest Opposition party in this House, because the Labour Party does not stand for what the Labour Party should stand for. It does not stand for those things that the member tried to talk about at the end of his speech. What the Labour Party stands for is division. It is a party of division that wants to pit New Zealanders against each other. It is a party that does not want to see people who do not have English surnames coming to this country. It is a party that does not believe in a free and open New Zealand that can go forward and take its rightful place in the Asia-Pacific region. It is a party of Opposition that has no plan.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000240\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaf79431-1033-44f1-a633-22633da52c0d\u0022\u003EThat member\u2019s whole speech was about the plan of the National Government, and we will come to that in this Budget debate.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000241\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c2169a75625d404a9475ccb98917f99e\u0022\u003EHon Annette King\u003C/span\u003E: What plan?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000242\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaf79431-1033-44f1-a633-22633da52c0d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002277e9d6f177d446638e0ac7f444f0f2f3\u0022\u003EDAVID BENNETT\u003C/span\u003E: OK, we will come to that, Annette King. The party opposite gave no plan. It had no plan and it had no direction, but I will tell you what the plan of the Labour Party is. The plan of the Labour Party is to put taxes up. It wants to put taxes up for hard-working New Zealanders. So for those young children out there who are going to school in New Zealand, there is no incentive to get a better education under the Labour Party. There is no incentive to go out there and get a good degree at a university. There is no incentive to become the best you can be in your work. There is no incentive to start your own business. There is no incentive to go out there and make something of your own life, because under the Labour Party everybody will be taxed at the highest levels. That is what the Labour Party stands for. It is a redistribution party. It is not an aspirational party. It is not a party that actually backs people and New Zealanders. It is a party of pain and it is a party of failure, and the public knows that and understands that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000243\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaf79431-1033-44f1-a633-22633da52c0d\u0022\u003EWhen we look at the plan for New Zealand, I want to take you to Hamilton and show you the plan that is working in that great city. That great city, which is a young city with one of the youngest populations in New Zealand\u201440 percent of the population is under 25. Those people see a vision for New Zealand. They see a country that is moving ahead. They see electoral responsibility. They see a Government that has delivered for them the greatest infrastructure investment in the Waikato for two generations. They see for the first time that roads that were promised for many generations have actually been built. They see new schools going up in their electorate. They see a hospital that is being redeveloped. They see that there are opportunities in work and employment in that city. They see a plan that is working, so that every young child in Hamilton now knows that if they go to school, they are going to get the best education we can deliver. They know that they are going to get the opportunity to go on to tertiary education. They know that through tertiary education at our fine university, the University of Waikato, they can come out as a graduate and get a job in an area that will be part of the progressive economy of New Zealand. And that is what this Budget delivers. Then they know that they can actually build their own businesses, their own jobs, and their own communities around that hard work. That is what we are doing in this Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000244\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaf79431-1033-44f1-a633-22633da52c0d\u0022\u003EWe are supporting the vision and the intellect of our people. We are supporting the ability of New Zealanders to make the right choices and to deliver the right results. We are not a party of division, like you see on the other side of the House, where the Labour Party does not know what it stands for and is trying to be everything to everybody but is being nothing to anybody in the process. We see a Green Party that is the far left of communism in the modern society, and the Labour Party is trying to be part of that as well. We see a New Zealand First Party that is against immigration of any sort, and its nationalist approach to this country would be to the detriment of this country going forward. The Labour Party has grasped on to both of those things. It has taken the far-left agenda that the Green Party is talking about and has taken the anti-immigration approach of New Zealand First. That is the Labour Party of new. The Labour Party of old would never have protested about free-trade agreements, as Bill English just said. The Labour Party of old would have been standing up for international arrangements, because it knew that those are the things that are in the best interests of all New Zealanders going forward. The Labour Party of old would not have voted against the welfare reform that was in this Budget\u2014the first time in 43 years that a Government has delivered through that part of the system for those people most in need. And the Labour Party had to vote against it. That is a shame on the Labour Party, and that is not the case of the real and true vision that that party should be engaging in.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000245\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaf79431-1033-44f1-a633-22633da52c0d\u0022\u003EI say to you members of this House: look at those hard-working students out there. Look at those people who want to have a future in this country. Look at those people who want to make New Zealand their home, and let us welcome them. Let us put the mat out. Let us say: \u201CIf you want to make New Zealand your home, we will enable you to do that. If you want to stay in New Zealand, we will make that happen for you, and if you want to build a more prosperous and dynamic country, we have got a plan. We have got a plan that is working. Come to Hamilton and you will see that plan and you will see that it is working.\u201D The Labour Party members over there know it, and they will not come to Hamilton, because they know it is working and that there is no chance for them there at this stage.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000246\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002201a0e690ff8b401ba666b5bf469bbb70\u0022\u003EHon Annette King\u003C/span\u003E: Some of us were there long before you were.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000247\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaf79431-1033-44f1-a633-22633da52c0d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223239908b240642dda21d5039ae12da25\u0022\u003EDAVID BENNETT\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, \u201CSome of us were there long before you were.\u201D Oh, Annette King\u2014well, she did nothing for Hamilton. She never has and never will, so good on you. A long time and no achievement\u2014that is Annette King for you. We all know about Annette King, do we not?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000248\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaf79431-1033-44f1-a633-22633da52c0d\u0022\u003EWhen we look at those initiatives in the Budget\u2014a $790 million package to reduce hardship amongst children.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000249\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224349af626654435986c877c07dbabc8c\u0022\u003EHon Trevor Mallard\u003C/span\u003E: Did you take your drill to him, Annette?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000250\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaf79431-1033-44f1-a633-22633da52c0d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ce18214fd2624030b57f8a7c9c6b9357\u0022\u003EDAVID BENNETT\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, there is another member over there who at one stage thought that he came from Hamilton. He lasted one term, I think, and got chucked out. He was a great help to Hamilton, was he not? Then he left. He left\u2014he left when got he voted out. He could not handle it. He did not actually believe in the city. He came down to Wellington to try to get a safe seat. That is what happened to Trevor Mallard. When it got tough for him, he left Hamilton behind. He did not think about the people of Hamilton. I imagine that in 1970 he was going around the streets of Hamilton West, saying: \u201COh, I\u2019m going to do everything for you. I\u2019ll be there representing you. Vote for me. I\u2019m Trevor Mallard. I\u2019m the bright new face of the Labour Party. I\u2019ll be there.\u201D As soon as he lost, he was out of there. He was gone. He came down to Wainui\u014Dmata, did he not? Yes. What did you do for Hamilton, Trevor Mallard? Nothing. He probably closed a few schools while he was the Minister. That is about all he would have done. [Interruption] Yes, I want to hear from you again, Trevor. That would be great to see.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000251\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaf79431-1033-44f1-a633-22633da52c0d\u0022\u003EThere is a $790 million package in this Budget to reduce hardship among children living in New Zealand\u2019s poorest families. That is a big attempt, in very difficult times, to do something for the next generation of New Zealanders. It is about finding out the people who need the Government\u2019s assistance, and delivering it to them. That is what this Government is about. We have got a plan. We are looking at what is actually needed for our country and our people, and we are then delivering that kind of careful management of public spending, which goes hand in hand with investment in public services and support for the country\u2019s most vulnerable. That is the difference between this side and the Opposition. This is a Budget that has delivered in difficult times. There is no other way that you can look at it. These are very delicate economic times around the world, and we have\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000252\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022471dee54-f59e-4497-b3d3-c39044ce7169\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227c941d34236f467698ae4ddfb38a6630\u0022\u003EHon Damien O\u2019Connor\u003C/span\u003E: Rock star economy, we were told.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000253\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaf79431-1033-44f1-a633-22633da52c0d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022964e889bb41b4ca695ac4b06f6d041ec\u0022\u003EDAVID BENNETT\u003C/span\u003E: Pardon? What does this member\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000254\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022471dee54-f59e-4497-b3d3-c39044ce7169\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002239c43fa2d4d14d85b46854abef4f42af\u0022\u003EHon Damien O\u2019Connor\u003C/span\u003E: Rock star economy\u2014rock bottom.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000255\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaf79431-1033-44f1-a633-22633da52c0d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220365ec921a134193a325eba321fb4cf6\u0022\u003EDAVID BENNETT\u003C/span\u003E: Mr O\u2019Connor tries to talk about the dairy industry but he has not milked a cow a day in his life. He would not know what a cow was.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000256\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaf79431-1033-44f1-a633-22633da52c0d\u0022\u003EWhen we look at this, the world economic situation is a delicate situation. We cannot go out there and make wild promises, as the Labour Party would like to do. We have got to be reasonable and rational and do what is right, and that is what this Budget does. It actually enables New Zealanders to have some comfort that this Government is looking after those who are most in need. It is a pleasure to be part of the National Government that has delivered this Budget, a Budget that is fair and that is open. I see that the New Zealand First leader has walked into the room, and I guess we will hear, all through his speech, about his anti-immigration, anti-people coming into this country approach. That is the typical approach that we would get from that member. It is about all he is worth. Half of his caucus came in on the ticket, and I would like to see how they all react now.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000257\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaf79431-1033-44f1-a633-22633da52c0d\u0022\u003EWe know what the Opposition is going to say. We are going to have the far left saying that we should go back to the Stone Age; we are going to have New Zealand First not wanting anybody in New Zealand, apart from those who were here in 1950; and we are going to have the Labour Party, which does not really know and which just wants to be in between the two of them. That is the Opposition, whereas on this side, we have got a plan\u2014a plan that is working, a plan that has delivered, and if you want to go and see where it is working, come to Hamilton any day.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022 data-id=\u00224647d47eaf884594818e533fb01bf80f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000258\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00224647d47eaf884594818e533fb01bf80f\u0022\u003EGRANT ROBERTSON (Labour\u2014Wellington Central):\u003C/span\u003E For those who did not know, the previous speaker, David Bennett, is actually the chair of Parliament\u2019s Finance and Expenditure Committee\u2014a frightening thought. He said that there are things that are working in Hamilton. Well, I can tell you this: the statue of Riff Raff, which stands in the main street of Hamilton, is working harder for Hamilton than the member for Hamilton West is.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000259\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225567cd775b9e453da909e415b4d013d9\u0022\u003ETim Macindoe\u003C/span\u003E: I take great exception to that, Grant.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000260\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227fb520ad71cd46519afc268430d51b8e\u0022\u003EGRANT ROBERTSON\u003C/span\u003E: Sorry\u2014that is not true; Hamilton East. I apologise to Mr Macindoe. The member for Hamilton East stands up to take a call in the Budget debate to tell New Zealanders what great plans the National Government has for the New Zealand economy and how it will lift New Zealand out of an economic downturn. But, instead, we have a speech from the member for Hamilton East about the fact that he cannot understand the policies of other parties and that he is unable to articulate what this Budget will do to drive New Zealand\u2019s economy forward. That, unfortunately, is the story of this Budget.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000261\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EIt is very important, when we look at the Budget, to take a look at the downside scenarios. These are the things that Treasury and the Minister of Finance tell New Zealanders are unlikely to happen\u2014the worst possible outcome of this Budget. If we look at those downside scenarios, we see GDP of 3.3 percent in 2015 and 2.4 percent in 2016. Already, the Government has had to admit that the worst possible outcome of this Budget is not even going to be the best possible outcome, actually. The Government\u2019s forecast is telling it that it will scrape towards 2 percent growth in 2015 and 2016. Westpac economist Dominick Stephens has said that it will not even get up to 2 percent in that 2016 year. So the worst-case scenario in the Budget is the very one that is now playing out, and the reaction of the Government and of Bill English is to sit on their hands and to say: \u201CIt\u2019s all fine. Watch out for those automatic stabilisers; they\u2019ll sort everything out.\u201D Well, the reality is that they are not sorting everything out. Indicator after indicator in our economy is showing that this Budget is a failure. It is big on politics and big on spin, but very, very small on the policies that will actually grow the New Zealand economy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000262\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EWe look again at the downside scenario of the Budget. Unemployment is forecast to go down to 5.6 percent in 2015 and to 5.1 percent in 2016. The latest household labour force survey says that we are up to 5.9 percent\u2014146,000 New Zealanders are out of work. Eleven thousand more New Zealanders are out of work at this time this year than there were at the same time last year. Then there is the forecast of 5.1 percent in 2016. Again, commentators right across the spectrum are forecasting unemployment to keep rising. The Westpac survey last week said that the unemployment rate will be 6.5 percent. That is worse than the worst-case scenario in this Budget. So for speakers on the National Government side of the House to stand up and proclaim that this Budget is somehow going to lead New Zealand into a strong economic future simply is not backed up by the facts. They are now going to have to look at all of those forecast scenarios and bring in the downside scenario. That is the story of this Government. That is the story of this Budget.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000263\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EWe were told by the Prime Minister that we were on the cusp of something special and that we were on the cusp of an economy that was going to deliver for New Zealanders. The reality is that that has not happened. There are three legs to the stool of this National Government\u2019s economic approach. The first of those legs has already been kicked out\u2014that was the dairy boom. Make no mistake; the National Government was fully prepared to take credit when dairy prices went up. Day after day, Bill English would come into this House and tell us how well the economy was doing, when farmers were getting payouts at the $8.40 level. But now, when those payouts are forecast to go down to $3.85, it is everybody else\u2019s fault all of a sudden. All of a sudden it is nothing that the Government could have foreseen. Well, that is simply untrue. A Goldman Sachs report that came out in June last year warned of a 5-year global dairy glut. When that was raised with Steven Joyce, he laughed. He laughed at the prospect that the one thing that was truly propping up the New Zealand economy was on its way down. And now, when the chickens have come home to roost\u2014or the cows have come back into the yard\u2014Steven Joyce has no plan B.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000264\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EThat key leg of the economic stool is gone, and all the talk is about the fact that suddenly we have found a tourism industry. Suddenly the wine industry and information and communications technology are the answer. Put together, all of those things will not match what is being lost in terms of dairy. And that is because, after 7 years, the word \u201Cdiversification\u201D has finally left Bill English\u2019s lips. Finally, he is saying that that is what the economy should be about, and it has not happened. That is why not only the Opposition parties but also groups like Federated Farmers and 75 percent of the chief executive officers in the Mood of the Boardroom survey are calling for a plan B for the economy. They are saying that plan A is not working and are asking where plan B is, and we see none of that from the Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000265\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EThat is because the other two legs of the stool still make Government members believe that there is something happening in the economy. There is the Canterbury rebuild. What is now quite clear about the Canterbury rebuild is that it will stop adding to the growth story this year, if it has not already. It does not mean that there are not projects happening in Canterbury. What it means is that new activity is not going to be coming on stream, and economists are now telling us that by the end of 2017 the Canterbury rebuild will actually be a drag on the New Zealand economy, because we have not seen from this Government a proper plan for economic development in Canterbury. The rebuild is not a plan; it is coming to an end, and there is no sign from this Government that it has got any replacement for it. The Canterbury rebuild has been responsible for about one-third of the growth rate in the past few years, and it has gone\u2014and so has the second leg of the stool.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000266\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EThe third leg of the stool of the National Government\u2019s approach to the economy is the one that is remaining, and that is the Auckland housing bubble. In this Budget, we looked for the answers from the Government\u2014that it could respond to the huge supply and demand problem in Auckland housing\u2014and the answers were not there. What we got were half-baked ideas from Nick Smith to build on power stations and in cemeteries, but we saw nothing real in terms of getting the supply of housing that Aucklanders need or dealing with the 20,000 house deficit that Auckland already has\u2014plus the 10,000 a year that it needs to build. There is no sign of that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000267\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EThe Government could have picked up some ideas from Labour. Government members have talked about plagiarism a lot on that side of the House today. Well, they have plagiarised Labour\u2019s ideas for years: Working for Families, interest-free student loans, and early childhood education, and we had the immigration policy just the other day. Well, I invite them to plagiarise the KiwiBuild policy, because that would actually get some housebuilding going, that would actually stimulate the economy, and that would actually start to deal with the Auckland housing crisis. But, instead, Nick Smith is keeping his head in the sand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000268\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EOn the demand side is the Government\u2019s great idea of having a register of foreign buyers\u2014except that it is not really a register\u2014and when we come to debate that bill in the House, we will see all of the holes in it. There is no real plan to crack down on the speculators who are driving up Auckland housing prices, and that bubble will burst at some point. It will happen, and that is the final leg of the stool in terms of the National Government\u2019s approach to the economy. So this Budget is not about a plan for New Zealand\u2019s future. It is not about making sure that we build the skills that we need, that we get the technology that we need, and that we have the infrastructure that we need. It is a piece of political spin and of clever politics to be able to stand up here and say \u201CWe\u2019ve increased benefits for the first time in 43 years.\u201D, even though that is not true and despite the fact that those on the lowest incomes in New Zealand benefited from Working for Families\u2014that was a significant increase denied. But that is what this Budget is about. It is about spin.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000269\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003ENew Zealanders deserve better than this. New Zealanders deserve a Government that will not sit on its hands, that will not sit on the sidelines, and that will actually work as a partner. This is starting to happen in the regions. Every time Labour MPs go out into the regions now, what we hear is: \u201CWe don\u2019t want you to come and tell us what to do. We want to work with central government, local government, and businesses in the regions to grow the jobs that New Zealanders want and to grow the jobs that will deliver sustainable wages to New Zealanders.\u201D And that plea falls on deaf ears on that side of the House. All of the mayors and all of the business leaders in the regions\u2014their message is consistent: they want the Government to be a partner. They do not have that from the National Government; they will have that from the Labour Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000270\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226007dc96-f459-4cdd-9972-4fde2c994088\u0022\u003EWe need a Budget that has a plan to diversify the economy, to grow the regions, to build housing, to build skills, and to prepare New Zealanders for the future of work. None of those things are in this Budget. This is a wasted opportunity from a Government that is out of ideas.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002258f935f1-6646-40ab-9d99-17029396850c\u0022 data-id=\u0022d2b88e72d90a47e9ad5505738577f1c6\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000271\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258f935f1-6646-40ab-9d99-17029396850c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d2b88e72d90a47e9ad5505738577f1c6\u0022\u003EJULIE ANNE GENTER (Green):\u003C/span\u003E T\u0113n\u0101 koe, Mr Deputy Speaker. T\u0113n\u0101 koutou e te Whare. I rise to speak on the third and final reading of the Appropriation (2015/16 Estimates) Bill, the final reading in the Budget debate. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000272\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258f935f1-6646-40ab-9d99-17029396850c\u0022\u003EThe Budget is all about priorities. It tells us what the Government really values and what it thinks is important. The Green Party believes that this Budget is very much one of missed opportunity. It is the National Government\u2019s seventh Budget and it demonstrates that what it really values is protecting the status quo. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000273\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258f935f1-6646-40ab-9d99-17029396850c\u0022\u003EThere are three big economic challenges that are facing us in the long term, and they are what the Green Party wants to prioritise: climate change, growing inequality\u2014that is, the gap between those who have and those who do not\u2014and rebalancing the economy so that New Zealand is actually earning its way in the world. I know that New Zealanders care about all of these and, in particular, in climate change they are already taking actions in their own lives, but, unfortunately, the Government is failing to make it easier for them to make the changes that need to be made for us to respond to climate change in the long term. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000274\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258f935f1-6646-40ab-9d99-17029396850c\u0022\u003EI know that New Zealanders want to live in a country that is fair, where everyone has the same opportunities, and where we do not have a growing number of children growing up in poverty, which means that they have fewer opportunities. They end up costing us more in the long run because they are not able to fully participate in society, and we have higher health costs and higher costs in terms in crime. So there are many, many reasons to address inequality. I know that New Zealanders value living in a fair country and, unfortunately, our country is becoming less fair. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000275\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258f935f1-6646-40ab-9d99-17029396850c\u0022\u003EFinally, rebalancing the economy is something that the National Government has already promised to do. Bill English used to talk about it when National was first elected. It has completely failed to do that. Not only has the share of the economy that is exports failed to increase; it has actually fallen. We have seen the largest gap ever between growth in the non-tradable sector versus growth in the tradable sector\u2014it is the largest gap since 2000. The current account deficit is still at over $8 billion and is forecast to increase in the coming years. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258f935f1-6646-40ab-9d99-17029396850c\u0022\u003EThese are all things that I know New Zealanders care about\u2014and the Green Party has a clear plan and a set of solutions that would address all of these issues\u2014but the National Government has failed to address these issues. I realise that all three of these challenges were problems when National was elected. We had growing carbon pollution emissions back in 2008, we have had a huge growth in inequality in the past few decades, and, of course, we had an even larger current account deficit when National was elected. But what it has failed to do is make progress on any of these issues and that is because, ultimately, it is a Government that is very much focused on protecting and preserving the status quo, not one that is actually going to respond to the challenges and create a cleaner, greener, fairer New Zealand in the long term. It is a very short-term focus. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000277\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258f935f1-6646-40ab-9d99-17029396850c\u0022\u003EWhat are the Green Party\u2019s solutions, which were not included in this Budget? Firstly, to deal with climate change, we have a really clear set of solutions because we know that we cannot continue to grow our carbon pollution for ever, we are not going to be able to have an economy that thrives in the long term if we do not respond to climate change, and, most of all, I know that New Zealanders care about their children and their grandchildren. They want them to live in a world with a stable climate, one where our economy can actually thrive even when we have a carbon-constrained world. In the talks in Paris that are coming up at the end of this year, unfortunately, New Zealanders are not going to have a target that we can be proud of, but, most of all, we do not have a plan in this Budget for how we would actually reduce emissions. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000278\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258f935f1-6646-40ab-9d99-17029396850c\u0022\u003ESo how could we reduce emissions? Transport spending is a first and obvious one. Without increasing the amount we are spending on transport and simply by redirecting it to the most productive, efficient projects we can massively reduce our carbon emissions for transport. We could also reduce the cost to households and businesses of getting around the country. We could also reduce our current account deficit, because at the moment we are spending over $13 billion on importing vehicles and the oil to run them. If we had a more balanced transport system in our major towns and cities, and between our cities, and if we actually invested in the smart rail projects and busway projects\u2014safe walking and cycling. I know that finally the Government is doing a little bit on cycling, but if we actually invested in those smart projects, we would save households and businesses money, we would save the Government money, we would reduce carbon pollution, and we would reduce the amount that we need to sell overseas in order to pay for getting around. It just makes sense. It is a smart Green solution. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000279\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258f935f1-6646-40ab-9d99-17029396850c\u0022\u003EIn energy we could have, and should have, a target of 100 percent renewable electricity generation in this country. It is entirely achievable, and we showed a fully costed plan in the run-up to the election last year as to how we could do that. Very small investments by the Government in electric car charging infrastructure, for example, could help to facilitate the switch to electric vehicles, where appropriate. Our climate tax cut was the first change in tax structure that would start to put a price on pollution and return the revenue of that to households and businesses in the form of a tax cut. It makes sense to tax pollution so that we get less of it, and we can return that revenue to households so that they actually get a tax cut. It is just common-sense stuff that this Government could be doing, and yet it is failing to do it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000280\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258f935f1-6646-40ab-9d99-17029396850c\u0022\u003EThe next big challenge\u2014also related, and the solutions are related\u2014that the Green Party has proposed specific solutions to is inequality. We found out last week that 45,000 more children are living in poverty. That is an economic and moral failure on the part of this country, and there are some simple, practical solutions we could take that would help to reduce the gap in inequality. One of those is dealing with the housing problem in Auckland by putting in place a capital gains tax. We would start to address the imbalance. Right now there is a loophole, and we want to close the tax loophole on housing so that we get investment in the productive sectors of the economy rather than just in housing, but that would also help to achieve more affordable housing. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000281\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258f935f1-6646-40ab-9d99-17029396850c\u0022\u003EThat is not the silver bullet. There are a lot of other things that we have to do. Introducing protection for tenants and renters is something that we are very far behind on in this country, and it makes sense to look after tenants. That also helps address the housing affordability issue from the perspective of both the renters and those who are looking to buy, and it ensures that people have access to warm, dry, secure housing, which, surely, is a human right and is one that makes economic sense. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000282\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258f935f1-6646-40ab-9d99-17029396850c\u0022\u003EWe also proposed our school hubs plan, which looked at ensuring there was a nurse in decile 1 schools, and low-decile schools would all get a coordinator to ensure that kids are receiving the social assistance they have a right to receive. It would put kids at the heart of not only our education policy but also our social policy in creating a hub, which has been demonstrated overseas to work really well. It does not cost a lot of money and it has huge social benefits. Ensuring that children in low-decile schools have enough to eat and that they are not going hungry\u2014not only do we want breakfasts in low-decile schools but hot lunches. It makes sense because kids will learn better when they have access to food and, really, it is something that all of our children should have a right to. Additional things to deal with inequality would include raising the minimum wage. We would start subsidising low-wage employers and would extend the in-work tax credit to beneficiaries because every kid deserves to have that right, whether their parents are in work or not in work. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000283\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258f935f1-6646-40ab-9d99-17029396850c\u0022\u003EBy addressing the housing issue and by looking at the form of urban development in the cities that have the most growth going on, which are Christchurch and Auckland, we could kill\u2014well, not kill; we could address multiple challenges with a few win-win solutions. We could reduce pollution and reduce emissions and we can reduce inequality through some of these practical, proven policies that are being implemented in successful economies overseas. We would be looking after our people and looking after our environment, but, most of all, it just makes economic sense. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000284\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258f935f1-6646-40ab-9d99-17029396850c\u0022\u003EAll of the policies that I have just cited do go quite a long way to helping with the rebalancing of the economy, so that we are not so overly invested in just a few simple commodities and that, ultimately, we are not on this rollercoaster, as we are right now with the slump in dairy prices. Having a more diverse economy\u2014additional policies that help with that are investment in research and development, as we are very, very under-invested in this country in research and development, and putting a price on pollution as part of taking that first step toward ensuring that we have a balanced, cleaner, greener future, that polluters are paying the cost of the pollution they are putting out there, and that households and businesses are better off and have more opportunities to thrive in the long term. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000285\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258f935f1-6646-40ab-9d99-17029396850c\u0022\u003EThe Green Party has a very practical, costed vision, and we are giving voice to those New Zealanders who are already making changes in their own lives to deal with the long-term challenges that the National Government is absolutely failing to deal with. We want to see action on climate change, we want a fairer New Zealand with reduced inequality, and, ultimately, if we address those issues we are going to have an economy that is thriving globally. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022 data-id=\u00220dc9ea7a1a2845fab3045bc43331dc3a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000286\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00220dc9ea7a1a2845fab3045bc43331dc3a\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader\u2014NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E The National Government\u2019s claim for some time has been that it is a wise economic manager.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000287\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002215427e8ba7894ddf83033ed5f03abace\u0022\u003EAlastair Scott\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s right\u2014that\u2019s right.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000288\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b76c41ddf47e4720b6d8c60e7e889717\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, \u201CThat\u2019s right.\u201D? I know that is right. We do not get up and say things that are false. Those members have claimed that they are wise economic managers, that they know what they are doing, and, above all, that they can be trusted. Now all their windy rhetoric has blown away, we have found out about this rock star economy they campaigned on in 2014. They went up and down the country talking about a rock star economy, and others in the political hemisphere, namely New Zealand First, said: \u201CThis is no rock star economy. This economy is heading on to the rocks.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000289\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003EWe had the courage of our convictions to go down and tell Federated Farmers before the last election precisely what was going to happen. Their leadership sat there and, against the mass interests of their membership, decided to ignore us. So may I ask my friends in the National Party: who was right then, and who is right now? That party is New Zealand First. We are not late on to the scene, and we know a darned sight more about the fundamentals of this economy than any of that bunch of newcomers over there being misled by their leadership. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000290\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003EThe member for Invercargill, the centre of a farming electorate, part of a province that is the biggest exporter per capita in the country, smiles and laughs at the demise of so many people in that part of the world. All those farmers who have engaged in the dairy conversions are now in deep and big trouble. They were in big trouble in that electorate in the first place, but now they are in deeper trouble. It is no laughing matter for those members around the country\u2014Palmerston North, Taranaki, Whanganui, and the Wairarapa\u2014who all swore: \u201CPut me in Parliament and I\u2019ll be your voice.\u201D Oh really\u2014their voice? We have not heard a mutter, nor a syllable, nor a sound or a murmur from these people about provincial and rural New Zealand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000291\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003EWhen its windy rhetoric is blown away, you will see a Government of spin and drift. Now more and more National Party people\u2014and they are becoming legion\u2014realise that John Key is no economic genius. Oh no! They realise that the best training to run an agrarian, developed, export-dependent economy is not the Wall Street Journal or Merrill Lynch, and it is not speculating against your own country\u2019s economy and calling yourself some sort of banking genius\u2014no sirree. More and more people out on the farm, because they are hard up against it, are realising that a party with a name called New Zealand First has got it right.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000292\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003ELook, manufacturing, the critical thing for employment, is down against GDP from 33 to 26 percent, and all they do over there is laugh and scoff. I mean, these are jobs, this is employment, this is how local regions build up\u2014how towns and cities in the countryside and the rural and provincial New Zealand areas have a chance of surviving. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000293\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003ETake, for example, exports as a percentage of GDP. Is it up?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000294\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226c8e637539c34aafb6c0f1d983a1e768\u0022\u003EHon Members\u003C/span\u003E: No.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000295\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022962802a9d8b1401083689f746bfa311b\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: No sirree, it is down. And then you have debt. Well, is it down? No, it is up eight times from what John Key and that fiscal genius from Dipton inherited. When he came here it was $10 billion; now it is heading towards $80 billion, and if any other party in this Parliament ever tried that they would be jeered and scoffed at. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000296\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003ESo New Zealand First\u2019s message to the so-called power elite of this country, those who have got wealthier and wealthier while the mass majority have got poorer, is that you are not going to get away with this con anymore. We are going to expose you for what you are. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000297\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003EIs homelessness down or up?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000298\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022506ef574893e48b69a81f23a6ef0d46a\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: It\u2019s gone up.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000299\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d3c5521b234c495c965836aaf423934a\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: It has gone up. Worse than that, you have middle-class people who cannot buy a home. They have got the background, the training and the employment, they have worked for decades, and they cannot buy a home.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000300\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003EUnemployment\u2014Mr Key in the House today got up and he said: \u201CWe employ more people now than we ever have.\u201D What a genius\u2014what a genius! Since 1938 every Government has been able to make that claim. Here is the worst thing: our population is massively growing, not from natural growth of our population\u2014no\u2014but from mass immigration. Unemployment is going up, and do not forget that the National Government has the most nakedly hypocritical measurement. One hour of work a week takes you off the unemployment register\u2014just 1 hour a week. There is not one person over there who could survive on that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000301\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003EThose members are so heartless, and they have so forgotten the principles of that once-great party, National, when the word was spelt with a capital \u201CN\u201D and not the small \u201Cn\u201D as it is now, that they think this is OK. They know that the day will come that New Zealanders discover in enough numbers the truth of the way they have mishandled the economy, then they will all be gone\u2014like lightning\u2014in Whangarei and the Manawat\u016B.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000302\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224b48ab49c0254ebeb48a7cf79067db44\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: And the Wairarapa.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000303\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bf0490f24c8e4011a0d7d82899271b27\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: And the Wairarapa. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000304\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003EThey have already gone in Northland, of course. They went down in a screaming heap in Northland, and do you know why? We went up and told them the truth, and people said: \u201CWell, I thought there was something wrong, but now I know\u2014we\u2019ve got an authority. Now we\u2019ve got an authority who\u2019s saying it.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000305\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d0f643aedddb41b19844ad6b25699846\u0022\u003ETim Macindoe\u003C/span\u003E: The vanity, the conceit\u2014unbelievable.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000306\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002217dc2a1c71bb4154b0dd8b5c85a0935e\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: No, it is not vanity. Vanity is the member from Hamilton West sitting there and shouting out when he cannot point to one thing he has done since he has been in Parliament. Just name one thing.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000307\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e2e515acfcba41be9e4b28a8cf79ed94\u0022\u003ETim Macindoe\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, I can tell you plenty.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000308\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d5b270bd8e82495e9ae86ce7e79d6796\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: Look, I will give you half a minute. I will come back in half a minute\u2019s time. Please find, in half a minute\u2019s time, just one thing that member has done\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000309\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e312a60a34e6436dbadb1d42850331e4\u0022\u003ETim Macindoe\u003C/span\u003E: Mr Deputy Speaker, I am happy to take the call.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000310\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b1d1debb43ce493bb6128cfc93dd8a87\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: He clearly has not studied points of order either.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000311\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220629122323df4e8ba844be75f52f020b\u0022\u003ETim Macindoe\u003C/span\u003E: I\u2019m happy to take the call. Am I being given the call?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000312\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022170cbae847b743e9824ec31203a7a186\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: No, he has not been given the call.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000313\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002208ab5a25d94745a38d2c75772bd4930f\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: You have not been called for anything. The Rt Hon Winston Peters has got the call.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000314\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002292903e15817d457c8c56acdf86aded72\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: No, sit down, sunshine. Sit down\u2014there is a good chap.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000315\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d8f17cb9a1a74e5182ace3b058d73d61\u0022\u003ETim Macindoe\u003C/span\u003E: The member said he\u2019d give me half a minute, and I was happy to take longer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000316\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d288a5cf9a254247ac46c6f76e04d1db\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: Sit down.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000317\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022be5971a2ddf847bdb0fd7f5ad6b073dc\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000318\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f2a2ab9ad76c4d7eaaffd48eb37f64bb\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: Here is this former teacher. He is now a whip and he does not even know how the timing system works for parliamentary speeches. He gets up and asks Mr Deputy Speaker, who seriously understands the law here, this innocent question. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000319\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022212af5f57d82492ca107557507034572\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Please do not bring me into this.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000320\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226e477fe8e1134e62ad8d080728fbaf44\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: But then again, I suppose he got his job as the National Party\u2019s whip in a raffle\u20141 hour a week.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000321\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e3a40f5330b24adbb2127a9930878c7a\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: 1 hour a week. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000322\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022586c7d6816a34538bd8aee3ed56977f9\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: 1 hour a week\u2014exactly. Is unemployment down? No, it is up, and 1 hour a week gets you off the register. So our true unemployment, if you look at the people who want more work, who want more than 10 hours, 15 hours, or 20 hours a week to try to help their family to survive\u2014that is all increasing. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000323\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003EThat does not stop the National Government. If it does not turn off the immigration tap, it can carry on with this consumptive economy, but we all know it is a bubble and it is going to blow, and it is going to blow in the Auckland housing market. Why, when you are confronted with such a housing crisis in Auckland, would you not stop artificial demand? The reason is that National\u2019s shallow, venal, egregious policy is all based on consumption. It is not based on exporting. It is not based on manufacturing.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000324\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002284cc27bfab9a4e2094780c990619dca1\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: Donations.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000325\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002246e1fd2e371d462fac1e63da9493d3c3\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: Oh yeah, and massive donations from foreigners.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000326\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ad0e67ee66b54ea7a170937c54110404\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: Oravida.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000327\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227ddff90ceb774f62a94ed66f73c5c097\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: Yeah, Oravida\u2014massive donations from foreigners, hundreds of thousands of dollars. National members go into a campaign dripping with money, promising the ordinary people they will look after them, and they do not give a damn. Rock star economy? No, just a lousy one-night stand. A lousy one-night stand. More and more New Zealanders are coming to understand that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000328\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003ELet me just tell you this: a former US President, George W Bush, said this about this sort of economics. He called it voodoo economics\u2014voodoo economics\u2014and voodoo it is. What have those members done since they have come into power? They cannot talk about anything they have done, other than bail out their mates in South Canterbury Finance, and they were so duplicitous about that. They never capped the underwriting\u2014it blew out by $800 million. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000329\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003EThe member for Hamilton West is shouting out there. He is, typically, making a fool of himself. You know what the English say, of course. The English say: \u201CThe malady of the ignorant is to be ignorant without knowing it.\u201D He is a prize example. No wonder, after all this time on the backbench, no one is going to promote him to the most junior job, as a junior Minister. He should be in Cabinet. If he were any good he would have been in Cabinet a long time ago. I want to say to that member that if he is not making any progress, he should not blame his colleagues. Look in the mirror. Walking incompetence does not cut it. Walking incompetence does not cut it, and shouting out, unrestrained, unrefined, without any class, is not what the National Party used to do. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000330\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003ENow I come back to my point. Which party said that our dollar was massively overvalued? Only one party said that. Which party said that we are not going to allow our land to be sold to foreigners? And we want a land register and a home register so we will know what we are talking about and not get up like Steven Joyce today. He gets up and he\u2014[Interruption] What is the problem?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000331\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222660f02f86ee4bacba8acb1a47b1bab1\u0022\u003ETim Macindoe\u003C/span\u003E: Your time has expired.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000332\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220d927046b3a14e428661ffe1914b845b\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard)\u003C/span\u003E: About 3 seconds ago.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000333\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002269d2035238c048faad0dbd4afa7007cd\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: I did not get a bell.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000334\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225ba95ded8fe4476dab34416ff7fc362d\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard)\u003C/span\u003E: I heard the bell, Mr Peters, because I was out there at the time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000335\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ed2328ee401d4ec7a6cb8d80fb009cdf\u0022\u003ERt Hon WINSTON PETERS\u003C/span\u003E: Well, everybody is having so much fun we forgot. But I want to close by saying this: this Government should stop trying to pass the buck and, for the first time for a long time, own up to just how incompetent it is.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022 data-id=\u0022703817b20a5d4e1a82ea64079a183912\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000336\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022703817b20a5d4e1a82ea64079a183912\u0022\u003EMELISSA LEE (National):\u003C/span\u003E Just commenting on the member Winston Peters, who has just resumed his seat, I think some of the words that he used quite often were words like \u201Chypocrite\u201D and \u201Cduplicitous\u201D. I am just\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000337\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224571b21696e34e23873b0dd8034c0a2c\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard)\u003C/span\u003E: Order! I did not hear a member use those words. At least one of them, if referring to a member of Parliament, is out of order. The member is not allowed to repeat them. Either she has to take a point of order at the time or she has got to let it go. She cannot repeat them.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000338\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f0e2a43164e04331a7b3034a3ce93cc5\u0022\u003EMELISSA LEE\u003C/span\u003E: Thank you for that, Mr Assistant Speaker. I just wanted to remind the House that Winston Peters is the member who used to be the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He actually went overseas, under the Labour Government, touting foreign investment\u2014actually selling New Zealand goods overseas. I have to give him one thing, though. He is consistent\u2014he is just anti-everyone. On that note, and just commenting about that member who has just sat down, I am reminded of a lesson that my mother taught me a long, long time ago. It is a proverb in Korean that says \u201CBin KKangtong E Si kkeu reop da\u201D, and I think there is actually an English version, which says \u201CAn empty vessel makes the most noise\u201D. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003EI am happy to rise in support of and to praise the excellent, excellent work of the Minister of Finance, the Hon Bill English. The Budget he presented this year will give relief and support to thousands of Kiwi-owned businesses and workers right around New Zealand. It is a great pleasure to speak in support of this aspiration and the needs of New Zealanders. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000340\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003EIt was a pleasure also to work with the Minister, caucus colleagues, and my fellow committee members on the Commerce Committee, which is a fabulous committee. I do not know whether you have actually noticed, but we work together very well. We even bring baking to our select committee. It is a very work-conducive and very happy\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000341\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002237df43eb5b424a2a89ebdf97b5d13902\u0022\u003EScott Simpson\u003C/span\u003E: Collegial.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000342\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002259979c99c8b74f5a96417e583ad4b441\u0022\u003EMELISSA LEE\u003C/span\u003E: Collegial\u2014that is right, Mr Simpson. It is a collegial committee. We work very well together. We worked very hard to pass the estimates vote for the issues that my select committee had oversight of. In the Commerce Committee we discussed a wide range of important areas that were being funded through the estimates legislation, which I am sure all members of this House have taken time to read. The appropriation for 2015-16 will give strong backing to the ongoing work of our John Key - led National Government. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000343\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003EThe estimates for Vote Commerce are impressive. They see $153 million going into the commerce and consumer affairs sector to support enterprise, small business, and investment. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000344\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003EThere will be $250 million for communication innovations in the mobile and broadband sectors, and that is very, very important because most of us tend to use our phones not just for telephone calls but also for broadband, for the internet, for social media, and also for watching television or YouTube and lots of other entertainment as well as using them for information gathering. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000345\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003EThere will be $456 million for economic development. Economic development is the keystone issue for our party. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000346\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003EAlso, there is $139 million for the tourism sector. Hot off the press, I saw in the press release from the Hon Paula Bennett that 1.4 million visitors\u2014these are overseas visitors\u2014have visited the Otago region. I am sure my colleague Jacqui Dean will be very happy about this. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000347\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002221954a60281d49bdb212906333e0b0af\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: How many?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000348\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229d642163a13d4bf7975f9f3751dcad1b\u0022\u003EMELISSA LEE\u003C/span\u003E: 1.4 million international visitors, just to the Otago region, and that means they have spent $1.3 billion\u2014not million, mind you, but billion. That is an increase in economic growth in the Otago region of 6.3 percent. That is well above other areas. I think that has to be growth. Someone commented earlier about a rock star economy. Well, I am very jealous that Otago has a rock star economy. Well done you, Jacqui Dean. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000349\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003EThe appropriations are sound and reasonable, and are putting more workers in the workplace and businesses into profitable gain. This Government has worked well to support families who are working hard and to support businesses that are working hard, and, importantly, they in turn support the Government to work hard. It is almost a full circle. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000350\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003EI know that Julie Anne Genter talked earlier about the vulnerable people in this country. I think that all of us, right across this House, want to make sure that we provide for the people who are vulnerable.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000351\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003EI am reminded of a comment that the Prime Minister made. He said that to grow our economy, we are never ever going to get rich by selling to ourselves. We have to actually go out there and sell New Zealand produce, New Zealand products, and New Zealand technology to the rest of the world. We have to bring in foreign currency in order to actually grow the economy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000352\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a1cb04e-8a86-44d1-9004-6e158e220339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dce0ab765b22485999dc4b94f16b91ca\u0022\u003ETim Macindoe\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s why the South Korean deal was such a good one.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000353\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c488a417dc7141dbb9048c8d4fac592d\u0022\u003EMELISSA LEE\u003C/span\u003E: The free-trade agreement with South Korea is a fantastic one, Mr Macindoe\u2014thank you very much for that\u2014and I am just surprised that we actually had a bipartisan agreement across the House where Labour was supportive of our free-trade agreement. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000354\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003EI know that Mr Phil Goff has worked very hard to promote that. I see him at ethnic events promoting the fact that Labour actually supports ethnic communities. But I am very surprised that Labour actually supports members within its own caucus who promote Sino-phobia, almost. National was the first party in New Zealand to elect a Chinese member of Parliament, back in 1996. Opposition members seem, somehow, to make \u201Cethnic\u201D and \u201CKiwi\u201D mutually exclusive, so that they do not actually go together. It is sort of like water and oil. It is as though ethnic New Zealanders do not actually belong in this country. Whenever those members talk about these things, it seems to bring out that racism actually exists in New Zealand and it brings it to the fore. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000355\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003ERecently, we talked about the fact that the biggest investor in New Zealand came from Canada, but nobody on that side of the House is actually talking about banning Canadian-sounding names. It is easier to just say: \u201CLet\u2019s just ban people with Chinese-sounding names from investing in New Zealand.\u201D It is very irresponsible of those members to say these things, and I fret for the children who are growing up in this country who see that we, as role models in this House of Representatives, are acting in this way\u2014that we are being exclusionary. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000356\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003EPeople who look like me and maybe sound like me\u2014maybe that is not an excuse\u2014[Interruption] Ha, ha! Although I am not Chinese, often when I walk down the street people assume that I am Chinese, and they make racist comments like: \u201CGosh, you speak good English for a Chinese person.\u201D I mean, that is racist. That is unacceptable in this day and age, in this country, in which we celebrate multiculturalism. We celebrate the diversity that we have in this country, and it is unacceptable that members of Parliament would actually act in that way.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000357\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003EWe are doing a fantastic job as a Government. I look back to when Labour left the Treasury benches in 2008, and I remember having to pay double figures in interest rates for my mortgage. You know, for most New Zealand households, the biggest outgoing is their mortgage repayments. Just on that note, our mortgage interest rates are now almost half\u2014or I think it is bigger than half, is it not? We have actually had a major cut in interest rates, and what that really means is that every household that pays a mortgage is now paying half what it used to pay back in 2008. That is a gain. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000358\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003EThis National-led Government is making sure that we actually are trading with our neighbours, we are not being racist, we are actually open to the world, and we are welcoming trade from overseas. We are welcoming investment from overseas. We are welcoming the growth of this nation and this economy for the benefit of all New Zealanders because having a better-performing economy means having better-performing families. It means healthier and more wealthy families, and that is the outcome that this Government is working towards. I think we should definitely congratulate the Minister of Finance on providing that, and on the leadership that he has actually shown on that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000359\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002218f9e3ea-81c5-4414-af48-d6bb843a9227\u0022\u003EAs a National member of Parliament, it is always a privilege to represent New Zealanders from all walks of life and to be able to speak to the advancement of our economy and social interests. I will always be grateful for that opportunity, as I believe that it is actually for the greater New Zealand good. I commend it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022 data-id=\u002254e4ca9f957c4994be46f666bb24d5d2\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000360\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002254e4ca9f957c4994be46f666bb24d5d2\u0022\u003EJAMI-LEE ROSS (National\u2014Botany):\u003C/span\u003E I was waiting for someone from the Labour Party to stand up, but they appear to be asleep today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000361\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022865949722de44a5c82d5433987c45a0b\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard)\u003C/span\u003E: The member will resume his seat. The member knows that there was confusion earlier, when other members did not take their call. If the member wants to go right through that in the House, we will, but I think he is aware that it is his call. He was relatively slow to get up and call, but I gave it to him notwithstanding a call from my left. He will now leave it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000362\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222ec8a8a7d3654a4181850c2754aaf78f\u0022\u003EJAMI-LEE ROSS\u003C/span\u003E: I am looking forward to speaking on this Budget because this is another Budget that has been led and delivered by Bill English, the Minister of Finance in this country, who is highlighted around the world as the Minister of Finance who is leading this nation through some difficult times but is leading it exceptionally well.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000363\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003EWe have a Budget that again delivers greater growth for New Zealanders. We have a Budget that again delivers more jobs for New Zealanders. We have a Budget that again delivers relatively low interest rates for New Zealanders, compared with where they have been in previous years. And we have a Budget that again delivers greater prosperity for New Zealanders. This side of the House is incredibly proud to be supporting this Budget; we just wish that the Opposition would see the good news and come across and support it as well.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000364\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003EThe Minister of Finance highlighted during his speech in this debate the incredibly important Budget package that has been put together for families. At the end of the day, everything that we do in this House\u2014everything that Governments do\u2014is about supporting New Zealanders. The thing that New Zealanders expect most from Governments is support for those who are in need and support for those who are experiencing hardship. For the first time in decades, a Government is putting more money into and extending benefits for New Zealanders, and it is a shame that other members on the other side of the House are not willing to support more money in the pockets of hard-working New Zealanders who need the assistance most.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000365\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003EThose families\u2014the 160,000 families\u2014will now have $25 a week more in their pockets. I say to them that they should be thankful that there is support out there, and they should ask themselves as well why the Labour Party is not prepared to support a Budget that does that. To all of the children and their parents out there who are seeing more access to early childhood education because of the hundreds of millions of dollars more that this Government is putting into early childhood education, I say, ask why the Labour Party is not prepared to support more money in the Budget in that area either.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000366\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003EI say to the New Zealanders who are getting access to more elective surgeries under a health budget that that is now at $15.9 billion, where we are seeing 50,000 more New Zealanders getting access to elective surgeries\u2014ask yourselves why the Labour Party is not prepared to support a Budget that delivers this for them. That is a 42 percent increase on elective surgeries, something that New Zealanders are demanding and are proud of.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000367\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003EIn the education sector, I say to those parents out there who are seeing their children getting better-quality education through the lifting of standards in the education system; ask, also, why the Labour Party and the Opposition are not prepared to support this Budget, which delivers more money for education and is seeing education standards lifting around the country. This is a Budget with positive economic news. It is a Budget that leads to more jobs and greater growth, and, overall, New Zealanders have been better off in the 7 years that this Government has been in office.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000368\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003EWhen we listen to the speeches from the other side, you could be led to believe that the economy is going down, that the economy is in trouble, and that New Zealand is one of the countries around the world that is struggling. That is absolutely false. I think we should remind ourselves of all of the good economic news that has come out in recent times. We have seen 11 straight quarters of job growth. We have seen 69,000 more people with jobs, compared with last year. We have got a stable economic outlook, with growth expected to be between 2 percent and 2.5 percent. This is still one of the fastest-growing economies in the OECD. There are low increases in the cost of living. Wages are rising faster than inflation. We have high labour market participation. These are all good things that New Zealanders are seeing, these are all good things that New Zealanders are experiencing, and although there is difficulty for some sectors in the economy, New Zealanders, overall, are far better off than they were 7 years ago.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000369\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003EWe know that the dairy industry, which is a cyclical sector that goes through ups and downs and peaks and troughs, is experiencing some difficult times at the moment, but there is still good news on the horizon. Having said that, we should not just believe, as the Opposition likes to portray, that the whole New Zealand economy is based around dairying, because it is not. It is not, and there are sectors in this economy that are doing exceptionally well. Let us take, for example, the information and communications technology sector, which has been growing at the rate of 9 percent a year since 2008. It now contributes 1.7 percent of GDP.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000370\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003ELet us hear stories from that sector. Our international education is now worth $2.85 billion, or around 1.3 percent of GDP. That sector supports 30,000 Kiwi jobs. That is a good thing for New Zealanders. Wine industry exports were around $1.4 billion in 2014, up 8.2 percent on 2013. I could go through more on this list, such as high-tech manufacturing, which has grown from being a $139 million industry in 1991 to a $1.4 billion industry in 2012. Tourism is, again, another good story for this country. Overall, tourism is now worth 7 percent of GDP and is growing strongly, up 7 percent on last year. These are good-news stories about New Zealanders who are achieving; about New Zealanders who are seeing the rewards of a fast-growing economy\u2014one of the fastest-growing economies in the OECD. These are stories of industries that are employing New Zealanders. More New Zealanders are getting jobs through these industries and through these sectors, and New Zealanders are proud of that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000371\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003EThis Government is here because we believe in New Zealanders. We believe in supporting New Zealanders, we believe in the economic prosperity of New Zealanders, and we are seeing the rewards of that growth. Let us not listen to the doomsayers over on the other side. Let us not listen to the people who now no longer support free trade, who now no longer support taking a bipartisan approach to the Reserve Bank, and who now no longer support good fiscal discipline because they are opposed to all of those things that we support and are implementing through this Budget.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000372\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003EI have to say that when one looks at the track record of the 2000s and compares it with the track record of this Government over the past 7 years, the contrasts are staggering. For example, when we talk about housing affordability, let us remind ourselves and always remember that interest rates were 11 percent in 2008. If we want to talk about an export sector going into recession or having difficulties, let us remember that under Labour the export sector went into recession in 2005, during a global boom. Let us remember that before the rest of the world suffered the global financial crisis, this country went into recession\u2014in 2007, a year before the global financial crisis. So when we have Andrew Little and Grant Robertson on their hind legs saying that they would do so much better than Bill English and that they would do so much better than John Key, the track record of Labour is not successful. The track record of Labour pales in comparison with that of this Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000373\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227f48a4832b444943a7d31d0c15ef2da6\u0022\u003EScott Simpson\u003C/span\u003E: An appalling record. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000374\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229cdf53548f66487c911b24b421374a54\u0022\u003EJAMI-LEE ROSS\u003C/span\u003E: As my colleague Scott Simpson says, it is appalling compared with the great results that we are seeing delivered under this Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000375\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003EFinally, I just want to touch on trade a bit further because it is something that was considered during the estimates process. It is something that has been considered by this House during this Budget debate. I have to say that it saddens me to see that there are parties on the other side that have been marching on the weekend, that have been opposed to trade, and that are no longer prepared to support free trade. There are thousands of New Zealanders who, in the future, will gain jobs under greater free-trade opportunities, just as in the past thousands\u2014tens of thousands, or probably hundreds of thousands\u2014have gained greater jobs through greater free-trade opportunities. They were greater free-trade opportunities that the Labour Party supported and implemented in the past. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000376\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e7629c08252a4cafb0231e7e7f7ee012\u0022\u003EHon Annette King\u003C/span\u003E: Tell us what\u2019s in the deal\u2014tell us.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000377\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022163d0b68-eb0e-4094-9bed-99e184f063e1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226b3bc3109a6e4bb795c362eb96daae36\u0022\u003EJAMI-LEE ROSS\u003C/span\u003E: So I say to people like Annette King and I say to people like Fletcher Tabuteau, do not do the wrong thing. Do not start to become opposed to free trade. With greater access to markets abroad, economic opportunities for New Zealanders await. That is a good thing for New Zealand. This Budget is a good thing for New Zealand, and that is why this side of the House supports it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022 data-id=\u00229b181d4e7a52424da0937125fc9b5cc4\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000378\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00229b181d4e7a52424da0937125fc9b5cc4\u0022\u003EHon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader\u2014Labour):\u003C/span\u003E It is a pleasure to speak in this Budget debate in its third reading, but I do want to correct, before I get into my speech, the malicious fabrication from National members today. I want to tell them that Labour voted for the Support for Children in Hardship Bill; they keep saying we did not. So can we just put that on the record once and for all. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000379\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EI want to talk about the health budget for 2015-16. I am going to call it the big con job because we were proudly told by the Minister that this is the most money there has ever been in the health budget. Well, if the Government had put $1 more in, it would have been more than it was last year. The questions that have to be asked, however, are: was it what was expected, is it what is needed, and is it what was promised before the last election? I have to tell you that the answer to those three questions is no. It is not what was expected, it is not what is needed, and it is not what was promised. The district health boards got a $300 million increase; they asked for $320 million. They are now required to make $141 million in savings in this year\u2014goodness knows where from. The Ministry of Health asked for $150 million. It got $74 million. It needs to make $30 million in savings this year. So what we have really got on the health budget is a lot of rhetoric and spin. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000380\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EIf you do not believe what I have said about the Budget, what have some other people said about it? Let us have a look at what the Salaried Medical Specialists said. For those who are listening and do not know who they are, they are the specialists in our hospitals who do your operations and checks to make sure you can have an operation, so they are pretty highly regarded. What did they say? They said: \u201CThe Government has failed, yet again, to use its Budget to invest in the health workforce \u2026\u201D. They said the Treasury figures that they have received show that total health spending as a proportion of GDP has gone down and is not keeping up with the cost or population growth.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000381\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EWhat did Phil Bagshaw, a highly respected person who runs the charity hospital in Christchurch, say? He said the Government\u2019s good news announcements are more like smoke and mirrors, and \u201Cthat despite more operations there is a burgeoning backlog of unmet need in our health system.\u201D He said: \u201CIt seems like the spin machine [is] going in to overdrive again. Well, we\u2019re all adults now, we can cope with the truth.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000382\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EWe also wanted to know what this Government\u2019s legacy has been in health since National became the Government almost 7 years ago. We knew that the Government would not believe any figures the Council of Trade Unions put out because Jonathan Coleman said that it is the political enemy\u2014a funny thing to say about an organisation, but that is what he said. So, in fact, we got Infometrics\u2014of course, National members believe Infometrics when it suits them\u2014to have an independent look at the funding using Treasury\u2019s own health figures. Infometrics looked at the core Crown expenditure. What did it see over four of the six Budgets of this Government? It found that there is $1.7 billion missing from the health budget since National became the Government. Four of the six Budgets have seen a cut. The Government has put in money for population growth, but it has not put in money for cost. What the Minister did in this House only 3 weeks ago was admit that it has not kept up with inflation in the health budget. It has not put enough in to cover costs in the health budget. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000383\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003ESo what does that mean when it comes to health? Well, the Minister needed to disguise, pretty much, what he was doing, so he made big announcements. He put out 20 separate press releases last week about the number of operations that have been done since National became the Government. I am glad more operations are being done. As Phil Bagshaw said, we need to do more. The population is ageing. We have more need. We have to be doing more. But what I did object to was the Minister using selective figures to make his case. He did not need to. He used 2007-08 figures and then compared them with 2014-15. The new members opposite may not know, but the 2008-09 Budget was the Labour Government\u2019s Budget. It was the Labour Government\u2019s Budget of 2008-09, brought in by Michael Cullen. It was our appropriations\u2014Labour\u2019s appropriation for health\u2014that followed in 2008-09, not the National Government\u2019s. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000384\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EIn 2008-09 there were 136,194 operations carried out under Labour, so what does the Minister do? He takes a figure from the 2007-08 year, which was 115,000, and then adds it up, extrapolates it over a number of years, and says: \u201CLook, how good am I?\u201D. Well, let us have some honesty in the figures. We got another lot of dishonesty today on figures in health. The Minister has put out a statement. We had the very good member Barbara Kuriger asking a question in the House today. What the member did not ask was how many people have not got a first specialist assessment\u2014how many have not even got through the door to see the specialist, and had in fact been sent back to their GP without an appointment? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000385\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EThe Minister in this House, when I asked questions about the Waitemat\u0101 District Health Board about 4 weeks ago, said that no such figures had ever been collected. That is what the Minister said. I was appalled that a Minister of Health does not know what figures are collected. Since 2010 the number of people being sent back from the specialist to their GP has been counted. I took the trouble of asking every single district health board how many they had sent back without an appointment. The Minister did not know and said that the figures have never been collected\u2014he repeated it. So what do we find? In fact, I have got only 15 district health boards that have replied in time, but of those we find 140,000 New Zealanders are not getting the specialist appointments that they need. They are being sent there by their GP, and they are being sent back. They are being played ping-pong with as they go from their GP for an appointment that they never get and back to the GP, who refers them back for another appointment. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000386\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EYou needed only to see this tragic story on the Sunday news on Television One about Graham from Kaikohe, who had been waiting for a specialist appointment at Whangarei Hospital. He could not get an appointment. He was told by Whangarei Hospital to try Kait\u0101ia Hospital. So he tried Kait\u0101ia Hospital. An appointment became available\u2014he was going to have to wait yet another month after waiting almost 6 months for an appointment. He finally got an appointment, only to be told that it was too late\u2014he had terminal cancer. So it is all very well to crow about the number of people getting first specialist assessments when there are so many who are not. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000387\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EWhat do they get from the district health boards, which are struggling to provide within 4 months what the Government wants? They get a letter like this\u2014thousands of them sent out every week. The letter says: \u201CYou were recently assessed for surgery. The specialist recommends that you have surgery. However, your current condition falls below the level at which we are able to give you surgery.\u201D\u2014it does not say that you do need it, but it says that they are not able to give it to you\u2014\u201CYou could benefit from it at a later date, if we have the capacity.\u201D The capacity goes back to the financial threshold that they are operating under.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000388\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003ESo when this Government crows about how great it is at health, just have a look at the 2,000 replies I have had to emails to people asking what is happening to them in the health sector, and you will get an idea of what is happening to thousands of New Zealanders when they are, one, not getting a first specialist assessment and, two, when they do, they are getting the letter saying that they would benefit from one\u2014\u201CYou need one, but we can\u2019t do it for you.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000389\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EThen you get headlines like this. This is not the Labour Party putting out these headlines; these are surgeons\u2014surgeons there for service.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000390\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002263c487bfe57545128c65abb4c696eb66\u0022\u003EAndrew Bayly\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s the media.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000391\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220268c9455ed141b09b35804f0823e323\u0022\u003EHon ANNETTE KING\u003C/span\u003E: You can laugh at it, Mr Bayly, but this comes out of Dunedin. It comes from an ear, nose, and throat specialist. What does he say? He says that a quarter of ear, nose, and throat patients are being turned away from Dunedin Hospital. I have got many of those. If members want to stick their heads in the sand and pretend it is all OK, then that is all right by me, because the public are certainly telling the Labour Party, and they are certainly telling the Opposition, that in the health sector there is a looming problem. You can call it doomsaying if you like. I believe the people because the people are not wrong. They know exactly what is happening. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000392\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003EWe now have a picture emerging of a health sector that has been denied enough money to cover its costs\u2014admitted by the Minister himself\u2014and out of that come the problems that occur. And whom do they occur for? They occur for the New Zealanders who are most in need of health services.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022 data-id=\u0022f09a69daaa6d44f98316f2e404a36f1f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000393\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022f09a69daaa6d44f98316f2e404a36f1f\u0022\u003EANDREW BAYLY (National\u2014Hunua):\u003C/span\u003E It is a pleasure to be talking about this Appropriation (2015/16 Estimates) Bill. Of course there are so many good things that we could talk about, but I have chosen to talk about three of them today. I want to focus on the Budget outlook, looking after New Zealand families, and the issue of diversification of our economy, which we hear a lot about. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000394\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003EThe 2015 Budget builds on an improving economic outlook of sustained growth, rising wages, more jobs, lower inflation, and, of course, lower interest rates. This Government is focused on delivering a financial package and an economic outlook that all New Zealanders can be proud of. In the latest Reserve Bank forecast the economy grew by just under 3.3 percent and for the next 3 years it is forecast to grow at roughly 2.5 percent. This rate compares very favourably, of course, with our international trading partners. Just to put it into context, Australia is currently growing at about 2.3 percent, which is close to America\u2019s growth rate of about 2.5 percent, and, of course, Europe, being in the state in which it is at the moment, is growing a bit slower than that, at less than 2 percent. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000395\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003EWhat is more, we may even achieve our Budget surplus, which all the naysayers have been going on about and saying: \u201CNo, we won\u2019t.\u201D In the 11-month period to 31 May we had achieved a Budget surplus of $1.2 billion. It is not completely assured that we will get a Budget surplus for the financial year just ended, but it would be a fantastic outcome if we did, and one that all New Zealanders could be proud of. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000396\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003EIn terms of the financial position of this country, I think it is worthwhile just having a look at our debt figures. As at 31 May 2015 New Zealand\u2019s net Crown debt stood at just at $60 billion, which represented about 25 percent of GDP. I think many of us are aware that this Government is focused on getting our net debt to GDP ratio down to 20 percent by 2020. Interestingly, again, if we do a little bit of a comparison, the Australian debt position at the moment is just slightly higher than our 25 percent, but by the year 2020, when we will be at 20 percent, it is projected to be at 40 percent\u2014i.e., double our debt ratio. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000397\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003EWhen you turn to the UK, it is currently at 90 percent and will decline over the 5-year period to 2020 to about 80 percent\u2014i.e., four times the rate that New Zealand\u2019s debt is when we look at that same period. If we go to America, it is currently sitting at about 110 percent, and in 5 years\u2019 time it will still be greater than its combined GDP for that period. So, thankfully, through good fiscal management we have got a growing economy with relatively low debt figures and it is heading in the right direction. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000398\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003EThe other thing is that we have got a robust banking structure, and, of course, we heard a little bit about that today, with some reviews of our banking structure going on. As some of the more attentive members of the Finance and Expenditure Committee will be aware, last year the Reserve Bank undertook some very detailed modelling of our banking system just to see how robust it actually was. It assumed two scenarios. The first scenario assumed that a sharp decline in growth rates would bring about a catastrophic change in the Chinese market, which would trigger\u2014this is the assumption\u2014a real GDP decline of about 4 percent, unemployment peaking at 13 percent, housing declining by 40 percent nationally, and the agricultural sector falling by about 40 percent. Even for some of our Opposition members, I know that sounds pretty optimistic, but for most of us that is a fairly gloomy outlook. In the second scenario, the Reserve Bank assumed even more significant increases in interest rates. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000399\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003EWhat was apparent from the financial modelling that this group did was that the loan ratios increased to about 1.3 to 1.5 percent of banks\u2019 total loans, but because of the existing profitability in the banking system the banks could withstand these shocks. Also, through the good prudential management of those banks they were able to be in a position where our banking system, even under those extreme pressures, was in a position where it could withstand the shocks, and that shows what a robust banking sector we have, which is important to us all. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003EThe second area that I want to talk about today is families.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000401\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a4845352d06948b5b026bfcb7746ee04\u0022\u003EHon Clayton Cosgrove\u003C/span\u003E: Who?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000402\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224d12d7c86627412a9a40301119e649a1\u0022\u003EANDREW BAYLY\u003C/span\u003E: Families\u2014families. We are determined to implement measures that look after and protect our families. Of course, the standout in the Budget was the $790 million package for our families. It is a balanced package because what it does is increase the benefit rates for families with children. It also increases the childcare arrangements for low-income families, and there is also an obligation on beneficiary parents to enter the workforce when it gets apparent that they can and it is appropriate that they should. That $790 million is focused on the 160,000 families, with 300,000 children, earning less than $36,350. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000403\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003ENot only did we spend the $790 million but we also put more money into important areas. The previous speaker, Annette King, was talking about health, of course. A record amount went into health. There is $15.9 billion now being spent on health in New Zealand. Another substantial amount went into education. We are now spending a record $10.8 billion in education. There are the announcements around special housing areas, partly to do with allowing first-home buyers to get into the market, so we have\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000404\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d0988cf737064d459123928418f083df\u0022\u003EPhil Twyford\u003C/span\u003E: Special housing areas\u2014what a joke.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000405\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bf742ba0a14449139120f9a42e886c50\u0022\u003EANDREW BAYLY\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, and even in my electorate, Mr Twyford, we announced one very recently\u2014Glenbrook Beach. There are another 800 houses going in there, and 200 of them will be low-cost housing for people, on top of the 4,500 going into Wesley and Pukekohe, and the 700 new houses going into Belmont, probably about 3 kilometres away from Wesley. All are going to generate new, low-cost housing for those first-home buyers whom we are keen to get into the market. The other thing in the Budget was the $500 million that we have committed over the next 3 years from savings in ACC\u2014the fantastic job that the board has been doing there. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000406\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003EThe last thing that I want to turn my mind to is the diversification of the economy. And, gee, do we not hear a lot about that from lots of people, particularly from the other side of the House? For some reason\u2014and I do not know why\u2014Labour, in particular, wants to myopically focus on the dairy industry. I have got to say to you that the dairy industry is important and we all know that, but it is not fatal. We want to make sure that we have a viable dairy industry, but it is not fatal. It represents only 5 percent of our economy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000407\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003ESo what I thought I would just do is set out some of the breakdown of the New Zealand economy, just to demonstrate that diversification. The total primary industry represents about 7.4 percent. People love to hit on and say horrible things about the manufacturing industry, but the National Government does not have that view. We think it is a viable industry. It represents 11 percent. Construction is 7 percent. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000408\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003EServices make up 64 percent of this economy. So all the good things\u2014information and communications technology, the smallest at 3 percent, or roughly a billion dollars\u2019 worth of earnings; education 4 percent; and health 6 percent. You keep going up, to tourism, which of course is the largest of the services sector, at 7 percent. What is more, we are also getting good growth rates across all the regions. So we have talked about some of the regions\u2014Bay of Plenty has 4.4 percent, Canterbury has a similar amount, and Auckland has 4.3 percent. But even in the smaller regions there is good, viable growth, including in the region of the member sitting beside me. Sarah Dowie\u2019s region of Southland is at 4 percent\u2014a dynamic economy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000409\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003EBut I also like the recent announcement around the new immigration changes that are going to make sure some of the new immigrants coming into this country move to the regions. So we have got two categories. First of all is the skilled migrants category, where we have said: \u201CWe\u2019re going to give you an extra 20 points if you move to a region and get work out of Auckland.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000410\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dc4a7428d8f946e58c6cfb61158476ca\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard)\u003C/span\u003E: Order!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000411\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221d940c776d6b484e9f383f415466ddcf\u0022\u003EANDREW BAYLY\u003C/span\u003E: Then, of course, we have got the entrepreneurs category, which means that we are going to give an additional 20 points out of the total of 120, so that if these entrepreneurs coming into New Zealand with good skills and with money want to set up businesses out of Auckland, then they can do so. They will be asked to move to those regions and help create new jobs for New Zealanders. Thank you very much.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022 data-id=\u002256204ffd4ab14b3684c3b8cb1aed7175\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000412\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002256204ffd4ab14b3684c3b8cb1aed7175\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard)\u003C/span\u003E: I understand that the next call is a split call.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022 data-id=\u0022a4563b7853cf4726bfa436b15e2e5fbe\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000413\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022a4563b7853cf4726bfa436b15e2e5fbe\u0022\u003EJAN LOGIE (Green):\u003C/span\u003E I am pleased to take a short call on this for the Green Party and to follow on from my colleague Julie Anne Genter, who spoke previously and outlined what our alternative vision would have been for this Budget\u2014a mixture of incredibly practical measures to raise revenue, to save money, and to more fairly share the resources that we have. But tonight I would like to focus on one aspect of this Budget and our vision for this society, and that is equality. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000414\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EI remember on election night that John Key, in front of the nation, was saying that he would lead a Government that would govern for all New Zealanders. Well, this is the first Budget since the election and it is our chance to assess whether he is delivering on that promise to the country. Is this a Budget for all New Zealanders? My premise this evening is that it is not. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000415\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003ENew Zealand has had one of the highest increases in inequality in the OECD since 1985. This has resulted in the greatest loss of growth in the OECD. Inequality in this country is estimated to have knocked off more than 20 percentage points of growth in this country. The biggest factor for the impact of inequality on growth is the gap between lower-income households and the rest of the population. We are not talking about just the bottom 10 percent but the bottom 40 percent of this country. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000416\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EThe household income survey that came out last week showed us that this gap, in some ways, is widening. There are 45,000 more children this year living in poverty whose family incomes, after housing, are 60 percent below the median wage. This is showing clearly that the economic gains post-global financial crisis are not being evenly shared. That report also showed that after housing costs, income poverty rates for older working New Zealanders\u2014those aged between 45 and 64 living on their own\u2014have trebled between 1984 and 2007. Those rates since then have remained high and that group is second only to sole parents in terms of poverty rates in this country. This points to the number of vulnerable older New Zealanders increasing into our future, as we have an ageing economy. Significantly, this is about housing and access to being able to buy houses in this country, and we know the Government has not addressed that problem in this Budget. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000417\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EAlso we see the counterbalance of this struggle for the bottom 40 percent of the country when last year the average salary for big business chief executive officers grew to an average of $1.645 million a year being earned by the top chief executive officers. At least 11 executives in this country are now earning over $2 million a year. So we have a group of New Zealanders who earn more in an hour than full-time minimum wage workers can earn in a week and a half. And now in this country 50 percent of New Zealanders own less than 5 percent of the wealth. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000418\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EAverage debt per household in this country is massively increasing. I have been hearing the Government saying that it is pulling that back. Well, actually, it has increased by over $100,000 per household since 1992. That is a phenomenal increase\u2014up from $20,000 to over $120,000 of debt per household. Net public debt has also been increasing since this Government came to power. It has increased from $3,000 per capita to $14,000, significantly because of its investment in job-poor expressway projects that have negative cost-benefit ratios. So it is investing in things that are bad for our climate, bad for our people, and bad for the books. And yet Government members stand in front of us and tell us: \u201CEverything is OK. Don\u2019t worry. This is as good as it gets, pretty much.\u201D Well, I do not think New Zealanders believe that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000419\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EWhen we know that our current top income tax rate of 33 percent is the fourth-lowest in the OECD, that we have no tax-free threshold for people on low incomes, and that we have no inheritance tax, no gift tax, no general capital gains tax to tax wealth, and that, on top of that, we are one of the only OECD countries where GST is levied on all domestic products at a flat rate\u2014including food, which the Government is now looking to extend\u2014we know the Government is not taking up even a smidgeon of the options open to it to be able to reduce inequality. There is an alternative to this agenda.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022 data-id=\u00225c161182d37248fc948752eb5496d491\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000420\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225c161182d37248fc948752eb5496d491\u0022\u003EEUGENIE SAGE (Green):\u003C/span\u003E T\u0113n\u0101 koe. As my colleague Jan Logie said, this is not a Budget for all New Zealanders and it shows how much National has lost touch with everyday New Zealanders. It is building an economy that works for people who already have a lot. In my comments today I would like to focus on the primary sector because the National Government has really bet the farm on high international prices for dairy continuing, rather than building a diversified and a research and development focused export sector. What we have seen with the slump in global dairy prices is that it has highlighted the major pitfalls in putting so many bottles in the dairy basket, because we have seen farmers chasing after those high boom-time prices in 2007 and 2013 and we have seen the Government encouraging that with its very generous subsidies for irrigation in Vote Primary Industries. It is encouraging much more intensification and much more irrigation, which leads to less resilience and more vulnerability to changes in world commodity prices. We see in Vote Primary Industries that some $142 million is allocated in 2015-16 to Crown Irrigation Investments and the Irrigation Acceleration Fund to subsidise irrigation. That compares with the just $70 million in 2015-16 allocated to the Primary Growth Partnership, which is about promoting research and development, product and market development, and technology transfer. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000421\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003ESo what the Government is identifying as a priority in the primary industries vote is not what should be the priority for our primary sector, because it focuses on a major sector of the economy being a price taker rather than a price maker and because it increases this drive towards a less resilient, more intensive dairy sector that is very vulnerable to changes in world commodity prices. What we have seen is farmers go chasing after those boom prices, and to do that they have piled on land, they have got more cows, they have piled on debt, and they have got more irrigation. That means now that when the prices are slumped, the rural communities are hurting hard. Yet what did the Minister of Finance say? What did he say in the House today? All he could say was that dairy-intensive provinces have to adapt quickly to market signals\u2014completely overlooking the major hurt that rural communities are feeling in having to make that adjustment. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000422\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003EWhat the Green Party would do would be to invest much more in research and development through a big package of tax credits and grants for research and development, so that we look at increasing value in our primary sector and at diversifying and getting away from this reliance on dairy, away from this reliance on China as the major market, and away from Fonterra just thinking that it can continue to increase milk supply regardless of the cost that that has to our waterways and regardless of the unnatural focus that that is creating. This Government thinks in its economic plan that dairy prices are going to bounce back and everything will be fine. It has not got a plan B. It seems to think that we can just grin and bear it, and wait for those prices to go back up again, but it fails to recognise that there have been some quite significant policy changes internationally, both to the production quotas in the EU and to domestic subsidies in the United States. That means that things may never be the same again for New Zealand dairy prices, and that means that this hurt that we are seeing at the moment is likely to continue. It means major problems for the economy. The Reserve Bank has highlighted that when we have got 20 to 30 percent of dairy farms so heavily indebted, it is potentially a significant problem for our economic stability. It is a major concern. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000423\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e122e0e6-61c6-4d17-9a79-6ad2ac7d127e\u0022\u003EThe Government needs to step up and accept some accountability and responsibility. Sure, it cannot control export prices, but where it invests money through the Budget helps to grow sectors or it makes them decline. It should be investing much more in added value\u2014that is, not just investing in new products but in making sure that our products have a reputation overseas for coming from a clean, green country, for giving some integrity to that \u201Cclean, green\u201D brand, and for marketing products that have a provenance and are products of integrity. That is not what we are seeing in this Budget, when the Government is investing more in resource management, yet proposing to gut the Resource Management Act, proposing to weaken our regulatory framework, and proposing to allow more water pollution by its permissive national policy statement. We need a strong regulatory framework to provide a strong environmental credibility to the products that we are marketing overseas, and we need much more diversification in our primary sector, and much more of a focus on value rather than volume and on increasing the range of products that we market. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022 data-id=\u00229786d5ae6bbf4308965f29629deb56fe\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000424\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00229786d5ae6bbf4308965f29629deb56fe\u0022\u003EALASTAIR SCOTT (National\u2014Wairarapa):\u003C/span\u003E I would like to focus on a couple of things, initially\u2014export markets and the dairy sector\u2014and to pose a couple of questions. Who is the friend of the primary sector? Who understands the primary producer and the export markets? Who amongst us here has experience in farming or experience in exporting? Across that side of the House there is not one\u2014not one\u2014farmer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000425\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220868a7d743094463874b57fc3a5b6b88\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: Yeah, there is.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000426\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a462a6cc1e8d45b2bff23343c6ec3235\u0022\u003EALASTAIR SCOTT\u003C/span\u003E: On this side, there is\u2014I have got to admit that Mr Browning has been a farmer of organic produce, but other than that there is not one farmer on that side of the House. On this side of the House, to name a few, we have Ian McKelvie, David Bennett, Amy Adams, Nathan Guy, Stuart Smith, and Barbara Kuriger, who are all involved in producing primary sector products. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000427\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022802874a3-deca-48b7-9d33-9087058892f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225b4361899b7741f09ae550ca45c39ac9\u0022\u003EKelvin Davis\u003C/span\u003E: Come on! I\u2019ve driven my uncle\u2019s tractor.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000428\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225667c91a6af948fa8368fd52272156b3\u0022\u003EALASTAIR SCOTT\u003C/span\u003E: And then there is\u2014you have driven a tractor, did you say, Mr Davis?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000429\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022802874a3-deca-48b7-9d33-9087058892f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002222208f8ea9b74609a1ddc9d38aaefc3d\u0022\u003EKelvin Davis\u003C/span\u003E: Yeah, once.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000430\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220f6de131b21446cfaf21661476b93f8a\u0022\u003EALASTAIR SCOTT\u003C/span\u003E: But what about exporting? How many have been involved in exporting? How many have got on a plane and tried to sell the product that we derive from New Zealand? How many of them have made phone calls talking to buyers offshore? How many of them in this House have run an export business? On that side of the House, it is none\u2014none. There is not one who is currently running an export business. So it is not a surprise, in a way, that none of them can support free trade, because we are a trading nation and free trade is the key to the success of this little nation that we are. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000431\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003EThe Opposition does not understand that the leveraging of an advantage in a competitive environment is what we must do. We must have access to our products in order to enable our economy to grow, to enable higher-paid jobs to eventuate, and to increase the standard of living for all New Zealanders. It is quite sad, in a way, that you have New Zealand First Party people protesting on the steps of Parliament with anti - free-trade people, when they profess to support the primary industries. They call themselves friends of the farmer but their actions speak louder than their words. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000432\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003EThe Greens are the same. They do not want trade. They do not want us to grow the economy\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000433\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002279db8b64-1f9b-4416-9b81-a12963db9cbf\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022262991a0243344ad8edf8478f67e9cb5\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard)\u003C/span\u003E: Order! This is a very broad-ranging debate on the Budget and the Imprest Supply (Second for 2015/16) Bill. The member has now been going for 3 minutes, and I think if he could draw his remarks into the debate, which is not particularly hard, then I would not interrupt him again.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000434\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c6fec556336b45abb8cfceacb769d996\u0022\u003EALASTAIR SCOTT\u003C/span\u003E: In the Budget we have demonstrated that we are friends of the primary producer because we have not introduced a capital gains tax, we do not support a controlled foreign exchange market\u2014in fact, quite the opposite\u2014and we have not introduced agriculture into the emissions trading scheme, which is all possible in any Budget, and, of course, we support the free-trade agreements. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000435\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003EThe economy is tracking well. It is forecast to grow between 2 percent and 2.5 percent over the next number of years. We understand that dairy prices have in fact fallen below the cost of production, and that enables the global market to re-establish itself and to weed out those inefficient producers of dairy product, and, in time, the maths tells you that the price must come up to above the cost of production. What the Government has done in these tough times for the dairy industry is support them by spending or investing another half a million dollars on rural mental health professionals, and that is appreciated in the rural sector. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000436\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003EDespite the rhetoric around dairy prices, we know the economy is diversified and we know it is tracking well. We also know that the safety valves are working. The currency has reduced by around 20 percent. And those in the House who have a mind to think about exporters, or who may have exported in the past, will know that that brings a 20 percent devaluation. It brings a 20 percent increase, in New Zealand dollar terms, to the revenue, the top line, of the exporter. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000437\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003EWe have talked about tourism increasing 7 percent year on year. Wine is increasing. Kiwifruit is having a fantastic year. Information and communication technology services and international students are all on the up and will all benefit from the weaker currency and, of course, the lower interest rates\u2014another safety valve in the economy that is functioning exactly as it should. But the long-term prospects are good for dairy. The long-term prospects in the Asian market will continue to be positive, based on the ever-increasing demand for high-quality, safe protein. That has not gone away. That is there and it will continue to be there. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000438\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003EThe regions are doing well. Anecdotally, at least, I hear of Aucklanders looking around, interested in purchasing houses in my electorate, from Dannevirke to Featherston, because you can live anywhere in this day and age. Broadband allows accountants in my electorate to service Shanghai customers. Broadband allows rural towns to be connected to the rest of the planet, to sell their services\u2014designers with customers in Los Angeles. The world is your oyster as we roll out the ultra-fast broadband. The plan continues to work, and as the economy grows this gives us a choice.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000439\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003EThe well-managed economy allows better investment into the health systems, the education systems, and, as we have already touched on, the social programmes that we are investing in. There is $790 million invested in the most vulnerable, and that is all about nipping it in the bud, nipping it in the bud where we know that statistically it is likely to cause misery and problems down the track. That is what social investment is all about, and that is a fantastic initiative of this last Budget. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000440\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003EInvesting in warmer homes is also an investment in the future. Our Warm Homes programme, combined with the minimum housing insulation standards that will be implemented, will be affecting half a million homes\u2014half a million homes\u2014which reduces the risk of health issues and increases education outcomes, because kids are warmer and in a healthier condition when they go to school. These are all good things and part of the social investment programme that we have implemented. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000441\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225e6b7aaa-8157-4d5e-9940-1bdbcd61ae95\u0022\u003EPlan A is in progress. Plan A is working. It is creating a framework for Kiwis to decide for themselves how to invest their time and their energy. It is not a patronising policy, as the Opposition dictates. It is a positive programme that is laid out in the Budget, and I commend it to the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022 data-id=\u00224ed0e393989c4e9d92abe8efc84d2712\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000442\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00224ed0e393989c4e9d92abe8efc84d2712\u0022\u003EPHIL TWYFORD (Labour\u2014Te Atat\u016B):\u003C/span\u003E The previous speaker, Alastair Scott, was not so much pedestrian as\u2014well, actually, I think that if he had been any more comatose, he would have fallen over at his desk. I want to correct one thing that that speaker said. He claimed that Gerry Brownlee was a farmer. Gerry Brownlee\u2014he is no farmer. He might be a grazer, but he is certainly no farmer. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000443\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ecd27f4613a14dec8d008e128c27e56a\u0022\u003EHon Clayton Cosgrove\u003C/span\u003E: You saved my life then.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000444\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002271c2cf7881274756b034fafbbe516e53\u0022\u003EPHIL TWYFORD\u003C/span\u003E: Thank you, Clayton Cosgrove. I want to talk about this Government\u2019s housing policies, because in the Budget it made two announcements that are typical in so many ways of this Government\u2019s housing policy. The first was Nick Smith\u2019s now infamous Crown land fiasco in Auckland, where he tried to flog off patches of land that the Government does not even own and claimed that the local iwi had no right of first refusal\u2014and it turns out that they actually did\u2014and he is in court defending the Government\u2019s policy against legal action by Ng\u0101ti Wh\u0101tua.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000445\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EThe second Budget housing policy that the Government announced, after having denied and denied for the last 3 years that property speculators are even a problem in Auckland, was the so-called 2-year test, designed to catch a few property speculators. Flying in the face of all the evidence, the Government denied that property speculation is a problem, yet it announced in the Budget the 2-year test, which is basically an invitation to property speculators in Auckland to hold on to their properties for 2 years and a day and then flick them off. Why are this Government\u2019s housing policies so token, so superficial, and so ineffective? That is the question that everybody in Auckland is asking, because, basically, this is the \u201Csee no evil, hear no evil\u201D housing policy, and it is obvious that this Government is in denial. It is complacent and in denial that there is a housing crisis in Auckland. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000446\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EThe housing market in Auckland is obviously completely out of control. The average house price in Auckland in the last 12 months went up $135,000\u201418.8 percent. That is the average, and yet this Government says that there is no housing crisis. Generation Rent is locked out of the housing market\u2014it is obvious for anybody to see. It is impossible for that generation, except for young people who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths, to ever hope, realistically, of owning their own home in Auckland. We have a rise in homelessness across the city. There are people living in cars, in garages, and in camp grounds. There is ballooning inequality between the young and the old, between people who own property and people who are landless, and between people who live in Auckland and the rest of the country. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000447\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EYou would think that Government members would be worried. In fact, it is hard to find anyone who thinks that this is not a major social and economic crisis in Auckland. The OECD has told us that Auckland housing is among the most overvalued in the world. The Reserve Bank has repeatedly cautioned this Government and said that the Auckland housing crisis is a threat to financial stability. It embarrassed the Government by saying that it had not done enough, and that it needed to do more to increase supply and to deal with property speculation. Chris Parker, the chief economist at Auckland Council, said in the last few days that Auckland\u2019s housing market was not far away from being a bubble. He cited independent research by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research that showed that Auckland\u2019s house prices were one-third overvalued compared with future rental incomes\u2014one-third overvalued. Chris Parker, of Auckland Council, says that we are not far away from it being a bubble. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000448\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EThen there was the final indignity for this Government\u2019s housing policy. Standard and Poor\u2019s, the international credit rating agency, on Friday afternoon downgraded the credit rating of all the major banks in New Zealand\u2014the six largest banks. It cited the increased risks from Auckland\u2019s housing boom. It left its issuer credit ratings at AA-, but it lowered the stand-alone credit profiles by one notch for each of the four major banks. It said that the actions \u201Creflect our view that New Zealand financial institutions face heightened risks because of an increase in the country\u2019s overall level of economic imbalances over the past 3 years. In particular, we believe the rapid rise in house prices in Auckland during this period has amplified the risk of a sharp correction in [the housing market]\u201D. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000449\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EStandard and Poor\u2019s is one of the leading international credit agencies. It has said that the housing crisis in Auckland is posing a significant risk to our banking system. It is plain; everybody can see it. Aucklanders know what is going on. But why is this Government in denial? Well, the answer was revealed inadvertently in an interview that the Prime Minister gave on Newstalk ZB a week and a half ago, where he said that Aucklanders are happy because they are getting wealthier because their house prices are going up. It was the most candid this Prime Minister has been in the last few years about why it is a do-nothing Government when it comes to housing policy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000450\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EThe Prime Minister revealed that he is comfortable with Auckland house prices going up on average $135,000 in the last 12 months. He is comfortable with that because he has made the cynical political calculation that he can harvest enough votes from homeowners who are watching their paper wealth increasing by the year, by the week, and by the day, and he is willing to throw under the bus the more than half of all Aucklanders who actually live in rented accommodation, and a generation of young Aucklanders who, under this Government\u2019s housing policies, face no prospect of ever owning their own home. That is why\u2014it is that level of political cynicism by the National Party\u2014this Prime Minister has condemned a whole generation of young New Zealanders to being Generation Rent. In his words, they are becoming landless tenants in their own land, and this National Party is happy to stand by and watch that happen. That is why Nick Smith is the worst Minister for Building and Housing in living memory. He is the Minister of photo ops, of stunts, and grudging half-measures. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000451\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EI come now to Nick Smith\u2019s Crown land fiasco. He promised 500 hectares of new land for housing development. Where is that now? Where is that land? Where are the houses? Where are the thousands of houses that were promised in his special housing areas in Auckland? At last count, the Auckland Council\u201418 months after it announced the housing accord in Auckland\u2014confirmed 300 houses. Three hundred. Auckland needs 13,000 houses just to stand still, just to keep up with population growth. Yet, as the Productivity Commission, this Government\u2019s pet thinktank, pointed out, at current build rates Auckland is slipping behind by 5,000 houses every year. There is a shortfall of 32,000 houses at the moment in Auckland. That shortage is one of the main reasons why house prices continue to go through the roof. Yet under National we are 5,000 short every year, and the Productivity Commission predicted that by 2020 that 32,000 shortfall will have blown out to 60,000. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000452\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EThe housing crisis is getting worse by the day in Auckland and this Government does nothing effective about it. It is in denial about the rampant property speculation that is driving house prices higher and higher. According to Quotable Value, 45 percent of all property transactions in Auckland are to investors with multiple properties, and yet the best that this Government can do is that grudging half-measure, that 2-year test, which its own most respected tax adviser, John Shewan, said will do nothing to rein in house prices. It will do nothing to deter house speculators. It is a housing crisis that is having huge economic and social consequences for this country, but this Government is out of touch with what people want and it is refusing to listen to the demands of the public of New Zealand for serious action on the housing crisis.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022 data-id=\u0022b2fc24b7928941ec8708ff651f08149f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000453\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022b2fc24b7928941ec8708ff651f08149f\u0022\u003EHon JUDITH COLLINS (National\u2014Papakura):\u003C/span\u003E I would like to thank the member who has resumed his seat, Phil Twyford, for reminding me of why the last time I voted Labour was 1984. He has reminded me of 1984, when Labour was in Government, and what happened when there was the last housing crisis in Auckland. That is when the house prices plummeted, people ended up with negative equity, and interest rates were at 28 percent. That is, in fact, exactly what would happen if a Labour Government gets to the Treasury benches again. You need to be sensible about this issue, and the issue is the matter of supply and demand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000454\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003EThe fact is that in 1984 people left this country in droves to get away from a Labour Government\u2014and a very sensible move it was for them too. Some of us who stuck it out were grateful for a National Government coming in in 1990. But what has happened is that the metropolitan urban limit in Auckland, under a Labour-led Auckland Regional Council headed by Mike Lee, put in place an artificial limit on the growth of Auckland, and that was in the late 1990s. That has been the major issue around what has happened in Auckland\u2014that and the fact that Aucklanders are no longer leaving Auckland. They are staying put and people are coming to Auckland, because Auckland is a great place to live if you can get around the transport issues, which I hope will start to be alleviated once the expansion of the southern motorway starts in October this year\u2014right through my electorate. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000455\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003EI have to say that in speaking about this particular issue and the measures in the Budget\u2014as I think the Budget is a very measured response\u2014the last thing we want to do is to actually end up with a situation where Aucklanders cannot afford their homes any more and their interest rates go up, which is what happened under a Labour Government. It is really important to think about a balanced Budget. It is a bit like balancing the budget of a household, actually. Most of us know we can spend only what we have. We cannot go off spending money we do not have, and if we continue to do that we are going to end up in a very difficult position. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000456\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003EIn this particular case one of the things that having a balanced Budget does for the economy is that it actually keeps interest rates low. The Government is not competing so much with private enterprise or business to actually take money to get money to spend on schemes. The Government is actually not playing a part in putting up interest rates. Interest rates are now the lowest that they have been in 60 years. So what that actually means is that despite the doom and gloom from those who want to talk down our economy\u2014despite that\u2014we have actually seen households in New Zealand, Kiwi households, saving every single year in the last 5 years. The last time that happened was in 1995\u2014it was before the Labour Government\u2014and that actually tells me that this Government is balancing its Budget, not overspending, and leaving more money with people, which means that people can actually afford to keep paying their bills and we are not getting into debt like we used to. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000457\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003EWhen I look at some of the very smart things in this Budget, one of the smartest things, I think, was actually giving a $25-a-week increase in benefit rates for families with children, realising that people on benefits with children are the most vulnerable people we have in this country. It is not the children\u2019s fault that their parents are on benefits, and what that measure is doing is giving people just a little bit more help, at the same time putting huge measures and effort and funding into helping parents get to work and getting off benefits, because work, as we know, is actually the secret to getting ahead in life. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000458\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003EI listened to some of the discussions this afternoon and particularly one from Mrs Eugenie Sage. She says she wants more exports. Well, unfortunately she does not believe in free trade so, unfortunately, that is not going to work. She also said that prices will never get better in dairying. Well, I beg to differ. I look at the world\u2019s population. Is it getting smaller? No, it is getting bigger. Guess what? People like protein, and the richer that countries get and the richer that people get, the more protein they want. Yes, dairying is going through a difficult time at the moment, but, actually, those of us who come from the dairying industry know that that happens in the dairying industry every 10 years or so anyway. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000459\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003EFarmers are incredibly resilient. They are, however, not supermen or women. We have to give as much help as we can, and one of the best things we can do for these farmers is to keep interest rates low. That is the biggest thing we can do, because many of them will have expanded, bought the neighbour\u2019s property, and they will have been thinking about the prices that they were then, at that stage, getting for their product. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000460\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003EI listened to all the rhetoric around trade and exports and I have heard the New Zealand First people talk about exports. Apparently, they like exports. I just do not know who they want to export to, because they are certainly against the Trans-Pacific Trade agreement. So let us have a look at that as a free-trade agreement, just on the basis of the Budget, and why it is important for this Budget and for those coming forward. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000461\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003EThis is a free-trade agreement with the No. 1 economy in the world: the United States. That is actually the reason why a lot of the people are against the Trans-Pacific Trade agreement\u2014the people like dear Professor Jane Kelsey, whom I know from my university days. We get on very well personally but are on completely opposite sides of this. I do not hate the United States; I am really grateful for the United States in this world. As I said, there is the United States, and New Zealand\u2014obviously. There is Australia\u2014oh well, Australia\u2014Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore, Viet Nam, Japan, Canada, and Mexico. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000462\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003EReally, would we seriously contemplate not being part of that sort of agreement with the biggest economy in the world, and with Japan, the fourth-largest economy in the world? Would we really not be part of that? Would we, in fact, be like those people in the UK who suddenly think that they do not want to be in the European Union now? I mean, really? Do we really want to be there? Do we really want to be selling all these products to ourselves? Would we get rid of the free-trade agreement we currently have\u2014CER\u2014with Australia? Would we get rid of the one with China? What about the one with Korea? If we are going to be principled about it, would we not get rid of them all? The fact is that none of those members would really want to do that. They say: \u201COh, well we don\u2019t know what\u2019s in it\u201D. Well, actually, we did not know what was in those other agreements either until they were signed, because that, strangely enough, is how negotiations are undertaken. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000463\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003EIt is so good to be able to speak about some of the positive things in this Budget, because when I listen to the Opposition members\u2014and I have been listening very carefully\u2014it has been very disappointing, except, as I say, to remind me about why I should never vote for that lot. I have been thinking about things that we have been able to deliver\u2014$1.5 billion in ACC cuts in levies for businesses and for individuals. So everybody who is working for a living gets a cut in their ACC levy. I am really pleased to see that that work is continuing. We fought very hard to make that happen.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000464\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003EBut when you are looking at things like, for instance, how we can make business cheaper, better, and more efficient, with more jobs and better use of money, let us have a look at the Resource Management Act. The National Party went into the last election on a platform of reforming the Resource Management Act, and we would, as a party, like to see that happen. Unfortunately, the balance of power on the Resource Management Act these days is held by a party run by Mr Winston Peters. The members of that party travelled all around Northland saying what they would do for farmers, but not once did they tell them they would never do a thing, would not lift a finger, and would never once give us one vote to help bring about reform in the Resource Management Act\u2014not once.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000465\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003ENobody expects the Labour Party to because, after all, the Resource Management Act was its stupid baby. No one expects the Greens to because we all know where they are. But not once will a party that makes out that it likes small business\u2014well, it does, really, does it not? It wants them to get smaller. Not once would that party help out this party to bring through Resource Management Act reform, which is something that would help Northland and the very people whom those members supposedly represent. Not once would they go off to Tauranga, not once would they go to Napier, and not once would they go to Palmerston North and to all these provincial areas and tell people about their laziness and their absolute lack of fortitude in getting up and supporting Resource Management Act reform. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000466\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285ec30d4-6394-433a-a12e-2c4def705dd0\u0022\u003ESo if you want to see change in this country, if you want a Budget that is even better than the fabulous Budget we have got, then bring about reform in the Resource Management Act. Bring about hope for farmers, bring about hope for businesses, and stop being against everything.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e11a5f05-1940-41b2-8f1e-911dba7a43a5\u0022 data-id=\u0022c73f35e40c2f475bb86e8ada7664580e\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000467\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e11a5f05-1940-41b2-8f1e-911dba7a43a5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022c73f35e40c2f475bb86e8ada7664580e\u0022\u003EFLETCHER TABUTEAU (NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E I would just like to start by saying that these Budget and appropriations are based on principles coming straight out of \u201CPlanet Key\u201D. The Budget has no bearing on reality; the appropriations were assigned based on assumptions made when National was wearing those rose-tinted glasses. The Budget claimed at the time\u2014actually, quite wisely, Mr English did not claim that this Budget would do anything in particular; its byline was simply \u201CA plan that\u2019s working\u201D. There was no actual plan, but we were told that the \u201Cno plan\u201D was working. Without doubt there is nothing in this Budget that will fix this Government\u2019s finances and secure New Zealand\u2019s economic prosperity and security. What was one of the main cornerstones of this Budget? Higher commodity prices. Not stable or slightly decreased commodity prices, but higher commodity prices\u2014that is what the Budget was based on. Fonterra has slashed its forecast payout for milksolids for this season to $3.85 a kilo\u2014far below the break-even point for many farmers\u2014and it will continue to decrease. New Zealand First warned this National Government back when the Budget was released that it was living in a dream world. We warned this Government then that milksolids prices would decrease significantly. Back in the original Budget debates New Zealand First said that this Government had its head buried in the sand and had no plan or idea for any other quite plausible eventualities arising here in New Zealand or around the world. We said that there was a real world that needed to be taken account of. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000468\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e11a5f05-1940-41b2-8f1e-911dba7a43a5\u0022\u003EHere we are today in the real world, quite distinct and quite different from the Budget that was presented to us a while ago, with appropriations that now have no bearing in reality. Now, because of this Government\u2019s ineptitude, this country is suffering, with Ministers stumbling along, making up policy on the fly. I say that, but it actually probably will not pan out to be policy, because this Government and its leader are particularly skilled at smiling in sympathy with the people of New Zealand, agreeing that there is a problem, and then going away and doing absolutely nothing about it. This Government was sent a message from the regions. One of those regions in particular sent a powerful message that the previous speaker, Judith Collins, has chosen to ignore. It changed the very composition of this Parliament because Government Ministers were not listening to the people of New Zealand\u2014the heartland and the working backbone of this country, creating the majority of this country\u2019s wealth. This Government is still not listening. Ministers bob up here and they bob up there, telling everyone how wonderful things are. The people have been ignored, and now it has been put right in the collective Government\u2019s face. Ministers go around bobbing their heads up in places talking about the regions. It is talk, talk, talk\u2014managing a media crisis and not dealing with the real crisis facing New Zealand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000469\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e11a5f05-1940-41b2-8f1e-911dba7a43a5\u0022\u003EI do not think that most New Zealanders believe this Government when they are told that Mr English has a plan that is working. Firstly, they will ask \u201CWhat plan was it that you were actually talking about?\u201D, and, secondly, \u201CIf you had a plan, surely it was a plan to create wealth and boost incomes for all New Zealanders. Was that the plan?\u201D. Mr English, everyday New Zealanders cannot see what you are forcing down their throats right now, but they are absolutely choking on it. What are the consequences of having \u201CA plan that\u2019s working\u201D? They are $3.85 a kilo for milksolids\u2014far below the break-even point, as I said earlier. This puts a huge question mark on New Zealand\u2019s dairy industry and its ability to handle its debt, which has trebled to $34.5 billion in the last 10 years, and the National Government made it worse. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000470\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e11a5f05-1940-41b2-8f1e-911dba7a43a5\u0022\u003EThis Government, with its support parties such as ACT, sent out signals and distorted the market, which ACT rails against, and now all of us have hell to pay. It will be real farmers though\u2014real men and women\u2014who will be faced with the devastating loss of their farms because the banks will come to collect. We now have mortgagee sales as evidence of that. They have jumped nationwide in the past quarter as lower dairy prices have already hit provincial New Zealand. Support industries are already shutting down. They are shutting up shop and laying off staff in the hope of seeing this cyclical or structural downturn through. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000471\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e11a5f05-1940-41b2-8f1e-911dba7a43a5\u0022\u003EThe member before spoke about how they saw it coming\u2014that it happens every 10 years. So why are our farmers suffering through it now? Where was the plan? What did this National Government do about it? We were just told that they saw it coming. Now, the number of mortgagee sales has jumped nationwide. Experts are warning of more foreclosures outside of Auckland\u2019s surging property market as financially strapped homeowners in regional New Zealand start defaulting on their mortgages. Where are the appropriations and where is the policy to deal with the loss of our New Zealand assets? What will it serve us if reluctant\u2014and they are reluctant; they have told us\u2014cash-strapped farm owners, pushed to the wall by their banks, sell their farms to cash-rich but asset-poor overseas investors? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000472\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e11a5f05-1940-41b2-8f1e-911dba7a43a5\u0022\u003EThe National Government has been selling the line about being aspirational, supposedly meaning that selling our assets to overseas investors will create jobs\u2014or save them, as the case may now be. How is simply having a job aspirational? How is this Government policy to sell our productive assets and all of our productive land to foreigners\u2014not new New Zealanders, but foreign investors\u2014aspirational? The National Government is telling the people of New Zealand that National\u2019s definition of \u201Caspirational\u201D is to just be content and consider yourself lucky that you have got a job. How can the Government call the sale of New Zealand assets to foreign investors an investment? It is for the overseas investors, but then the profits all go offshore. How can that be an investment for New Zealanders? How is it aspirational to be lowly paid serfs in our land? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000473\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e11a5f05-1940-41b2-8f1e-911dba7a43a5\u0022\u003EThe Budget denied the facts when it was written. Most of what we are seeing today was a very real probability on the horizon, and New Zealand First spoke about it then. National did not account for today\u2019s reality in the Budget, and so the estimates for the appropriations are an absolute farce. All the while National Ministers bob their heads up, telling New Zealanders how wonderful they have it. All the while unemployment continues to grow in real terms, despite protestations from the other side of the House. Real unemployment is increasing and we are seeing it in our regions. Regional economies are going to be shutting up shop if we do not do something about it, and, more important, if this Government does not take ownership of the problem, stop living in denial, and actually do something meaningful. Get off \u201CPlanet Key\u201D with your \u201Cplan that is working\u201D and come back to the real world. Start listening to New Zealanders instead of talking at them. After 7 years of doing nothing, surely even your media spin doctors are asking you: \u201CIs it not time for you to do your job?\u201D. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022 data-id=\u0022e582d41f3d9946e897a5ffa840727e65\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000474\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022e582d41f3d9946e897a5ffa840727e65\u0022\u003ECHRIS BISHOP (National):\u003C/span\u003E I am not sure I will be taking economics advice from \u201Cthe Professor\u201D any time soon. I am just going to throw that one out there for the House. This Budget that we are debating this afternoon, coming to the final stages of the debate, was a confident Budget delivered by a confident Government in charge of an increasingly confident country. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000475\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003EIn my contribution to the debate I want to focus on the three major themes that I see coming through from the Budget: firstly, the continuation of a sustainable economic plan that is working; secondly, the continuation of the Government\u2019s focus on creating an outward-looking, confident country that is connected to international markets and is welcoming and accepting of migrants, both foreign capital and labour; and, thirdly, the thing that the Opposition does not want to talk about, which is the social investment approach at the heart of this Budget. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000476\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003EOn this first theme, the sustainable economic plan that is working, this Budget builds on the hard work of previous years. It locks in and continues to lock in a sustainable programme that is growing the New Zealand economy, creating wages that are rising faster than inflation, and creating jobs. It locks in things like ACC levies falling by $1.5 billion a year, overseen by my good colleague Nikki Kaye\u2014[Interruption] That is right. It locks in extending ultra-fast broadband to over 80 percent of Kiwis. It locks in building skills for industry\u2014things like the ICT Graduate Schools, which I know are going to be very important for our very fast-growing information and communications technology sector. It locks in increased innovation funding through Callaghan Innovation, based in my neck of the woods in the Hutt Valley, which I am very pleased about. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000477\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003EIn short, this is a confident Budget that does all the things that New Zealand needs to grow and get ahead in the 21st century. Also it locks in things like a fast-growing economy, wages rising faster than inflation, and over 200,000 jobs created since 2011. As my good colleague Judith Collins pointed out just a few moments ago, we have positive household savings in New Zealand. We have had those for 5 years now, and the last time we had a rate like that was in 1995. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000478\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003ESo what has been the response of the Labour Party and members opposite to this very good Budget? Well, the first response, which came right at the start of the Budget debate all those months ago, was Andrew Little\u2019s pitiful response speech. I know it was a long time ago, but it really was absolutely pitiful. It was just hilarious to sit there on this side of the House and see Labour members opposite. They realised, I reckon about 5\u00BD minutes into the speech, that it was going to be probably the worst Budget reply speech since David Shearer\u2019s speech 2 years before. I reckon they realised about 5\u00BD minutes in. I think he realised it too, actually, to be honest. I reckon Andrew realised it was going to go pretty badly, and that is when we got the references to Gene Simmons, the constituent\u2014you know, the terrible joke that annoyed Young Labour and everybody else about \u201Cfiscal gender-reassignment\u201D surgery and all of those lame attempts at humour. So that was the first response from the Labour Party. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000479\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003EThen in the weeks afterwards we had the obsession with the surplus. You will note that members opposite stopped talking about the surplus, but for the initial weeks following the Budget there was this obsession with the surplus and that the previous Budget, in 2014, had forecast a very small surplus, and then Budget 2015 comes along and it forecasts a slightly small deficit. That is absolutely hilarious, because the Labour Party has spent 7 years opposing every piece of fiscal restraint that this Government has enacted. It opposed every cut, even of things like Moroccan cooking courses and subsidised macram\u00E9 classes\u2014all of those very sensible and prudent things that the National Government has done. Sue Moroney tweets away about how it is a human rights violation to stop somebody from having a $3-a-week macram\u00E9 class or a Moroccan cooking class. Members opposite have opposed every single cut and then they turn up and say \u201COh well, you should have got back into surplus. I mean, tut, tut, tut! Naughty you, National Government. You really should have got there sooner.\u201D Right? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000480\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003EAlso, members opposite spent the first year after the 2008 election calling for fiscal stimulus. David Cunliffe used to issue very serious press releases about the global financial crisis that was happening in the world and that the National Government must respond in a resolute and forthright manner and immediately massively increase deficit spending. If we had followed that path\u2014and we did run a deficit; we have run a deficit for a number of years\u2014and massively increased spending, we would be in far more of a hole. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000481\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003EOf course, we should never forget that it was the Labour Party\u2019s reckless fiscal mismanagement of the economy that caused us to go into recession before the rest of the world, before the global financial crisis. Its mismanagement pushed up Government spending, pushed up interest rates, and pushed up inflation, and caused us to go into a recession before the rest of the world, caused us to have 11 percent mortgage interest rates and 5 percent inflation in 2008, and caused the tradable sector of the economy to be in recession for 5 years. Having caused the problem in the first place, the Labour Party then has the temerity to turn round and complain about the measures we put in place to try to tackle that deficit. Then it has the temerity to turn round and complain that we should have got there sooner. So I think that was a pretty silly response. But it quickly realised that was not a good idea. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000482\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003EThen we moved on to the diversification argument. Labour became obsessed with diversification, ignoring the fact that this Budget, like Budgets previously, has been precisely about diversifying the New Zealand economy. That is why we have been investing in things like research and development\u2014and those members often complain about that. This panacea of the New Zealand economy is research and development tax credits. Well, there is more spending on research and development and science and innovation by the Government than ever before. It has increased at a rapid rate under this Government\u2014a 70 percent increase since 2008. So we are doing that, and that is why things like the kiwifruit industry are doing well. That is why things like the information and communications technology sector are doing well. That is why the red meat sector is doing well. That is why tourism is doing very well. This economy is diversified. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000483\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003EThen we have the argument that it is all about dairy. So along come some price shocks in the dairy industry and then the Labour Party goes: \u201CWell, you\u2019ve gotta do something\u2014you\u2019ve gotta do something. We don\u2019t know what\u2014we don\u2019t know exactly what, but you must do something.\u201D This is the classic response of social democrats everywhere, of socialists, and of left-wing parties: \u201CThe Government must do something. You have to do something. We don\u2019t know what. We need a plan B. We don\u2019t know what that plan B might be, but you must do something.\u201D So now the Labour Party is obsessed with dairy and forgetting about the diversification argument. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000484\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003EThen we get Andrew Little saying that we need foreign investment in New Zealand, literally an hour after railing against foreigners investing in New Zealand. I mean, these guys seriously do not know what they believe any more. They really do not. So the Labour Party has not very much to say about one of the central themes of the Budget. That brings me very nicely to the second theme, which is about an open and confident New Zealand. This Budget increases support for New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. It increases support for our international education industry. It increases support for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to negotiate things like free-trade deals. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000485\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003EI want to make a very serious point about the Trans-Pacific Partnership here, because there is a very serious question for the Labour Party in the next few weeks and months, I hope, with the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, which I hope will happen. It actually is almost an existential question to the history and reality of what the Labour Party is. It is almost a crisis inside the Labour Party. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000486\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003EThe question for the Labour Party is this: is it going to be a responsible party of Government that continues the bipartisan consensus actually started by its own party in 1984, which is that New Zealand\u2019s future is one that is connected to the world, that is connected to the global economy, and that does not try to insulate itself from global competition and market forces? Is it going to be that responsible party, or is it going to be a party that harks back to the worst excesses of 1970s orthodoxy, of big government, of repressive insularity, of a Government that tries to shield New Zealand away from the rest of the world? This is \u201CJane Kelsey-onomics\u201D. Jane Kelsey has never seen a free-trade deal that she thinks we should sign. She was opposed to CER, she was opposed to the China free-trade agreement, she is opposed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and she is almost certainly opposed to the Korean free-trade deal. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000487\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003EThis is the big question that confronts the Labour Party, and the question for the Labour Party is this: are Phil Goff and Clayton Cosgrove and all of the moderate people who know that that is in New Zealand\u2019s interests\u2014and who, in the case of Phil Goff, actually helped start the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations back in 2008\u2014going to win the battle inside the Labour Party? Or is the hard left, the Jeremy Corbyn - supporting Clare Curran and her acolytes\u2014in so far as Clare Curran could have acolytes\u2014going to win the battle inside the Labour Party? This actually goes to the heart and soul of the Labour Party and of New Zealand\u2019s future.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000488\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022802874a3-deca-48b7-9d33-9087058892f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a1a141b1b4e9411685d187d88b88f856\u0022\u003EKelvin Davis\u003C/span\u003E: Sorry, can you just clarify what you\u2019re talking about?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000489\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225438827853824af7a88e53160b4c4d45\u0022\u003ECHRIS BISHOP\u003C/span\u003E: My point is we need bipartisanship on the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal. We would like the Labour Party to support this very important deal for New Zealand\u2019s future. Sadly, it seems like the hard left is going to win this battle inside the Labour Party, and that will be to the detriment of New Zealand\u2019s future. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000490\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003EThis is a Budget that locks in an open and confident New Zealand that is welcoming of foreign investment, is welcoming of foreign migration, and does not seek to demonise Chinese people like the Labour Party opposite seeks to do. Because of that, I am very strongly in support of this Budget.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022 data-id=\u00225f2978ba171e461785c93deec96c829c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000491\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225f2978ba171e461785c93deec96c829c\u0022\u003ECHRIS HIPKINS (Labour\u2014Rimutaka):\u003C/span\u003E That speech said everything about the National Government\u2019s priorities. It now regards the Labour Party\u2019s 9 years in Government as reckless. So what is it that it regards as so reckless? Nine surpluses in a row is clearly reckless, according to the National Government\u2014nine surpluses in a row. Record low unemployment\u2014that is a reckless idea! What a reckless idea that we get people into work! That is recklessness, according to the National Party. Record low debt in New Zealand\u2019s history\u2014that is reckless, according to the National Government. What a reckless, irresponsible Government that would deliver those things for New Zealand! It says everything about the National Government\u2019s current economic management, that it thinks that that is reckless\u2014that it thinks that that is reckless.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000492\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EChris Bishop railed against the idea that the Government must do something\u2014that the Government must do something. There are 59 people sitting over on that side of the House who have clearly adopted that strategy. They do absolutely nothing to justify the salaries that the taxpayer is giving them. They believe that the role of Government is to do absolutely nothing\u2014absolutely nothing. Increase taxes\u2014yes, the Government has done that. It increased GST for New Zealanders. Decrease spending in key areas\u2014yes, the Government has done that in a whole host of areas, on a real terms, per capita basis. This is a Government that does not actually want to do anything and does not want to confront the real issues that are facing New Zealanders. This is a Government that thinks a debate about changing the flag is more important than the looming dairy crisis. In fact, it is not even looming any more; it has arrived.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000493\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EWe have a major problem. There were 500 jobs lost at Fonterra. We have got 1,100 jobs lost so far at Solid Energy, with the prospect of more to go. There is 7.5 percent unemployment in Taranaki. Remember the days when the National Government was going on about how great Taranaki was? This was an icon of what provincial New Zealand, regional New Zealand, could be. Taranaki was highlighted there. There is 7.5 percent unemployment in Taranaki under this National Government, and things are getting worse. That is the highest level of unemployment in Taranaki in 21 years, and it has happened under this Government. We reached record low unemployment under the Labour Government, and now we are seeing more and more people unemployed under this Government, while Chris Bishop and the National Government are adopting their mantra of \u201CGovernment should do nothing.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000494\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThe biggest message in that 10-minute contribution was Chris Bishop\u2019s saying that the idea that the Government should do something was preposterous and that the Government should, in fact, do nothing. There are 50,000 more people unemployed today than when John Key became Prime Minister. That is one of the many legacies that this National Government will be leaving New Zealand. The Government\u2019s priorities are all wrong. It wants to change the flag, not fix the dairy crisis. The Government wants to put sun decks and $140,000 televisions in head offices, not deal with the housing crisis. The Government wants to pump up the Beehive salaries, whilst turning a blind eye to the fact that unemployment is going up under this National Government. This is a Government that is breaking so many of the promises that it made to New Zealanders.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000495\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EOf course, there was no more privatisation under National. The privatisation agenda has ended, unless, of course, it is a State house or some land or it is all of those other things that the Government is selling off. Apparently that is not privatisation, despite the fact that something that was owned by the Government is no longer going to be owned by it. Somehow under National that does not fit the definition of privatisation any more. Of course, what we know about the National Government is that if it cannot sell it, it will cut it; if it cannot cut it, it will restructure it; if it cannot restructure it, it will try to contract it out; and if it cannot contract it out, well, goodness knows what will happen then. The Government simply tries to ignore it. It is a Budget of broken promises.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000496\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EWe spent a lot of the Budget debate talking about the surplus, and then, goodness me, a surplus just sort of popped up. It was only a temporary surplus, but it did pop up. Do you know what one of the biggest contributors to the surplus was? The underspend in education. The money that the Government had budgeted to spend on education, it did not actually spend on education. That was one of the biggest contributors to this tiny, little surplus, which just popped up out of nowhere. The Government stopped spending money that was budgeted for education. Where did the Government stop spending it? The Government released this breakdown, which accounted for about 40 percent of the underspend. Where is the rest of that money? Where is the rest of the money that the Government did not spend on education but that it had budgeted for? I have found out. I know where it is. It is in Investing in Educational Success.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000497\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThis is the flagship programme that the Government has in the education area, and the Government is underspending on it. The Government cannot give the money away. It cannot give the money away for its flagship education programme. That is how the Government ekes out a surplus\u2014by stopping spending money on health and education. These are the areas where New Zealanders know that money is sorely needed. This Government is so determined that it will eke out some kind of face-saving surplus for Bill English by underspending on education. I think that that is totally and utterly wrong, and it says everything about the Government\u2019s priorities.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000498\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EI want to talk about the sell-off of State housing, because that will bite in an area like the Hutt Valley, where we have a lot of State houses. It will hurt people in the Hutt Valley\u2014and it is hurting them already. What we are seeing is the wholesale sell-off or demolition of State houses throughout the Hutt Valley. In areas where there were high concentrations of State housing, there is now vacant land\u2014empty land. And what happens to that land? It gets sold off, and new houses get built. Here is the real rort\u2014and this is just amazing\u2014the Government will not release the figures on this, because it knows that they are so damning. The Government gave away over 100 houses in 4 months\u2014literally gave them to a developer and said: \u201CYou develop, and you give us back some houses.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000499\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThe Government has now admitted that it is buying back the houses. So, basically, the Government gave away the land and the houses, and what did it get back out of it? Absolutely nothing, because the Government is now buying the houses back off the developer. How is that, in any way, a good use of taxpayers\u2019 money? Of course, the Government will not release the information\u2014it is commercially sensitive. The prices are all commercially sensitive. The Government, having given the developer all of the land and the houses that were previously on it, which it then trucked off and used elsewhere\u2014the taxpayer is now having to buy back a small percentage of the houses that exist on that land. How is that good? How is that possibly being accountable? How is that possibly justified?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000500\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EAnd that is happening not just in P\u014Dmare; it is happening up and down New Zealand. When I think about these commercial geniuses in the National Government, I tell you: private interests see them coming. Basically, the housing developers see them coming, because they know that they are going to make money. Rio Tinto sees them coming. Skycity sees them coming. It was $30 million for Rio Tinto. Skycity\u2014goodness knows how much money it is finally going to get out of them. They see them coming\u2014the commercial geniuses over there. Such good negotiators they are, that every time Steven Joyce sits down for a meal, the taxpayer ends up forking out more money. He is that good a commercial negotiator that the commercial sector\u2014the private sector\u2014sees him coming and it hooks more and more money out of him.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000501\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThis Budget is not good for New Zealand. It continues to overlook the very big issues that we have\u2014the housing crisis. The average price to buy a house in Auckland will be $1 million within a short space of time. That is outrageous. It means that there is a whole generation of people who will not be able to buy houses in Auckland. That is something that the Government is ignoring\u2014the lack of diversification in our export industries and the huge potential that exists, were the Government willing to be more active and to be a partner to our export industries. There is enormous potential there. But no, this Government is willing to look the other way. Of course, it is willing to spend $14 million buying an apartment for someone to hang out in in New York, but it is not willing to get in behind and back exporters who want to grow the export market. The Government is willing to allow contracts to companies overseas for significant Government procurements\u2014that is, the Government buying stuff\u2014without even giving New Zealand manufacturers and New Zealand firms a look in. That is just wrong.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000502\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EThere is so much opportunity in the New Zealand economy\u2014so much opportunity to turn things round, to create jobs, to go back to those days when Governments produced a surplus, when we paid back debt, when we had record low unemployment, and when people could actually afford to buy a house. Gosh, what terrible days they were, under the Labour Government! We could go back to those fantastic times for New Zealand if the Government were willing to take so many of the opportunities that exist before it. But it will not, because, as Chris Bishop has pointed out, the National Government believes that Governments should do nothing\u2014as he so clearly articulated in his 10-minute speech, which said everything about the National Government\u2019s priorities. The Government should do nothing\u2014the Government should do nothing. I disagree. I think that if we are going to have Governments, Governments should do something. They should make sure that the conditions are right for job creation, for people to be in work, for people to be buying houses, for housing to be affordable, and for our export industries to thrive. I believe those are functions that the Government should undertake. Not under this National Government\u2014that is not happening, and New Zealanders are being short-changed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221dbd2811-8e58-4ffb-848d-31c0eaa9690a\u0022\u003EBut New Zealanders are seeing through it. New Zealanders have had enough. New Zealanders want to see the Government stepping up, and they are not seeing that. They are growing tired of the National Government, and they are growing tired of the arrogance of the National Government. They want a Government with vision, and they know that they have not got one. Well, I tell you what: they will get one soon, because we are only 2 years away from an election, and there will be a change of Government in 2017. We will deliver for New Zealand the prosperous economic conditions that will create jobs, that will increase incomes, and that will give New Zealanders a foot on to the property ladder, so that they can buy their own homes and so that we can see our social services like health and education really thrive.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002203fd985b-4fb8-4111-ba38-5033a254d962\u0022 data-id=\u002262b7c05c3f7e4eb7ba8122b043fbc383\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000504\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203fd985b-4fb8-4111-ba38-5033a254d962\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002262b7c05c3f7e4eb7ba8122b043fbc383\u0022\u003EBRETT HUDSON (National):\u003C/span\u003E It is a pleasure to speak on this Appropriation (2015/16 Estimates) Bill and the Imprest Supply (Second for 2015/16) Bill. This Government has been all about forging a resilient and adaptive economy, and it is working extraordinarily well. What we have seen over the last 4 years, for instance, is 194,000 further jobs created\u201469,000 of those jobs in the last 12 months\u2014and we have got a forecast of a further 128,000 jobs across the next 4 years. The outlook for growth is stable, at a moderate level of between 2 and 2.5 percent, despite the softening conditions we have seen in commodity markets, particularly in the dairy market. Wage rises have been well ahead of inflation. Average wages grew at about 3.6 percent in the last year; inflation was a mere 0.3 of 1 percent. Average wages have grown 15 percent over the last 5 years. The average wage has risen to $57,000, which is $10,000 a year more than when this Government took office in 2008. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000505\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203fd985b-4fb8-4111-ba38-5033a254d962\u0022\u003EInterest rates are low and will remain lower for longer. There is talk about, potentially, another cut in the not too distant future. But if we look at the record of the previous Labour Government there, when Labour exited, it had interest rates running hard, trying to reach 11 percent, and actually winning the race. Under this Government they are low and they will remain lower for longer. Under this Government we have also seen now 5 years of positive household savings. That is the first time the country\u2019s seen that in 20 years. That is all a good-news story. It is good news for the past few years and it is still a good-news story looking forward. We have developed a resilient and adaptive economy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000506\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203fd985b-4fb8-4111-ba38-5033a254d962\u0022\u003EBut if we listen to the Opposition members, all they want to do is talk down New Zealand and its prospects. One only has to look across to the Opposition leadership seats to see doom and gloom. In fact, the only person smiling on the Labour benches is Grant Robertson, because he sees his leadership hopes rekindled with every day and every speech that Andrew Little makes. I think that Gene Simmons probably agrees with him. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000507\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203fd985b-4fb8-4111-ba38-5033a254d962\u0022\u003EIn this Budget this Government has delivered on its pledge for New Zealand, for the next years to come, including a $790 million package to help reduce hardship to the children and their families in greatest need. It includes a $25-a-week increase to benefits for families with children. That is a $25-a-week increase. That is the first increase to real benefits in 43 years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000508\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229884e8e8-651f-4f48-a429-70b72d5e2821\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226fdb4b57a69045a3b43114a28b470a5f\u0022\u003ESarah Dowie\u003C/span\u003E: How much?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000509\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203fd985b-4fb8-4111-ba38-5033a254d962\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c843540cccee4a67b0bf231a717dc30b\u0022\u003EBRETT HUDSON\u003C/span\u003E: In 43 years. And in 43 years there have been two Labour administrations. Neither of those did that\u2014neither of them. We had long years, some might say insufferable years, under those two Labour administrations, and neither of them were raising real benefits, as this Government has done. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000510\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203fd985b-4fb8-4111-ba38-5033a254d962\u0022\u003EBut we recognise that the way out of hardship is through work. We do recognise that low-income families can find times tough. So we have included in the Budget assistance for them too\u2014$12.50 a week for low-income families who are receiving Working for Families subsidies but not benefits. We have also increased childcare support allowances for low-income families. These initiatives are targeted at around 160,000 families, covering approximately 300,000 children. This is from a Government that cares, a Government that is prepared to tackle things that are often seen as intractable problems and that takes real measures to help those in need.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000511\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203fd985b-4fb8-4111-ba38-5033a254d962\u0022\u003EAlong with that, we recognise that New Zealanders are living longer. We want them to live healthier lives as well as longer lives. So we have increased health spending by $1.7 billion. The annual spend in health is just a shade under $16 billion. In education there is a further $680 million, because we understand and appreciate that if we want a better life for our children in the future, that effort starts at home with the way they are raised at a young age and its continued strength, and it is really reinforced through good education. So there is another $680 million in the compulsory education sector, and that brings that spend to over $10 billion\u2014in fact, almost $11 billion a year. There are significant reductions in ACC levies, helping to reduce costs for businesses, helping to reduce costs for people, and, believe me, a lot of New Zealanders have experienced, and are still looking forward to, the reduction in the ACC levies on their next motor vehicle registration. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000512\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203fd985b-4fb8-4111-ba38-5033a254d962\u0022\u003EAs well as that, having heard lots of noise from the other side about property speculation, we took steps to strengthen the tax rules on property investment, the tax rules that have existed in this country for decades. We have applied a brightline test to make sure the courts and the Inland Revenue Department can more readily address those people who are speculating with investment properties, but what we did was strengthen what was already there. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000513\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203fd985b-4fb8-4111-ba38-5033a254d962\u0022\u003EThere could be a number of reasons as to why people might say to themselves that the Opposition is not fit to govern. Formulating public policy on the basis of what someone\u2019s surname sounds like is reason enough alone for the Opposition to remain on the Opposition benches for decades to come. [Interruption] But beyond that\u2014it might be based on analysis, but it was poorly directed policy, I can tell you that. So if that is not reason enough on its own that Opposition members should stay there for decades to come, they do not even understand the existing tax provisions in New Zealand. There is already a capital gains tax in New Zealand for people who speculate on property, and what this Government has done is strengthen the measures to make sure that it can be applied more readily in court and by the Inland Revenue Department. And members opposite oppose it. They scream black and blue about property speculation and then oppose measures to do something about it. Well, that is just simply a party that is not fit to govern at all. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000514\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203fd985b-4fb8-4111-ba38-5033a254d962\u0022\u003EAlong with this we have been doing a lot around building this resilient and adaptive economy to make sure it is diversified, and we have seen the results of that. So over the past year the information and communications technology sector now comprises about 1.7 percent of GDP. On its own, the information and communications technology sector is one-third of the dairy sector, and we appreciate that dairying is going through a tough time. The information and communications technology sector has grown 9 percent per year since 2008, and now it is a third of dairying at 1.7 percent of GDP. International education is $2.85 billion a year and 1.33 percent of GDP. The wine industry, wine exports, is $1.4 billion. That is up 8 percent over the last year. It is about 0.7 percent of GDP, and growing. High-tech manufacturing has gone from $139 million in 1991 to $1.4 billion in 2012. Tourism is now 7 percent of GDP. It is larger than dairying. Beef exports\u2014we have heard a lot of people talk about how although dairy is down, beef is up. It is at $3.1 billion. It has gone up 34 percent over the last year alone. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000515\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203fd985b-4fb8-4111-ba38-5033a254d962\u0022\u003EI would like to spend a couple of minutes, just within this diversified economy, talking about information and communications technology. We have announced in the Budget an additional $360 million around ultra-fast broadband and the Rural Broadband Initiative broadband infrastructure. There is $100 million in a contestable fund to expand rural broadband coverage across the country, $50 million to address some mobile black spots, and an additional $210 million to expand the coverage of the ultra-fast broadband programme to 80 percent of the population. Together, when they are complete, we will be covering almost 100 percent of the population, but probably about 49 percent of the geography, which is why we have announced that $50 million to deal with some black spots. It is a real issue, given the geography of New Zealand. That will bring our investment to broadband infrastructure in New Zealand to around $2 billion.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000516\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203fd985b-4fb8-4111-ba38-5033a254d962\u0022\u003EWhat we are doing is investing in capability for New Zealand businesses to grow, to employ more people, and to take their goods and services to markets across the country and around the world. What we have seen there, if you look at what ultra-fast broadband has already achieved\u2014look at Timaru. There was a software development company in Timaru that, before ultra-fast broadband, employed one person; now it employs 12. It is able to deliver its services to customers not only across New Zealand but outside of New Zealand. And now the information and communications technology sector is the third-largest sector in Timaru. That is a fantastic result. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000517\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203fd985b-4fb8-4111-ba38-5033a254d962\u0022\u003EOr in Whangarei, where a doctor used to have to book clients into the local hospital for retina scans. He now does them in his practice and sends the results over the internet to the hospital. It is much easier and quicker for him and better for the patients. It is a far better health service. Or the panel beater in the North Shore, who has got a 15 percent productivity improvement by taking photos and videos of the damage, sending them through to the assessor, getting the job done and approved much quicker, and getting the customer out the door. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000518\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203fd985b-4fb8-4111-ba38-5033a254d962\u0022\u003EThis is a good Budget for New Zealand. It is a great economy that we have developed for New Zealand. It is one we intend to continue to develop. I commend the bills to the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u0022884cac5f76a04a5eb3a217b3f467de14\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the Appropriation (2015/16 Estimates) Bill be now read a third time and the Imprest Supply (Second for 2015/16) Bill be now read a second time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 59; M\u0101ori Party 2; ACT New Zealand 1; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 32; Green Party 14; New Zealand First 12.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAppropriation (2015/16 Estimates) Bill read a third time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000519\u0022\u003EImprest Supply (Second for 2015/16) Bill read a second time.\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000520\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022f5e80d4414084d4a886e968191b7297f\u0022\u003EImprest Supply (Second for 2015/16) Bill\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000521\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00229afd2a6df87442b395f709be95c086de\u0022\u003EThird Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022ed2d10c1-43b7-41d9-9f5c-0c313f70e625\u0022 data-id=\u00225e92d81a6ed04595b6b1cf75be9928ca\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000522\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ed2d10c1-43b7-41d9-9f5c-0c313f70e625\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225e92d81a6ed04595b6b1cf75be9928ca\u0022\u003EHon NIKKI KAYE (Minister for ACC)\u003C/span\u003E on behalf of the Minister of Finance: I move, That the Imprest Supply (Second for 2015/16) Bill be now read a third time. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000523\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ed2d10c1-43b7-41d9-9f5c-0c313f70e625\u0022\u003EBill read a third time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000524\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ed2d10c1-43b7-41d9-9f5c-0c313f70e625\u0022\u003ESitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000525\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022097b949b9b3348c598885b65c617bd66\u0022\u003ESocial Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000526\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00224b2ab96f5d0f4e75aa847c74a3be87d0\u0022\u003EFirst Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002263776108-58dc-4cab-baf1-95282c61d0de\u0022 data-id=\u0022937af8889f214525bbbf20369f60c92c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000527\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002263776108-58dc-4cab-baf1-95282c61d0de\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022937af8889f214525bbbf20369f60c92c\u0022\u003EHon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Housing):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the Social Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Social Services Committee to consider this bill. This Government is continuing its commitment to improve the social housing system to support more vulnerable New Zealanders with the Social Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000528\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002263776108-58dc-4cab-baf1-95282c61d0de\u0022\u003EThis bill achieves three things. It authorises designated Ministers to enter into social housing reform transactions in the name of Housing New Zealand Corporation and its subsidiaries. It clarifies that the Public Works Act 1981 offer-back provisions do not apply to land held by Housing New Zealand Ltd. It also preserves this treatment for designated Ministers so that just as the offer-back provisions do not apply, and have never applied, to land held by Housing New Zealand Ltd, they do not apply to Ministers acting in Housing New Zealand\u2019s name. The bill confirms the Crown\u2019s authority to administer Crown land that is held under the Housing Act 1955. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000529\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002263776108-58dc-4cab-baf1-95282c61d0de\u0022\u003EThe primary purpose of this bill is to enable the Social Housing Reform Programme to progress. The bill is needed, firstly, to provide Ministers with statutory authority to undertake the transfer of Housing New Zealand properties to community housing providers; and, secondly, to provide Housing New Zealand with the statutory mandate to support the transfers. Housing New Zealand\u2019s guiding legislation evolved to fit the existing social housing system, and this Government has decided that the existing social housing system is not best serving the needs of vulnerable New Zealanders. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000530\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002263776108-58dc-4cab-baf1-95282c61d0de\u0022\u003EThe objectives of the Social Housing Reform Programme are, firstly, to ensure that people who need housing support can access it and receive social housing services that meet their needs; secondly, ensure that social housing is of the right size, configuration, and quality and in the right areas for those households that need it; thirdly, help social housing tenants to independence as appropriate; fourthly, encourage and develop a more diverse ownership of social housing with more innovation and responsiveness to its tenants and its communities; and, fifthly, help increase the supply of affordable housing, especially in Auckland. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000531\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002263776108-58dc-4cab-baf1-95282c61d0de\u0022\u003ELegislative changes support these objectives, and in particular the fourth objective, to encourage and develop a more diverse ownership of social housing with more innovation and responsiveness to tenants and communities. The Social Housing Reform Programme includes the transfer of Housing New Zealand houses to community housing providers to support the development of the community housing sector. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000532\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002263776108-58dc-4cab-baf1-95282c61d0de\u0022\u003EThe proposed initial transactions involve the transfer of 1,000 to 2,000 Housing New Zealand houses to registered community housing providers. The transactions process is new both for the Government, in terms of transferring substantial numbers of social houses, and, of course, for those community housing providers. Consequently, the process is proceeding in a measured way so that potential participants have the opportunity to prepare. This bill supports the programme by amending the Housing Corporation Act 1974 to provide designated Ministers with the authority to transfer Housing New Zealand Corporation properties. Designated Ministers will be able to do this by entering into contracts and performing other acts in the name of Housing New Zealand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000533\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002263776108-58dc-4cab-baf1-95282c61d0de\u0022\u003EAlong with transferring properties, the bill enables the designated Ministers to enter into contracts to ensure that Housing New Zealand provides transitional services to transferees to ensure that tenants\u2019 needs are looked after during any transfer process. We will ensure that transaction processes work smoothly for current tenants. There are safeguards in the process. Following the exercise of the transaction mandate, Ministers are required to publicly notify the general nature and purpose of its use by means of a statement published in the Gazette and presented to the House of Representatives. This provides transparency, allowing Parliament and the public to see that its exercise is consistent with the purposes outlined in the legislation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000534\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002263776108-58dc-4cab-baf1-95282c61d0de\u0022\u003EThe offer-back provisions set out in the Public Works Act 1981 do not apply to land held by Housing New Zealand, and the bill ensures this position is carried forward by amending the Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Act 1992. This amendment ensures that Ministers\u2019 use of the transaction mandate to transfer properties on behalf of Housing New Zealand does not raise any doubts about whether the Public Works Act applies. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000535\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002263776108-58dc-4cab-baf1-95282c61d0de\u0022\u003EIt is important to provide certainty on this point to avoid delay to the social housing reform process. This amendment does not alter any existing rights, as it confirms the current legal position that the offer-back regime does not apply. If there are rights of a first refusal for iwi in relation to Housing New Zealand Corporation properties under Treaty settlement legislation, these legal interests are preserved after these changes. We are going through a thorough process to deal with these. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000536\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002263776108-58dc-4cab-baf1-95282c61d0de\u0022\u003EThe final aspect of this bill is an amendment to the Housing Act 1955 to clear up a longstanding issue not directly related to the social housing programme. This amendment is a technical amendment that gives a designated Minister the exclusive power to administer State housing land that is identified by the Minister in a Gazette notice. State housing land is land that is owned by the Crown and is set aside under the Housing Act. Some of this land is managed by Housing New Zealand on behalf of the Crown, and some is managed by the Crown itself. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000537\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002263776108-58dc-4cab-baf1-95282c61d0de\u0022\u003EThe Crown and Housing New Zealand agree that the Crown should have the authority to transact State housing land that Housing New Zealand does not manage, but the legislation setting out this authority is unclear. This bill clears up that matter. This amendment does not apply to land that is owned by Housing New Zealand. This Government remains committed to improving the lives of tenants in social housing, and this bill supports that objective. I commend this bill to the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022 data-id=\u00225ecd881edb324f90a94b1e86bb9a6618\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000538\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225ecd881edb324f90a94b1e86bb9a6618\u0022\u003EPHIL TWYFORD (Labour\u2014Te Atat\u016B):\u003C/span\u003E Labour opposes this bill. We will not be voting for it. It gives Minister Bennett and Minister English extraordinary powers to sell State houses, to personally negotiate contracts \u201Con any terms and conditions\u201D that the Ministers wish, and to take any action to facilitate the sales process. It allows the Ministers the power to sell off State houses without any reference to Housing New Zealand\u2019s board, its chief executive, or its legislation. The bill will exempt the Ministers from all relevant enactments, including the objectives and functions of Housing New Zealand, for example, social responsibility, environmental responsibility, and good financial oversight\u2014things that, clearly, the Ministers do not want to be bound by. The Ministers are not constrained by \u201Cany rule of law to the contrary relating to capacity or validity of acts.\u201D It also exempts the Ministers from any legal challenge except judicial review. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000539\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EThese provisions, especially given this Government\u2019s track record, should be ringing alarm bells loud and clear. National wants the freedom to do dirty deals flogging off billions of dollars\u2019 worth of publicly owned land and housing. It does not want to be bothered by pesky public servants or the rule of law. We know that the Government is currently having secret meetings with merchant bankers, public-private partnership investors, and property developers who want to get their hands on these valuable public assets. The Government refuses to release the details about whom it is meeting to discuss the sales with. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000540\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EThis bill is the latest move by a Government that is desperate to offload State houses and keep this troubled and deeply unpopular policy afloat. If people needed any reminding of this Government\u2019s propensity to blur the ethical lines in its governance, let me remind people about a story that appeared on 6 June in New Zealand Herald about the fact that Housing New Zealand Corporation paid $1.6 million to Andrew Body, a public-private partnership investment consultant, to help it sell State houses. First, what did the Government do? It engaged Mr Body to help it develop the policy to sell State houses through the Housing Shareholders\u2019 Advisory Group and then, later on, an advisory panel to help form Government policy on social housing.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000541\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EPart-way through those appointments Housing New Zealand contracted Andrew Body to conduct work in the asset transfer work stream. So having developed the policy, it then hired Andrew Body to help it move ahead with selling the houses, even though he was already working for an international public-private partnership investor. When Housing New Zealand was asked about this apparent conflict of interest, it hid the information and refused to release it publicly under the Official Information Act. It took the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, which was caught out telling the truth, to respond to an Official Information Act request by releasing the information that made it very clear that there was, on the face of it, a clear conflict of interest in the engagement of Andrew Body in this work. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000542\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EAndrew Body was paid $1.6 million by this Government in a series of contracts to develop the policy and then advise it on selling off State houses. There was a clear conflict of interest and Housing New Zealand hid it from the public. This State house sell-off policy of Bill English is deeply unpopular, and the most recent opinion poll showed that 75 percent of New Zealanders\u2014and, actually, 60 percent of National Party voters\u2014oppose the sale of State houses to the Gold Coast company Horizon Housing, which is interested in picking up these State houses. It is a deeply unpopular policy. But no wonder\u2014this Government has allowed itself to be diddled by Rio Tinto in relation to T\u012Bwai Point, by Warner Bros, by Skycity, and by Saudi businessman Hamood Al Ali Khalaf. What a roll-call of shame. This Government has incredible commercial acumen\u2014what fantastic deals it does on behalf of the New Zealand taxpayer! \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000543\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EGiven this record of negotiating bum deals for New Zealand it is a bit of a worry that Minister English and Minister Bennett are basically asking, with this bill, for a free rein to hock off billions of dollars worth of publicly owned land and housing. Not only is this Government an utterly incompetent commercial negotiator but it has brought the ethics of Wall Street into the Government at the highest levels. The Saudi sheep scandal has shown that it is willing to blow millions of dollars of taxpayers\u2019 money on dubious schemes and then lie to cover its tracks. Now Paula Bennett and Bill English want the unfettered power to flog off billions of dollars of land and housing to their Cabinet club mates. This is sickening, and Labour will be opposing this bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000544\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EBill English may want his political legacy to be the sale of thousands of State houses to property developers, merchant bankers, and overseas companies, but it is time he let this policy go. New Zealanders want State housing to be there to guarantee a decent roof over the heads of the most vulnerable families, just like the Prime Minister and his mother enjoyed in the 1960s when Kiwi taxpayers gave them a decent roof over their heads. It gave the Prime Minister a start in life that benefited him, but, apparently, according to the National Party, that is no longer good enough for New Zealanders in the 21st century. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000545\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EThis policy has been a dog since the word go. First, National said it was building up local community housing providers and that is why it wanted to transfer State housing. But now Paula Bennett and Bill English say they want to sell State houses to only large organisations that can spend tens of millions of dollars and buy hundreds of houses in one go, effectively eliminating the entire New Zealand community housing sector from the whole process. It makes a mockery of what they said. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000546\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EBill English said that the Salvation Army was lining up to buy these houses, and if it was not the Sallies, it would be iwi. Well, the Salvation Army made it very clear that it did not believe that this policy would benefit tenants, and it ruled itself out of buying these houses. Iwi leaders said that they would buy these houses only if they got them for nothing. Meanwhile the National Party said that these houses would go only to non-profit groups. That is what Paula Bennett said. But as soon as the Salvation Army pulled the plug on this deal, Bill English was forced to concede that, actually, banks and property developers would be in on the game as well. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000547\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003ENational has said\u2014and I think Paula Bennett just said something similar in her contribution tonight\u2014that community groups would do a better job than Housing New Zealand. National has said that, somehow, people in the local community and voluntary sector would understand the needs of social housing tenants better than Housing New Zealand. Now, apparently, the Government is talking to organisations in Australia who are somehow going to understand the needs of State housing tenants in Invercargill, Palmerston North, Timaru, Wanganui\u2014the Australians are going to be able to do a better job than New Zealanders. Well, how does that work? How does that work? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000548\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EThis Government is yet to provide a scrap of evidence that the people to whom it is intending to flog off State houses will do a better job of looking after State house tenants than Housing New Zealand can. We asked Paula Bennett, under the Official Information Act, for the data. We asked her for the evidence. What is the evidence base of this policy in the lines that the Minister is trotting out to justify hocking off billions of dollars of State houses? The answer that came back from Paula Bennett\u2019s office was that there is no such evidence. That says it all. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000549\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022cbc37df2-57ae-4536-94ed-a2e39eecd585\u0022\u003EThis bill puts Minister Bennett and Minister English above the law. There is a very good reason why Ministers are subject to the rule of law and to all the normal legal and constitutional provisions, which put checks and balances around them, especially when those Ministers are conducting negotiations to sell off huge public assets that have been paid for by generations of New Zealanders. There is a good reason for that. This bill leaves the process wide open to corruption. This Government should take that seriously. There are reasons why those provisions are there. They should not be cleared away. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022ee649aea-c6fa-4610-9fcf-5c4bb2d3cd33\u0022 data-id=\u00228848531053214305853739587ebb8784\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000550\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ee649aea-c6fa-4610-9fcf-5c4bb2d3cd33\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00228848531053214305853739587ebb8784\u0022\u003EMATT DOOCEY (National\u2014Waimakariri):\u003C/span\u003E It is a pleasure to rise to speak at the first reading of the Social Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill. I do not believe for one second that that member, Phil Twyford, actually believes in what he just said. Can I quote Mr Twyford? Mr Twyford said: \u201CTenants with high and complex needs may be better off being transferred to a community housing provider \u2026\u201D. I do not believe for a second that the member Phil Twyford believes in what he just said. Mr Twyford said: \u201CWhat does this bill do? It shifts housing stock out of the hands of Housing New Zealand into the community housing sector. This is something that \u2026 Labour is perfectly comfortable with \u2026\u201D. So it was all right back then, you were comfortable with it then, but not now. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000551\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ee649aea-c6fa-4610-9fcf-5c4bb2d3cd33\u0022\u003EIf I can, I would like to go back to that period up to the election in 2014, to think about the pledges that the parties gave in campaigning and to think about the mandate this Government has with this policy around social housing. If we look at our National Party pledges, the first one was to free up land for new sections. I know that in my electorate we have done exactly that. With the Land Use Recovery Plan we have been able to free up land, which has increased supply, which has equalled demand. When you look at statistics like annual house price inflation, New Zealand has 7.5 percent, Canterbury has 5.5 percent, and \u201CWaimak\u201D has 3.5 percent. We are the third-biggest district in the South Island\u2014we have just overtaken Invercargill\u2014and we are the third fastest - growing electorate by population, yet we have only 3.5 percent annual house price inflation. That is because, like I am referring to, our housing policy going into the election was about freeing up land for new sections. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000552\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ee649aea-c6fa-4610-9fcf-5c4bb2d3cd33\u0022\u003EThe next pledge was about keeping interest rates low. We know that we have some of the lowest interest rates in 50 years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000553\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022530ce0c4-c977-40cb-90fb-754f54931ff1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022eeb2365b2da14c9eb540801e4f473e88\u0022\u003ETracey Martin\u003C/span\u003E: What\u2019s that got to do with State housing?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000554\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ee649aea-c6fa-4610-9fcf-5c4bb2d3cd33\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226969025bfb714216a062e20b3ab1ae19\u0022\u003EMATT DOOCEY\u003C/span\u003E: Well, I am getting to that. I am getting to that. The third pledge was about introducing the KiwiSaver HomeStart package, which we have done. That is three out of three. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000555\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022530ce0c4-c977-40cb-90fb-754f54931ff1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225a054046d60745aa86c22408c953f5ce\u0022\u003ETracey Martin\u003C/span\u003E: State housing?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000556\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ee649aea-c6fa-4610-9fcf-5c4bb2d3cd33\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022232f627f6c1544b19a1215c99fe63f38\u0022\u003EMATT DOOCEY\u003C/span\u003E: Stay with me\u2014three out of three. And here we move into the fourth pledge: to reform the social housing sector, facilitating a shift from State housing to a range of new social housing providers. We pledged our housing portfolio and our promises, we got the mandate from the New Zealand people at the last general election, we are sticking with it, and we are delivering it, unlike Mr Twyford, who says what he wants and then backtracks on it. What we have done is we have clearly set out that path at the election and, at the first opportunity that we have had to deliver it, in Budget 2015, that is exactly what we have delivered: social housing reforms. The reforms allowed an extra 3,500 New Zealanders to gain access to housing and provided extra wraparound services for vulnerable Kiwis, who will get extra support around education, training, employment, mental health, and alcohol and drugs to support them into independence, on top of the Support for Children in Hardship Bill. The list goes on, because what we have done is we have stuck with our promises. The people of New Zealand trust us and have confidence in us to deliver what is right for the people, and that is exactly what we are doing, because we listen to people, we care for them, and we are the working peoples\u2019 party. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000557\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ee649aea-c6fa-4610-9fcf-5c4bb2d3cd33\u0022\u003EWhen you look at statistics from Housing New Zealand at the moment, when you look at one-bedroom houses there is a 25 percent demand with only a 9 percent supply\u201425 percent demand; 9 percent supply. When you look at three-bedroom houses there is a 24 percent demand with 43 percent supply. You can see where there are big houses there is only a small number of people in them, and the housing is not meeting the demand. It is about the right house for the right people at the right time in the right location. That is what we are working towards\u2014a systemic approach. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000558\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ee649aea-c6fa-4610-9fcf-5c4bb2d3cd33\u0022\u003EIf those members talk about housing, they may want to talk about the Red Army. They are not talking about the Chinese, and they are not even talking about the Canadians. It is the reds under the bed. They go to bed every night holding their copies of the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx under their pillows, dreaming of the 1950s, the 1960s, the 1970s, and of State intervention. They are going to bed with great dreams of State intervention, as if they have forgotten about the revolution of the liberal market economy. That is where we are. We are in a mixed economy of care\u2014a mixed economy of care where we have private provision, Government provision, community provision, and NGO provision. It is flexible and it gives people choice, because what we do on this side of the House is we back communities. We believe in big communities, and to all those innovative community organisations: we believe in you. We are here to support you and the aspiration you provide for your tenants to give them vision and to give them hope. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000559\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ee649aea-c6fa-4610-9fcf-5c4bb2d3cd33\u0022\u003EThe Social Housing Reform Programme\u2014when you look at some of the statistics, 3,650 people assessed as high needs are waiting to be on the list for social housing. It is not working. Things had to change, and it is right that they are. I am proud that I am part of a Government that is sticking up for people and putting people first. That is what this is about. Thirteen hundred tenants from Housing New Zealand have applied to transfer to better houses that suit their needs. A third of Housing New Zealand properties are in the wrong place and are the wrong size. The tenants are becoming more complex. A third of them are sole parent families with children. Over 20 percent are over 65 years old. What we need to do is think through with community housing providers about how they provide new, innovative ways to support the complex needs of their tenants. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000560\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ee649aea-c6fa-4610-9fcf-5c4bb2d3cd33\u0022\u003EWhat we know is that we will be looking to transfer 1,500 houses with existing tenants and tenancies as part of this mandated bill. When we look at the regulatory impact statement it outlines clearly two options. Option one is to ensure that the Crown has the authority to transact Housing New Zealand Corporation\u2019s stock by means of a new asset transfer provision. The preferred legal mechanism is a transaction mandate. That is exactly what this bill is about: a transactional mandate. Option two is to commence the programme underneath the existing legislative framework of Housing New Zealand. The regulatory impact statement came back for this bill about the transactional mandate and said: \u201CThere is no or minor impact on tenants as a result of selecting one option \u2026 Option one provides benefits to potential bidders as it provides certainty that the transfers can proceed.\u201D It showed that if we had gone for the impact analysis on option two it would not have worked. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000561\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ee649aea-c6fa-4610-9fcf-5c4bb2d3cd33\u0022\u003EWhat we know is that at the end of the day the Social Housing Reform Programme has a range of objectives. The first objective is ensuring that people who need housing support can access it and receive social housing services that meet their needs. I have already talked about the statistics of the range of bedroom numbers that are not meeting the needs of the people on the waiting list. It is also about those people who need wraparound services: employment, training, and education. What we are trying to do is move people into independence. We know people benefit from being independent. They become productive members of society. It is not only about getting them into employment; it is about getting them into independent housing. It is a great bill, and I commend it to the House. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022 data-id=\u00226498c465ab9242ef8862a6e4a7e7065d\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000562\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226498c465ab9242ef8862a6e4a7e7065d\u0022\u003ECARMEL SEPULONI (Labour\u2014Kelston):\u003C/span\u003E I just want to pick up on a couple of things that Matt Doocey said. Firstly, he was saying that my colleague Mr Twyford does not believe a word of what he was saying. Well, I can tell Mr Doocey he does because he was in charge of writing the notes, and everything that was written down is what he believes, unlike that speaker, who was reading from a piece of paper and who knew nothing about what he was talking about. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000563\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003ESecondly, I just want to say that the other thing that Matt Doocey said was that we on this side of the House are communists for opposing this bill. Well, can I just say that he must then be accusing the 75 percent of New Zealanders who disagree with the selling off of State houses. He must be saying they are also communists. I am not sure about how the 75 percent of those New Zealanders feel, and, actually, 60 percent of National voters oppose the Government\u2019s plan to sell off State houses. So 60 percent of National voters, according to Matt Doocey, are communists as well. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000564\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EI think it is very clear from what I am already saying that we oppose this bill. Our biggest concern here is that this bill gives Ministers English and Bennett extraordinary powers to take direct, personal control of selling State houses, exempting Ministers from normal legal requirements, and leaving the sale process wide open for corruption. New Zealanders have a real interest in what is going on here. So, of course, we are not going to support the idea that those two Ministers be given extraordinary powers to make decisions without consulting or going through the normal process. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000565\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EI want to just take this back to my own electorate and say that the No. 1 issue coming through my office doors\u2014and I am sure this is the same for every electorate MP in this room\u2014is housing. Firstly, for that Government to say that we do not have a housing crisis in this country is absolute rubbish, and it knows it. Secondly, we cannot pretend that State housing is not part of the solution here. What I have been really disappointed in is the fact that that Government has been so negligent, that in order to meet its own ideological, philosophical aspirations\u2014which is: do not own these houses, because it does not believe that the State should have a role in this\u2014it would allow these houses to continually become more and more run down under its watch, to the point where we have public cases in the media where the coroner is stating that the No. 1 reason for the deaths of children is actually the housing that they are living in. That Government is responsible for that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000566\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003ESo here we are looking at a piece of legislation that will enable the National Government to sell off our State housing, but in the lead-up to this it has been doing everything that it can to make it look like the State cannot manage the housing that it has. It has been deliberately doing a bad job of managing the housing that we have so that it adds weight to its case and so that it can look like it is justified in selling it off. No one can do a better job of providing housing for New Zealanders who need it\u2014the most vulnerable who need it\u2014than New Zealanders, actually. So the fact that the Government is even looking at selling off these houses to Australians has everyone in this country rolling their eyes, shaking their heads, and shrugging their shoulders, because how can Australians look after our most vulnerable, take over our Housing New Zealand stock, and do a better job than we can? It is an indictment on that Government that there have been so many cases in the media recently about the state of the Housing New Zealand stock that we do have. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000567\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EI want to talk about a couple of cases in my own electorate that are actually that Government\u2019s responsibility to do something about, and it has done nothing. There is a case where we have a young boy who is 10 years old and has a disability. He cannot get inside or outside of his house without being carried by his parents. The house cannot be modified because of the way it is and the land that it is on. They cannot get a transfer, despite the fact that we have been supporting them to get one, because there is not enough stock\u2014they cannot get a transfer. That child now has to be home schooled because the mother cannot carry that kid inside and outside the house every day. That is what happens when we do not have the Housing New Zealand stock that is required. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000568\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EThere are thousands\u2014and I have seen this through my own Official Information Act requests\u2014of New Zealanders every month applying for Housing New Zealand houses, but how many of them are making it on to the Housing New Zealand waiting list? Less than one-fifth of them are actually making it on to that list. Are they applying despite the fact that they do not need it? Are they applying even though they do not need it?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000569\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b2567d3e-a09c-47b4-bd50-2f5bb4049762\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221529adf5495041a1b424d741c598548b\u0022\u003ESue Moroney\u003C/span\u003E: No.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e5e63576e2ef4f35becb7e1974dde15d\u0022\u003ECARMEL SEPULONI\u003C/span\u003E: No. They need it. It is not a case of people going: \u201COh, where can I get an easy deal? I\u2019m going to put my name forward for a Housing New Zealand house.\u201D They actually need it, but less than one-fifth of them are actually getting on to the Housing New Zealand waiting list. That Government is trying to make out that there is not that much of a demand, but we know that the number of people who are applying is not equating to the number of people who are on the list. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000571\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EIn recent months we have seen examples of where the Government has actually had the opportunity to pick up more houses but it has chosen not to. One of those examples was in the Waterview area, where a number of Housing New Zealand houses were purchased for the Waterview Connection, which we support, but were then no longer required. So 31 of those houses were no longer required for the project, and who then had the first right to purchase those houses? Housing New Zealand could have purchased them back, but despite the fact there are thousands of New Zealanders wanting Housing New Zealand houses and trying to get their names on to the list, did Housing New Zealand take up that opportunity to purchase those houses back? No, it did not\u2014it did not. It allowed them to go out for private sale despite the fact that Government members\u2014Nick Smith and everyone else\u2014are constantly talking in the House about the fact that they are doing whatever they can to be part of ensuring that they are meeting the housing demand. Well, actually, they are not. They want it to go private. They want to have no hand in this whatsoever. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000572\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EAnd do you know what? It is history repeating itself. So many New Zealanders have forgotten this, and we have to keep reminding them of it: the National Government sold thousands of Housing New Zealand houses back in the 1990s. Then when Labour got into Government in 1999, the first thing it had to do was try to rebuild that stock. In the process, there were a whole lot of houses that were run down as well. We had 9 years to try to rebuild the stock and try to fix up those houses, and maybe we did not get to the point where we could have or we wanted to get to, but we did actually try to rebuild that stock. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000573\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003EAnd now here we are, in that same predicament with a National Government that has not learnt from its mistakes and has not changed its ideology in any way. Here we are\u2014history is repeating itself and the Government is selling off Housing New Zealand houses again. Then what is going to happen is that when National\u2019s time is up and New Zealanders decide that, actually, they have had enough of a National Government and what that means for this country, and Labour gets back in with whichever coalition partners we have at that time\u2014what are we going to have to do? We are going to have to rebuild that stock and then try to do some work around the maintenance of our Housing New Zealand houses that have been neglected by the National Government. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000574\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3a88c42-f60b-4cf9-8065-8bfb80a020eb\u0022\u003ESelling off our Housing New Zealand houses is not the answer to the housing crisis that we have at the moment. I think that actually the National Government\u2014all of its backbench MPs, all of its Ministers\u2014should be embarrassed about what it is doing. We have a major housing crisis in this country, and it is not just about those who cannot afford to buy houses. It is about those who cannot afford to even rent a house. It is about those who cannot afford to get out of the garage that they are living in because they do not have enough money to rent a house. They cannot afford to get out of the car that they are living in because they cannot afford to rent a house. Yet that National Government would rather sell off the Housing New Zealand stock that we have and take away one of the few opportunities that New Zealanders have to get into affordable housing. I think the Government should be ashamed of itself, and we will not be supporting this bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022 data-id=\u0022b49483eefd704c76ab86bdc87e9487a9\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000575\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022b49483eefd704c76ab86bdc87e9487a9\u0022\u003EALFRED NGARO (National):\u003C/span\u003E It is a privilege to stand and speak on the Social Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill in its first reading. I think that the previous speaker, Carmel Sepuloni, probably needs to do a little bit more homework before she actually launches off in her speech. Here is just a little bit of a history lesson, right? Let us take the housing stock out in Glen Innes, for instance. We are out there working in Glen Innes\u2014that is right; there is a little bit silence of the lambs at the moment\u2014and here is the evidence that shows that, right? So we could talk about the rhetoric, but let us talk about the facts of what actually happened. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000576\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003EOut in Glen Innes there are around about 2,500 State houses. The stock of houses in that area of Glen Innes was some of the worst, and under the Labour Government, the previous Government, in 9 years not once did they go out to repair, to maintain, or even to rebuild the housing stock there.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000577\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002290ea1538-43e8-4257-bd80-df3ccd1e5f27\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ec4ed76655dd4b83abaf7e0919d66ede\u0022\u003EKris Faafoi\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, that\u2019s rubbish.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000578\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224a75d36f2c3146a9a4ad95a17d74a9cf\u0022\u003EALFRED NGARO\u003C/span\u003E: No, it is not rubbish; it is actual fact. Why do I tell you this? You can talk to guys like Pat Snedden, who are part of the T\u0101maki Transformation Programme, which actually started in 2007. It was an idea that came to fruition in 2008\u2014set up under Helen Clark. At that time also, Pat Snedden was helping to head that project. I, as a community representative, came along and actually gave some commentary around how they could engage with communities. So it is not rubbish; it is actual fact. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000579\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003EIt started under the Labour Government. Glen Innes was the worst stock of repairs and maintenance of any State housing in the whole of New Zealand. So before that member launches off and talks about the shameful record, she needs to go back and have a look at her own party\u2019s history, because then she will see that under the Labour Government not once in 9 years did it actually rebuild that stock. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000580\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003ESo let us talk about what we are doing here. What we are doing here is this: we are taking the opportunity to be able to engage in the social housing sector. This bill is called the Social Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000581\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002290ea1538-43e8-4257-bd80-df3ccd1e5f27\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227f5499b657fa488bab20739cb34415ae\u0022\u003EKris Faafoi\u003C/span\u003E: You\u2019re just selling them. Just say it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000582\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002234f02d7a543f449f8f17da53f81efcc5\u0022\u003EALFRED NGARO\u003C/span\u003E: We call it transaction mandate. Let us use another word that maybe even Kris Faafoi may have heard. It is called the devolution of stock, OK? Where did that word come from? Let us use the word \u201Cdevolution\u201D. Why? I know you will know that because when the Hon Steve Maharey was the Minister for Social Development, he set up a thing called the Care and Protection Blueprint, and I just happened to be part of that committee. On the Blueprint committee\u2014that is right, Mr Deputy Speaker, I know you are attentively listening to this\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000583\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223bd16061bb524c698b7fe500ea7613b4\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Do not bring me into it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000584\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002266c70b4a4cbb433cb3f30d2b61e80510\u0022\u003EALFRED NGARO\u003C/span\u003E: In the Blueprint, the conversation that was there was, in fact, this: do we trust the social sector to actually provide services that as a Government we cannot provide in regard to extended and extra services that are above and beyond our core services as a Government? The answer was yes, we should do that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003ESo devolution, both in terms of housing stock and in the delivery of services, was talked about way back then. We put together what was called a \u201Cblueprint plan\u201D. That plan went to Cabinet, and here is the one reason it did not go all the way. It was because the mandate was not given by Cabinet at that time, under the Labour Government, to trust in the social sector to provide services that it could not provide. In other words, they were not given the mandate. They were not given the mandate. So there you go. There is a little bit of a history lesson for you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000586\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002290ea1538-43e8-4257-bd80-df3ccd1e5f27\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225fdc822a7efc4e0f9f6fd0026076a7e9\u0022\u003EKris Faafoi\u003C/span\u003E: Here\u2019s a history lesson: you\u2019re selling the houses.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000587\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002249aaad9591434991b0ac4aa289fa47fa\u0022\u003EALFRED NGARO\u003C/span\u003E: So here is the reason why this bill is a point of difference, Mr Faafoi. This bill is a point of difference because it simply does this: it says that, actually, we trust our social services. We trust the Housing Foundation with Brian Donnelly. We trust Habitat for Humanity. We trust VisionWest Community Trust and Lisa Woolley. Why? Because they deliver above and beyond what we are able to deliver. These are social services that have actually said to us: \u201CActually, give us the opportunity to prove that we can do this.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000588\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003ESo I think, actually, what this bill does is it shows that not only it is giving a statutory mandate to our Ministers but it is forming a relationship of trust in our social services and especially in the social housing sector, the third sector, to provide these services that are much needed in our communities. So we know what this does first and foremost. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000589\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003EThere are some issues of concern. I want to raise them because they have come out in some of the speeches, and they are in regard to the relationships with iwi. We know there has been talk about that. It is important to note that in this bill it does not in any way change the first right of refusal rights that iwi may have over some Housing New Zealand properties. We know there has been some concern that is there.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000590\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002247c29b78-eee0-4c91-afdf-7b07be780e1a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222483f28b76d5481583ff6dd0ff6ff7d1\u0022\u003EDenis O\u2019Rourke\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s not what it says.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000591\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220e8a53e6c25f418eb923cb1ed0920f38\u0022\u003EALFRED NGARO\u003C/span\u003E: It is in the bill. We are keen to make sure that that relationship is maintained. We are working through a thorough process with iwi in Tauranga and in Invercargill to establish what rights and interests they have, and we will deal with them in good faith. So that is one of the areas, first and foremost.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000592\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002247c29b78-eee0-4c91-afdf-7b07be780e1a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a1684adb603c46d585b6e0ccffcf4123\u0022\u003EDenis O\u2019Rourke\u003C/span\u003E: Get it right. He hasn\u2019t got that right.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000593\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002290d75bb32901412f91f21b91192357c7\u0022\u003EALFRED NGARO\u003C/span\u003E: We want to make sure, just in case, because on the Opposition\u2014and, unfortunately, even with Mr O\u2019Rourke\u2014there is what we would call the manufacturing of crisis. It is all doom and gloom. It is only about the things that could go wrong, not about the things that could go right, which is what this Government is about. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000594\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003ELet us talk about some other issues. This bill does not apply to Crown land. It only relates to land owned by Housing New Zealand. There was some concern that was raised there. No one\u2019s rights, under the Public Works Act, are changing. The bill simply clarifies that the offer-back provisions of the Public Works Act have never applied to Housing New Zealand property. Again, we want to sort of dispel the myths of doom and gloom that are coming from the Opposition, as well. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000595\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003ESo what are the things that we think are really important in regard to the social housing issues? What are some of the achievements? While we talk about what the bill is doing, let us look at some of the things that we have achieved so far in social housing. In June 2015 quarterly social housing register figures showed that the number of people on the register has decreased. That is right\u2014by 1,299 from the June 2014 quarter to 4,541. That is a 22 percent decrease. I know that members of the public who are listening out there may want to hear these facts and figures. It is a 22 percent decrease. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000596\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003EThe Ministry of Social Development, Housing New Zealand, and the community housing providers are more intensively working to match people to houses that suit their needs. Here is that point of difference: we know that core services by the Government are what we are responsible for, but where we go above and beyond\u2014and this is that relationship of trust that is formed with social housing providers in which they can provide that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000597\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003ESo it is important that we are matching people to houses that suit their needs and, in fact, maybe even, as the previous speaker, Mrs Sepuloni, talked about, the needs of those who potentially have disabilities. Social housing providers that have a particular niche are able to provide for those specific needs as well. And so the number of housing offers made and accepted increased to 1,590 in the June 2015 quarter, compared with 1,522 in the June 2014 quarter as well. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000598\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003ELet us talk about the tenancy reviews of those who are paying market rent and who are able to sustain private accommodation. They make more homes available for those who are more in need. I have seen this for myself. It is a really challenging space, because it is almost as if the rhetoric that is being championed by the Opposition\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000599\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002290ea1538-43e8-4257-bd80-df3ccd1e5f27\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cc0f369eceb54cacad0a82cb376153ea\u0022\u003EKris Faafoi\u003C/span\u003E: Don\u2019t go there.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000600\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002268d5cbf911104c0daa01f802fee3b7d6\u0022\u003EALFRED NGARO\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014is \u201Ca State house for life\u201D. I will go there, because that is what I hear. It is almost like \u201Ca State house for life\u201D, you know? There is that sense of entitlement that they build into the houses and into the homes and even into the hearts of people who are in our communities. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000601\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003EWhat we are saying is this: a State house is a provision for need in the circumstances that a family or an individual may find themselves in. But our belief is this\u2014our belief, which we will champion on this side, is to help people to a sense of independence so that they can be self-determining in their future and for their families as well. So that is why we think it is important.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000602\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003EFrom tenancy reviews of those paying market rent who are able to sustain private accommodation and from over 150 households who have moved into private market rents, 11 tenants have purchased their own homes. That may not sound like much, Mr O\u2019Rourke, but 11 tenants\u2014we think, actually, there are 11 lives and 11 families who have been changed by this opportunity as well. We have also paid out around $380,000 in housing support products to 204 people, providing assistance for things like their bond, moving costs, and letting fees. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000603\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022695678cf-542a-4616-9e0a-86990caec192\u0022\u003EI look forward to this bill going to the select committee. I look forward to the opportunity for submissions to be heard, where we can actually hear from others who are out there and the providers. I also acknowledge the championing of our Minister for Social Housing, and our Ministers who are actually out here, because at the heart of this bill it is about the devolution of trust. It is about ensuring that, actually, in the third sector it has the ability to be able to reach and meet the needs that the poor Government cannot. We believe this is actually a move that is in the right direction. I commend this bill to the select committee and to the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022 data-id=\u00226fdde2cc479b4eb4bffd1842073c8bad\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000604\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226fdde2cc479b4eb4bffd1842073c8bad\u0022\u003EMETIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader\u2014Green):\u003C/span\u003E T\u0113n\u0101 koe, Mr Deputy Speaker. T\u0113n\u0101 koutou katoa o te Whare. This bill has two very simple purposes. The first is to help with Nick Smith\u2019s ridiculous bungling over his attempts to sell public land to private interests, land that should be offered back to M\u0101ori first. The bill does try to find some way of fixing that big mistake. The second\u2014more important, I think\u2014purpose is that it is designed to make two Government Ministers the sole owners, in effect, of an $18 billion asset that has been built by generations of New Zealanders for the many generations to follow. Under this bill, these two Ministers can sell off any amount of that asset that they choose, to anyone they like, for any price that they decide is OK, with zero oversight from the rest of New Zealand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000605\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EThis second, and primary, purpose of the bill\u2014the selling off of an $18 billion State asset\u2014makes it the largest State asset sale that this country has ever seen. Not only is this bill designed to facilitate the sale of this multibillion-dollar asset; it is a sale to anyone from anywhere. There are no constraints on these two Ministers as to how they choose to flog it off. It is a massive transfer of New Zealand\u2019s housing wealth, potentially sold off for a song, to Australia, to the UK, to America, to Canada\u2014to whomever the two property-owning Ministers decide it is in their best interest to sell it to\u2014and there is no mandate for this. There is no mandate for this asset sale. In the latest poll, as we have heard, New Zealanders are overwhelmingly opposed to the sale of State housing to an Australian entity. They want this State housing kept in New Zealand hands, but this Government wants to be able to sell it off to anybody it likes. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000606\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EThe problem for the Ministers is that John Key, at the beginning of this year, very grandly announced that he was going to sell 2,000 State houses in 2015 and sell 8,000 State houses before the election in 2017, but he failed to tell that to agencies like the Salvation Army, which he had then expected to just front up with the cash to buy them. The Salvation Army did the economic analysis after being sprung on by this announcement, and found that, actually, the cost of maintaining the housing\u2014housing that has been neglected and degraded because of years of deferred and poor maintenance\u2014made the whole concept of these thousands of houses being sold ludicrous. The cost of buying the homes and then restoring them to any degree of safe use for the tenants is simply beyond New Zealand\u2019s community organisations, no matter how motivated they are by compassion for the tenants in these homes. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000607\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003ENow, with this grandiose announcement by John Key about selling all these thousands of houses that are in total tatters, because there is nobody to buy them, the Government is now legislating to let two Ministers\u2014just two\u2014treat New Zealand State housing as if it is their own personal property. They can override the Housing New Zealand board and sell off these homes to whomever they want to for whatever price. We may well hear the Minister for Social Housing and others from National claim that they are bound by the social housing reform objectives, but I can assure the country that those objectives do not provide any protection for the retention of State housing, nor do they increase State housing in this country. The Ministers have to consider only one of those objectives, not all of them, and if the Housing New Zealand board, which is supposed to be responsible for this work, strongly disagrees with the Ministers\u2019 plan to sell off the housing, it has absolutely no authority to stop the Ministers acting as if they are the personal landlord of State houses. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000608\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EThis bill makes two Ministers the landlord for 60,000 families\u201460,000 families will now have, what, Paula Bennett and Bill English as their personal landlord, a landlord who will not fix the leaks, who will not improve the ventilation, who will not fix the dampness in these homes, and who will not fix the broken windows or replace the missing doors, or deal with the poor heating in those homes. They are landlords who are hell-bent on selling the properties and kicking out the tenants. And this is at a time when last week\u2019s household income survey showed that 45,000 more children are living in poverty than there were in 2013, for the most part because their parents\u2019 incomes have stagnated and the housing costs for those families have skyrocketed\u201475 percent of families who are getting the accommodation supplement are paying more than 40 percent of their income in housing costs. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000609\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EThat is a massive burden on low-income families. Fifty percent of these people are paying more than 50 percent of their income on housing. They simply cannot afford to be in the private market, and they certainly cannot afford to buy their own homes. They are locked out of decent housing and they are locked out of homeownership, but this Government has this pathological aversion to increasing the State housing stock to help to curb the massive rent increases and the massive price increases that we see fuelling the housing crisis. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000610\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EOn top of that, we know that 75 percent of the children in poverty have parents who rely on a benefit. That shows that this Government is deliberately keeping those families in poverty\u201475 percent of the poorest kids live in families that are dependent on a benefit\u2014and benefits are so low that these families have no escape. Do not listen to any of the rhetoric around the $25 increase in benefits. We know that most families will not see even $20 of that, if they are lucky. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000611\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003ESeven out of 10 children living in poverty live in rental housing\u2014seven out of 10 who live in poverty live in rentals. Rental housing is predominantly cold, damp, and unsafe. Poor-quality housing contributes to 1,600 deaths each winter in New Zealand, and rental housing is, in many cases, responsible for that and, in some very clear cases, State rental housing is responsible for that. We all remember Emma-Lita do we not? We all remember Emma-Lita. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000612\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003ESo the question is whether the two Ministers will take their new landlord responsibilities seriously. Will they make sure that all of the homes that they are responsible for are warm and dry and safe for the children who live in them? Will they fix the broken windows, install the insulation, and put in the safe heating devices? The answer, of course, is that they will not. Of course they are not going to go anywhere near that because their only objective under this bill is to be the auctioneer. They want to sell the property; they do not want to invest any more in the maintenance. There is no value for them in doing that. There has not been any up until now and there is not any impetus now, under this legislation, for them to fix those homes. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000613\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EThe only objective under this bill is the asset stripping from New Zealanders of this $18 billion asset. In the process of throwing out thousands of New Zealand families, who we know from the report on the household income survey are stuck in a poverty trap, the Government is making that situation for those families so much worse by its inaction and neglect and by an ideology that says that the State should not be involved with housing, no matter how desperately New Zealand families need the State to provide that very basic safety net. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000614\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc8ab326-1806-41d3-8c41-cd58c95dcb45\u0022\u003EIt will come as no surprise to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, or, I expect, the Government that we are opposing this bill. We are deeply disappointed, in the face of all of the evidence that shows the desperate need for the improved quality of this housing, the desperate need for more of it for the families who are living in garages and their cars, as we know they are now\u2014we are disappointed with the failure of Government to take seriously the 1,600 deaths, which includes many hundreds of children, that happen every winter because of poor-quality housing. The only solution that this Government presents\u2014the only solution\u2014is to flog off one of the last remaining safety nets that our families and their kids so desperately need. It is the last remaining safety net, which our grandparents built in order to protect our grandchildren and their children, too. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002247c29b78-eee0-4c91-afdf-7b07be780e1a\u0022 data-id=\u0022ed016215a0524d30be9fb54beccf99b8\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000615\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002247c29b78-eee0-4c91-afdf-7b07be780e1a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022ed016215a0524d30be9fb54beccf99b8\u0022\u003EDENIS O\u2019ROURKE (NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E We need to look at the Social Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill in the context of the housing crisis\u2014the housing crisis that this Government has constantly said does not exist. But home seekers know the truth. They know that homeownership is now only 65 percent\u2014the lowest since 1951\u2014and they know the reason. It is because home affordability has worsened in Auckland by 25 percent in the last year alone. The Government\u2019s response to that has been utterly pathetic\u2014in fact, retrograde, as this bill demonstrates\u2014by trying to get the State out of social housing, trying to fob it off on to often ill-equipped non-profit organisations. It is now selling State houses at a time when they are needed the most and, to make matters worse, allowing them to be sold overseas. John Key says that this is OK. However, the vast majority of New Zealanders say that it is not OK because they know that this bill, and legislation like it, is just another step in the wrong direction. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000616\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002247c29b78-eee0-4c91-afdf-7b07be780e1a\u0022\u003EThe bill empowers Ministers to direct the sale and transfer of Housing New Zealand Corporation homes ostensibly for housing reform objectives, but the main objective is to simply get the State out of social housing. So the real objective is to fast track that process by giving Ministers wide and, indeed, excessive executive powers that are not usually given in any such circumstances. Actually, the Government knows that because in its own disclosure statement it correctly says: \u201CThe transaction mandate is an unusual \u2026 mechanism. It provides Ministers with the ability to effect the transfer of HNZC assets in HNZC\u2019s name, without a decision-making role for the HNZC board.\u201D So that raises the whole question about why it would bother to maintain such a board if, in fact, it is not allowed to make the decisions. The reason, of course, is that the Government does not, in fact, trust it to do what the Government thinks should be done. So the Government wants to both pay the piper and play the tune itself. Nothing could be more inappropriate. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000617\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002247c29b78-eee0-4c91-afdf-7b07be780e1a\u0022\u003EThe bill allows Ministers to take Housing New Zealand assets and sell them without any involvement at all of the board that governs the organisation that owns them\u2014very, very inappropriate and very bad law. This represents yet another extension of executive powers by the Government. I have constantly complained in this House that the Government is taking on more and more powers of the executive in several new pieces of legislation over the last few years, thus sidelining Parliament, or sidelining agencies of Government established with parliamentary authority. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000618\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002247c29b78-eee0-4c91-afdf-7b07be780e1a\u0022\u003EBut that is not the worst demonstration of the arrogance of this Government demonstrated in this bill. The bill allows land acquired by Housing New Zealand under the Public Works Act to be sold and transferred without complying with the usually required offer-back process. The reason for that is obvious\u2014and I agree with Metiria Turei on this. When Nick Smith was embarrassed over the lack of Government land available in Auckland for new housing, as he claimed was available, he made reckless claims about how much land the Government would dedicate for the purpose, without first checking whether the land was in fact suitable for housing and without first checking whether some of it was actually legally available for housing. This bill is therefore designed as Nick Smith\u2019s face-saving device, and nothing much more than that. Belatedly introducing this bill allows the Public Works Act to be bypassed, and to hell with people for whom that process was intended to protect. The Government simply does not care about their rights and it wants to fast track its State housing privatisation programme at any cost. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000619\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002247c29b78-eee0-4c91-afdf-7b07be780e1a\u0022\u003EAlfred Ngaro said in his speech that the Public Works Act has never applied to State housing. That is only his opinion and it is not actually the law. It is not actually what that Act says and people need only to look at that legislation to know that. There are 2,000 houses to be sold by this back-door method, so who gets the proceeds and what can they be used for? New section 2A(4), inserted by clause 4, says that they \u201Cmust be paid to a Crown Bank Account.\u201D So what is the Government\u2019s mandate for that money? How do we know whether the funds will go back into new social housing? There is nothing in the bill to describe that. So there are many unanswered questions about that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000620\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002247c29b78-eee0-4c91-afdf-7b07be780e1a\u0022\u003EWhat we can be sure of is that this Government will want to reduce the role of the State in the provision of social housing, despite the majority of people who are seeking the opposite, and despite the fact that without more\u2014not less\u2014Government investment in housing, the housing crisis will in fact deepen and will never be solved. The rationale of this bill is, ostensibly, the pursuit of the objectives in new section 50D, which includes some of these\u2014for example: \u201C(c) social housing tenants are helped to independence, as appropriate:\u201D. What does that mean? It means pushing people out of State houses\u2014that is what it means. Another one: \u201C(d) there is more diverse ownership or provision of social housing:\u201D. What does that mean? Privatisation of State houses\u2014that is what it means. It goes on and on\u2014\u201Cmore innovation\u201D\u2014and the last one: \u201C(f) the supply of affordable housing is increased, especially in Auckland.\u201D Yeah, right! How, by what process, and by whom? Because it is not going to be by this Government, that is for sure.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000621\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002247c29b78-eee0-4c91-afdf-7b07be780e1a\u0022\u003EIn the end, this is just another nail in the coffin of State housing in New Zealand. There is no reason for any confidence at all that any genuine effort will be put into the supply of more social housing in New Zealand as a result of this bill and the other legislation that this Government has passed in the last few years. Nor is there any guarantee that the money will go into the improvement of social housing quality, which is so badly needed, or even that the proceeds from these sales will go back into social housing in any way whatsoever. I have listened to the speeches from those opposite and none of them have given me any confidence that that would be the case. None of that money, it seems to me, is actually likely to go back into State housing at all. The only thing that we can be sure of is that this bill is driven, in fact, by National dogma and not genuinely by any social housing objectives intended to improve the lot of people who rely on State housing in this country. More and more and more people will be relying on it because of the housing affordability crisis and because of the lack of opportunities to buy homes in New Zealand, which is also the direct fault of this Government, which has spent so many years doing little or nothing about the whole housing crisis. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000622\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002247c29b78-eee0-4c91-afdf-7b07be780e1a\u0022\u003ESo, in order to achieve this bill\u2019s real objectives, which are not State housing objectives, this Government is willing to create in this bill unusual and excessive executive powers and to use them to trample over the rights of people entitled to offer-back provisions, which they should be entitled to use. Those provisions are going to be, in fact, nullified by this bill, and they should not be. There is no need for it. There is no need, indeed, for the entire programme of the privatisation of State houses. There is no need, indeed, for the transfer of State houses to anybody. It would not matter what philosophy you are coming from\u2014whether you think they should be managed by the State or by private interests\u2014none of that justifies this bill or the sale of State houses. That is what it is about. It is about a sell-off. It is about privatisation. It is about the extension of executive powers in an unreasonable way. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000623\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002247c29b78-eee0-4c91-afdf-7b07be780e1a\u0022\u003EFor all those reasons, New Zealand First will certainly be voting against this bill, now and at every stage.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022 data-id=\u0022362a9bba1f34497491ec8371dce43d95\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000624\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022362a9bba1f34497491ec8371dce43d95\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Before I call the next speaker, I would like to congratulate the member on his delivery. However, I would like to remind him that he was a lot more eloquent when he was not reading from his notes\u2014when he was speaking off the cuff and referring to notes. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022 data-id=\u00223d5452caddf94f95b7f1fee32523cb36\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000625\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223d5452caddf94f95b7f1fee32523cb36\u0022\u003ETODD MULLER (National\u2014Bay of Plenty):\u003C/span\u003E I am pleased to be able to stand here tonight and take a call in the first reading of the Social Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill. I am excited because this finally enables the reform of our social housing provision in this country to widen it more comprehensively beyond State provision only, to facilitate more community housing provision, more collaboration, greater innovation in the models around that delivery, and, in the end, to get greater outcomes for those who need it most\u2014our vulnerable New Zealanders, our \u201Ccustomers\u201D as we heard this afternoon from Bill English. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EIf ever there was an insight as to why this bill is needed, it was the opportunity that was afforded to me a month or so ago when I was asked to attend a community housing hui in Merivale in Tauranga, where 50 locals from that community had been called together to hear about this bill, in particular, and this particular policy reform. I had the privilege of outlining the position from the perspective of the Government, but there were four others who were in the room representing Labour, the Greens, New Zealand First, and even the Mana party. It was extraordinary the level of blind ideology that was imparted by the four parties that I mentioned: Labour, the Greens, New Zealand First, and Mana. What was even worse was that the people in that room were nearly all clients of Housing New Zealand, who had come to hear what it would mean for them, and the language and the narrative that was used by the Labour and Green Party and New Zealand First representatives was appalling. They were told that they would be kicked out of their houses. They were told that this was a dirty deal between Housing New Zealand and community housing providers, and that billions and billions of dollars\u2019 worth of housing stock was going to be sold off. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000627\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EWhat was particularly revealing from my perspective was that speaker after speaker gave the philosophical view that only the Government\u2014only the Government\u2014through Housing New Zealand provision knows what is best for Merivale and Tauranga. They said that only the Government, through Housing New Zealand, should be the provider of State houses in that community. It was appalling, in my view. It was a deliberate exercise in making vulnerable people feel more vulnerable through distorting deliberately what this policy is all about. But the Labour Party has form in this because in the 2008 election it wrote, with Labour Party letterhead, to every Housing New Zealand tenant and said: \u201CIf you vote for National, you\u2019ll get kicked out of your house.\u201D That is what it does, the Labour Party. It says it represents the most vulnerable, but it uses them for its own political purpose, and it is outrageous. It was fantastic to be able to stand there and give, hopefully, an effective outline of why this policy is important and why we are delivering for the people of Tauranga and Merivale. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000628\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EAfter the kai\u2014we always, appropriately, have kai at half-time\u2014I had the opportunity to reinforce some key messages around our commitment to have over 60,000 State houses by 2017, our commitment to having an additional 3,000 income-related rent subsidies by 2017, and our commitment to have housing provision remain for as long as the need is genuine, and we will stand beside those people in their time of need. Most critical, I could talk to our commitment that does not arrogantly assume that only Housing New Zealand should play a part in social housing provision but that together with community housing providers who are from the community, who live in the community, and who live its challenges and understand its opportunities, we can achieve more. This is what this bill enables and it is why I am so proud to be able to stand here and support it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000629\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EObviously, the key provisions for this bill support our social housing programme. The bill amends the Housing Corporation Act to provide designated Ministers with the authority to transfer Housing New Zealand properties, and these designated Ministers will be able to do that by entering into appropriate commercial contracts in the name of Housing New Zealand. It was interesting to hear Mr Twyford argue\u2014I think ineffectively\u2014that somehow this is an over-reach in terms of ministerial power. I think it is absolutely appropriate. With Housing New Zealand, under the current legislation, it would be difficult for the Government to direct via policy intent particular houses to be sold on behalf of the State. This bill enables the Ministers to be able to enter into those various contractual negotiations. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EWe heard earlier from Minister Bennett around the importance of the transparency provisions that are implicit here through the gazetting notice and the fact that we have to demonstrate at all times that these transfers are consistent with our social housing reform objectives. This legislation enables us to sell between 1,000 and 2,000 houses to community providers over the next year, and of course, as noted, the Ministers can use this power only if it is consistent with one or more of the Social Housing Reform Programme objectives set out in the legislation. These are worth just stepping through, because they are critical to the bill. The first is to ensure that \u201Cpeople who need housing support can access it and receive social services that meet their needs:\u201D. The second is to ensure that \u201Csocial housing is of the right size and configuration, and in the right areas, for households that need it:\u201D. We have heard earlier from my esteemed colleague Matt Doocey, the fantastic MP for Waimakariri, about the mismatch at the moment between demand and supply, with 25 percent of demand being for one-bedroom houses while only 9 percent of the supply exists in that space. The opposite, of course, is the case for three-bedroom houses, which are 24 percent of the demand but just under half\u201443 percent\u2014of supply. The configuration is not what we need, and working with community housing providers will enable that to occur more easily. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000631\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EI am very pleased that Tauranga in particular has been selected as an area to work with our local community and community housing providers for some stock transfer. Obviously, we have five community housing providers in Tauranga. There is the Tauranga Community Housing Trust, and, interestingly, only a matter of a month or two ago Minister Bennett was in Tauranga opening a particular local social housing initiative that was put together by the Tauranga Community Housing Trust. Why is that so important and relevant here? It has the same footprint: twice as many houses provided, all insulated, all warm, and all delivering to the mixed needs of that particular community. Ng\u0101ti Ranginui, as we heard over the last 48 hours, are obviously being involved, and have 115 rights of first refusal. The country\u2019s biggest non-governmental social housing provider is keen to buy houses in Tauranga. Two iwi organisations, Ng\u0101 P\u014Dtiki and Mangatawa Papamoa Blocks, are keen to participate and have a fantastic vision that provides phenomenal opportunities for social housing not only for their iwi but also for the wider community, particularly in Papamoa. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000632\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003ESo for Opposition members to stand up there, as they have today, and say that this is all about a philosophical view that is not connected with the community and that there is no demand is absolute, patent nonsense. They need to get out of Wellington. They need to come up to Tauranga. They need to talk to the people whom they purport to represent, who are lining up and saying they want to be a part of this. Those people have a vision for their community and they think that in this Government\u2014not the Labour Government; this Government\u2014they have a Government they can partner with that is innovative, that is open, and that will facilitate the delivery of their community housing needs. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000633\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fdb01002-a7cf-4a77-8f05-678d24a36849\u0022\u003EI look forward to supporting this bill through the select committee. I hope we get some good debate around the bill, and I very much commend it to the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022 data-id=\u002265032d29cae148fb87677be8f5b11bd3\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000634\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225f1453f8-c44e-4ce6-b699-64d600322276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002265032d29cae148fb87677be8f5b11bd3\u0022\u003EMr DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: This is a 5-minute call\u2014Jan Logie.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022 data-id=\u00227790547aa10c45109eb029baf9a044d7\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000635\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00227790547aa10c45109eb029baf9a044d7\u0022\u003EJAN LOGIE (Green):\u003C/span\u003E T\u0113n\u0101 koe, Mr Deputy Speaker. The Green Party is opposing the Social Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill. This bill is part of a much wider agenda to reduce the function of the Government while increasing the power of the executive and providing more opportunities for property developers and business. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000636\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EThis bill is part of the sell-off of our State homes, and the Green Party believes, in opposition to this bill, that housing should be treated as core infrastructure in this country. We need to have a plan to ensure we have enough houses, that those houses that we have are warm and dry and keeping us well, and that they are connected to public transport and able to support community well-being. That is what we stand for\u2014we stand for State housing and community housing alongside each other as part of a plan of having housing as core infrastructure. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000637\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EThe Government, though, has decided to run down our State houses, to leave the market to continue delivering damp, unsafe houses, to leave it to the market to deliver unaffordable new houses, to make it harder to get into a State house, and to kick out the families if they start earning too much. We have heard from members on that side of the House tonight about how you cannot expect a house for life\u2014that that is just being entitled. I would like to see them say that to the faces of the veterans who were promised a house for life at the end of the Second World War and have been kicked out. I would like to see you have that conversation with them to their faces and tell them that they are being entitled in expecting the delivery of that promise. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000638\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EThe Government has said that this is all about supporting community social housing and that we are being communists for resisting this measure, despite the fact that it has sold 472 houses since September last year, I understand, and not one of those houses has gone to a community housing provider. Tell me how that is about supporting community housing. Tell me how putting Government policy on to community housing providers is about supporting the role of a vibrant community housing sector. It is not. That is actually about turning them into a cheaper arm of the State so that you can abdicate your responsibility, put more pressure on to them, and reduce your own costs. That is not delivering for New Zealanders. That is not delivering for the most vulnerable or actually giving credit or any respect to the absolute power of innovation in our community. It is not giving respect to any of those things that you are giving lip service to. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000639\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EWhat this bill actually does is give two Ministers special authority to direct the sales and leases of Housing New Zealand property. Under existing rules Ministers are able to direct the Housing New Zealand board to implement Government policy, but they cannot dictate specific acts or sales. This bill overrides that. This is an overriding of the core function of the public sector. This is not only about reducing the role of the State in terms of State housing and our ability as a country to have some democratic control. Although the Government says\u2014we have heard four times tonight, I think\u2014that it is a communist plot to suggest that we have State housing, the point of State housing is that if the Government is running down the houses and people are upset about it, they can vote and tell it that they are unhappy about that. When we put State housing out to property developers, or even community organisations, it is at a one arm\u2019s length remove from our democratic control. The point of State housing is to enable New Zealanders to have some say over what is delivered and to have a direct interaction with that. We do not get that in this model, when you are selling things off to property developers. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000640\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002269dfdffa-4227-42b6-875a-fc8033bc25cc\u0022\u003EIt is not in the best interests of the country. For the Government to say that two Ministers can be responsible for 60,000 families and a billion-dollar portfolio and that they have to report to this House only to tell us what they have sold off and to whom but with no other control\u2014overriding all of the free and frank advice that might be provided from the Public Service\u2014is, frankly, extraordinary. We want no part of this bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022 data-id=\u002207573c0050384306a807e37252e99c8a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000641\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002207573c0050384306a807e37252e99c8a\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: I call Jenny Salesa\u20145 minutes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022 data-id=\u00225ee84d7922cb41a7a8ad82a02916f02c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000642\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225ee84d7922cb41a7a8ad82a02916f02c\u0022\u003EJENNY SALESA (Labour\u2014Manukau East):\u003C/span\u003E The Social Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill is an indictment on this Government and its duties to New Zealand. This bill proposes to give Ministers Bennett and English extraordinary powers to sell off Housing New Zealand State houses. This bill will allow them to personally negotiate contracts on any terms and conditions that they like and to take any actions to ease the sales process. If this bill is passed into law, it will allow Ministers Bill English and the Hon Paula Bennett to sell off State houses without reference to the Housing New Zealand board, to its chief executives, or to its legislation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000643\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022\u003EThis Government is not being straight up with New Zealanders. It pretends that there is no housing crisis and that there are no issues with our economy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000644\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022\u003EWe have thousands and thousands of vulnerable families living in our electorate of Manukau East in South Auckland. Just last week I saw a family of nine\u2014parents with seven young children. They came into our office because they are homeless and were seeking assistance. This family of nine have moved in with their relatives. They share a home with three other families\u201417 people living in one house\u2014because the father, who is earning a low income, can no longer afford to pay the rent. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000645\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022\u003EThe average rent for a three-bedroom house right now in \u014Ctara\u2014which, according to New Zealand\u2019s deprivation index, is one of the poorest, most vulnerable communities in New Zealand\u2014is $460 per week. Spending an average of $460 a week on rent is a lot of money, especially when you take into account the fact that these are some of the poorest, most vulnerable in our society. The median household income in \u014Ctara right now is $48,500. The median household income for families in \u014Ct\u0101huhu is $46,200. The struggles for so many families whom I see in my office in \u014Ctara are very, very real. The family of nine whom I saw, who reached out to me for assistance because they are homeless, has gone through the Work and Income assessment process. I am glad to report that they are able to qualify to be housed in a Housing New Zealand State house. However, our office has been informed that State houses in our electorate of \u014Ctara are 98 percent occupied, so who knows how long this family will have to wait\u2014and wait\u2014before they are eventually housed. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000646\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022\u003EMeanwhile, Ministers English and Bennett are about to flog off the thousands of State houses that we currently have. How about housing the vulnerable families that we already have on the book? How about housing the thousands who already qualify to be housed by Housing New Zealand\u2014the thousands who have been waiting for months and months, and some of them for over a year, just to have a roof over their heads? It will be great when this Government, through its actions, actually shows that it cares equally for all families in all of Aotearoa New Zealand, instead of just saying that it does care, and instead of just saying that it is a compassionate Government. Actions speak louder than words. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000647\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022\u003ESocial housing plays a significant part in supporting the communities in my electorate. At the last census count, a third of Manukau East\u2019s rental properties and two-thirds in \u014Ctara actually belonged to Housing New Zealand. In terms of numbers, that is 2,128 State houses in \u014Ctara, and in total in Manukau East it is 3,761 State houses across our electorate. There is a shortage of social housing, and the numbers are indeed at an all-time high. Across all of New Zealand, over 5,000 families are on the waiting list for a social housing State house. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000648\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022\u003EI urge this House to reject this bill. I urge the Government to give up selling our State houses\u2014our assets\u2014and, instead, to actually house our most vulnerable families. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00225634618f-04f4-4f2c-a4bb-6ec0edeb2bf5\u0022 data-id=\u00227ac22cbdf3ba4f318bc64c6c13ccabbf\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000649\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225634618f-04f4-4f2c-a4bb-6ec0edeb2bf5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00227ac22cbdf3ba4f318bc64c6c13ccabbf\u0022\u003EJONO NAYLOR (National):\u003C/span\u003E I feel this evening as though I am trapped inside a children\u2019s storybook. From what I have heard from the other side of the House, it feels like the story of Chicken Licken\u2014\u201CThe sky is falling, the sky is falling.\u201D It is doom, it is gloom, and nothing good can possibly ever happen. All we are hearing about are the negative things that perhaps might be going to happen as a result of this bill. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000650\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225634618f-04f4-4f2c-a4bb-6ec0edeb2bf5\u0022\u003EI think it is really important that we do put this bill in the context of what it is that this Government is trying to achieve for the vulnerable people of New Zealand. I guess the first point is that the provision of social housing in New Zealand is going to continue. It is something that this Government is committed to having happen. We are looking at some different ways that we can perhaps deliver social housing in New Zealand, and I think that is a good thing. We continue to be committed to ensuring that the people who need it the most will still be getting the assistance they need through social housing. That is fundamental in any society that is caring and from a Government that has any level of benevolence. This Government is no different in that regard. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000651\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225634618f-04f4-4f2c-a4bb-6ec0edeb2bf5\u0022\u003EThe question I guess we need to ask ourselves fundamentally, when we are looking at anything to do with social housing, is whether the Government should be in the business of ensuring that those people who are unable to house themselves are housed. The answer to that question, unreservedly, is that, yes, we should\u2014absolutely we should. It is absolutely the business of Government to ensure that when people are unable to house themselves or when, perhaps, they are not able to afford to do that, the Government provides subsidies on occasion, perhaps the Government can provide housing, or the Government perhaps empowers other organisations to provide housing. This Government continues to be committed to the idea that the Government should be in the business of providing social housing. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000652\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225634618f-04f4-4f2c-a4bb-6ec0edeb2bf5\u0022\u003EDoes this mean, however, that we need to stick to the same mode of delivery that we have always used? The answer to that is no, not necessarily. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000653\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225634618f-04f4-4f2c-a4bb-6ec0edeb2bf5\u0022\u003EIn the 1930s Mr Savage was the Prime Minister and he kind of initiated this idea of State housing in New Zealand. In Palmerston North we have got Savage Crescent, which is now a heritage site because it has got some of the first State houses that were constructed in New Zealand. Is it appropriate that they remain there as a heritage site? Yes, it is. It is really important because it is an important part of New Zealand\u2019s history. It is an important part of a good idea at the time that delivered a really great outcome for the people of New Zealand. But if I was listening to the members on the other side of the House this evening, I would think that innovation stopped in the 1930s\u2014that when Mr Savage, as Prime Minister, and his Government brought up the idea of State housing, it was the last good idea that anybody could possibly ever have about the provision of State housing in New Zealand, and that, therefore, we must not tinker, we must not meddle, and we must not do anything that could possibly be different from what is happening. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000654\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225634618f-04f4-4f2c-a4bb-6ec0edeb2bf5\u0022\u003EWell, I am not prepared to just settle on what has been done in the past. I am aspirational for the people of New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000655\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022225758bbfcd94121acc46cfa6cbe93fc\u0022\u003EChris Bishop\u003C/span\u003E: Ambitious.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000656\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225634618f-04f4-4f2c-a4bb-6ec0edeb2bf5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221174a7a5868940efab637e238de464a4\u0022\u003EJONO NAYLOR\u003C/span\u003E: I am ambitious, even, for the people of New Zealand because I do not want them to simply have just what was always provided before. I think that the people of New Zealand deserve better than to have us simply resting on what was done close to 100 years ago. I think they deserve to have us thinking about creative ways in which we can deliver an even better service to them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000657\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225634618f-04f4-4f2c-a4bb-6ec0edeb2bf5\u0022\u003EWe are going down the path of innovation. This Government is absolutely committed to looking at innovative new ways to help people in the area of housing. I will touch on the bill a little bit more, but again I just want to get the context right. Remember that this Government is also looking to help more people get into their first home. We have introduced the HomeStart package, which is helping young people to be able to cash in on their KiwiSaver account to be able to get greater grants from the Government to enable them to get into their first home. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that we reverse the trend of people finding it harder to get into their own home. We are committed to ensuring that people will be able to get into their first home and we are looking forward to seeing what is going to be happening. We have been doing roadshows on the HomeStart package around the country. The level of interest from mortgage brokers and young people who can finally see an opportunity to get into their first house\u2014they are absolutely getting into it. They are loving the idea. We are going to see some great things happening from that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000658\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225634618f-04f4-4f2c-a4bb-6ec0edeb2bf5\u0022\u003EFor those people on lower incomes who have been either renting properties or are living in their own home, we have done a whole heap of work over the last few years on warming up those homes. We believe that people should live in healthy homes, live in warm homes. The Warm Up New Zealand: Healthy Homes campaign has been a fantastic success, which has seen so many people now living in homes that are warmer and drier, and they are living better. But we have got to keep going because this Government is not going to just sit there and say: \u201CWell, that\u2019s last good idea that we\u2019ve had\u2014HomeStart and warming up homes.\u201D Unlike members opposite, who want to rest on a 1930s decision and stay there, we are going to keep going. We are going to keep doing more to deliver better outcomes for New Zealanders. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000659\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225634618f-04f4-4f2c-a4bb-6ec0edeb2bf5\u0022\u003EOne of the things that has received a bit of criticism, and I will not shy away from it, is the tenancy reviews that have been going on. Some of those reviews have been really, really interesting. What we have found is that there are a number of people who are currently living in State-owned houses who are actually paying either a full rent or nearly a full rent. I have to ask myself: what is the point in the Government owning houses that people live in and pay full rents for? Those are people who could be paying market rents, who perhaps could even be, potentially, buying their own homes, but they are staying in the house that the State provided for them, as was appropriate when they had the need, beyond the point when they have that need. So it is appropriate that those people move on from that point and that they move into other arrangements that they can afford, so that we can free up those houses for those people who most need them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000660\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225634618f-04f4-4f2c-a4bb-6ec0edeb2bf5\u0022\u003EIt has been really interesting. The moment that those tenancy reviews have been done with a number of people, the first thing they have said is: \u201COh, yes, I guess we could go and look somewhere else. Actually, perhaps we could think about buying.\u201D I think that is a really positive outcome for those people to get out from underneath the feet of the Government and start to take control of their own lives and get involved in that way. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000661\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225634618f-04f4-4f2c-a4bb-6ec0edeb2bf5\u0022\u003EI think it is really important, again, that we continue to work down this path. It was really interesting, and I have told this story before, but I hope if people have heard it they will not mind hearing it again. Last year I spoke to a woman who was living in a four-bedroom State house. It had been really good for her when her children were young. They had grown up and they had moved on. This woman said to me: \u201CBut don\u2019t worry, Jono, those rooms aren\u2019t going to waste because I\u2019ve got international students living in there. I\u2019ve got international students who are helping to supplement my income.\u201D On one level I was kind of thinking that that was very good, innovative, entrepreneurial thinking on her part, but, that said, I also thought that what she was doing was stopping some people who perhaps needed that kind of housing. So we are looking at what we are doing with our portfolio. We want to make sure that our portfolio delivers the right kind of housing to the people who need it most, rather than just presuming that the stock of houses that was built in the 1930s for families of the 1930s will meet the need of today. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000662\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225634618f-04f4-4f2c-a4bb-6ec0edeb2bf5\u0022\u003EI just want to come back, finally, to this point about innovation. Currently we have got over 60,000 New Zealand homes. What we are talking about here is some empowering legislation that will allow the relevant Ministers to sell\u2014or, actually, not just sell. It is interesting. People have been talking about selling, but if you read the explanatory note on the front of the bill\u2014I suggest members opposite do\u2014it states very clearly that \u201CContracts may be for the sale or lease of properties,\u201D. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000663\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225634618f-04f4-4f2c-a4bb-6ec0edeb2bf5\u0022\u003EThis is not just about sales; it is about having flexibility for us to be innovative. We have got over 60,000 State houses; we are talking about one or two thousand. That is about 2 or 3 percent of the current housing stock that we are debating tonight. We are not talking about a radical overhaul. We are not talking about a mass sell-off. What we are talking about is giving the relevant Ministers the flexibility to be innovative with a very small proportion of our housing stock, so that we can have a look, we can see whether or not these things will deliver better results, and, if they do, perhaps we will do some more. But what we are going to keep doing is we are going to ensure that the people of New Zealand who most need our help get our help. Therefore, I commend this bill to the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022b398827c-6bf5-403e-90dc-ff03205302a5\u0022 data-id=\u0022d4018809de564e3691d5f469bdd2b0dd\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000664\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b398827c-6bf5-403e-90dc-ff03205302a5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d4018809de564e3691d5f469bdd2b0dd\u0022\u003ESu\u2019a WILLIAM SIO (Labour\u2014M\u0101ngere):\u003C/span\u003E Earlier tonight in the Legislative Council Chamber I joined with my Labour Party colleagues and other members of the Opposition to welcome representatives of families of the workers who have died in work-related accidents in the last 5 years, including those who died in the Pike River tragedy. I want to acknowledge them. One of the questions that a speaker raised there was that they were promised by this Government and by this Prime Minister that legislation would come into this House that would ensure protection for all workers, and they feel\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000665\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221d12a952d5164536a96b85e7f0f841ce\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: Order! That is not part of the debate.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000666\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b398827c-6bf5-403e-90dc-ff03205302a5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221374081e11464904b4884a6db71c74cf\u0022\u003ESu\u2019a WILLIAM SIO\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014that that promise has not been kept. I raise that, Mr Assistant Speaker, because that is the question that New Zealanders need to ask of Government members when they listen to their speeches on this particular bill, and the promises that they are making that this bill will enable more social community providers to provide more social housing. What they are promising New Zealanders is that under this bill, by selling off State houses, more social housing is to be provided to New Zealanders. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000667\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b398827c-6bf5-403e-90dc-ff03205302a5\u0022\u003EWe have heard tonight that the Minister for Social Housing made that promise by saying that this bill gives her and another Minister exclusive powers to sell thousands of houses in the current housing stock to the private sector. Those members say \u201Ccommunity housing providers\u201D, but we know that that is not what is intended. They are not being straight with New Zealanders. When they use the words \u201Ccommunity housing providers\u201D we think it is going to be the Salvation Army, but that is not true. We think it is going to be the Methodist Mission, but that is not true. What is true is that they have been talking to property investors\u2014property investors not only in New Zealand but also in Australia. So when they say \u201Ccommunity housing providers\u201D, it is the property investors whom they intend to sell these houses to. So I ask New Zealanders, as they listen to this, to remember the promise that was given to the Pike River families, and to ask themselves whether they can trust this Government in making the similar promises that it now makes to New Zealanders in regard to the provision of social housing. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000668\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b398827c-6bf5-403e-90dc-ff03205302a5\u0022\u003EThe regulatory impact statement on this bill will give listeners a bit of an idea of the incompetency of this Government. It says: \u201CThe proposals have been prepared in a short timeframe \u2026 they have been prepared without precise information about the form of the transfers transactions and HNZC\u2019s future role in the social housing market \u2026\u201D. The future of the social housing market under this Government\u2019s legislation is that it is going to destroy Housing New Zealand as we know it. It is destroying a tradition that has existed since 1905, when from thence forward the Government of the time and subsequent Governments agreed that there was a right for every new citizen of this country to be housed. It was a basic, fundamental right. That right is enshrined in international covenants. Subsequent Governments have upheld that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000669\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b398827c-6bf5-403e-90dc-ff03205302a5\u0022\u003EIn 1970 we continued, under the Labour Government, the provision of social housing because of that belief that it was a basic and fundamental right that every New Zealander should be housed in a house that was affordable, in a house that was warm, and in a house that was safe for families. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000670\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b398827c-6bf5-403e-90dc-ff03205302a5\u0022\u003EWhat does a conservative Government that has existed\u2014what has been its attitude towards the provisions of social housing? As far as we go back, every time there has been a conservative Government that has come into power, it is its belief that it should sell off State housing. It is its belief that the private sector should rule. The same thing happened also in the 1990s, when the former National Government did the same. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000671\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b398827c-6bf5-403e-90dc-ff03205302a5\u0022\u003EBut this Government now is going to go further. So what is it going to do? It will give Ministers Bennett and English the exclusive power to sell off State houses. Who will they sell them to? Here is what the Government says: it is part of its social reform strategy. If you look at the first point that the Government makes, it establishes \u201Cthe Ministry of Social Development (MSD) as the single purchaser of social housing \u2026\u201D. What does that mean? No longer will you have Housing New Zealand providing social housing. In the second point it says \u201Cgrowing Community Housing Providers (CHPs) through MSD\u2019s contracting and transfers of Housing New Zealand Corporation (HNZC) stock;\u201D. What does that mean? It is going to sell off the housing stock to property investors. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000672\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b398827c-6bf5-403e-90dc-ff03205302a5\u0022\u003EAnother point is \u201Cmaking Income Related Rent Subsidies (IRRS) available to non-government CHPs to help those providers to grow;\u201D. What does that mean? It is going to subsidise landlords and property investors to provide this particular service. The final part that it says this legislation provides is \u201Chousing more families by making better use of HNZC land,\u201D. What does that mean? It is selling off land that is currently owned by Housing New Zealand into the private sector. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000673\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b398827c-6bf5-403e-90dc-ff03205302a5\u0022\u003EBut this is what the disclosure statement, prepared by Treasury, says\u2014that this legislation is unprecedented. These are new powers\u2014new powers\u2014that it is giving its Ministers, because not only are the Ministers not accountable to Housing New Zealand or the board but they are accountable to only themselves. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000674\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b398827c-6bf5-403e-90dc-ff03205302a5\u0022\u003EWhere does the money go from selling the stock and from selling the land that belongs to Housing New Zealand? It does not go back to the Housing New Zealand board; it goes into the Crown entity\u2019s bank account. What does it get used for? Certainly, it does not indicate anything about the provision of more social housing.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000675\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b398827c-6bf5-403e-90dc-ff03205302a5\u0022\u003EThe Government has not been straight with New Zealanders when it introduced this legislation. That is why I said that the promise that it made to the Pike River families is a similar promise to the one that it is making today to New Zealanders. People need to be asking themselves whether they can trust this Government to keep its word. I say no. I say, if you base it on its track record so far, there is no way that selling off State houses will ensure that there is greater provision of social housing to those in need. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000676\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b398827c-6bf5-403e-90dc-ff03205302a5\u0022\u003EOne of the Government members at least acknowledged that there is a role for the State in the provision of this. But once a State house, with a tenant, is sold to the private sector, do we imagine that the landlord is going to fix up the heater when it breaks down? Do we imagine that the landlord is going to replace the carpet if it is ruined? Do we imagine that the landlord is going to keep that house warm so that the children living there are free from any sicknesses and illnesses? If we go by the track record of most landlords, that is not going to happen\u2014based on the complaints that our offices receive. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000677\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b398827c-6bf5-403e-90dc-ff03205302a5\u0022\u003EThe other day I was in the electorate of Botany. I took Andrew Little there, and we visited the Salvation Army in Howick. I imagine that when we talk about Howick\u2014it is an affluent part of our society in Manukau. But this is what the Salvation Army said to us: of all the issues that it is now facing in a wealthy part of South Auckland, in Howick, housing is No. 2 after the loneliness of that generally older population. It is now seeing more and more people being in housing situations where they are renting a garage, which does not have insulation and does not have any warmth. It also said that it is surprised by the number of people who are now in homeless situations and the Salvation Army is having to find homes for them. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000678\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b398827c-6bf5-403e-90dc-ff03205302a5\u0022\u003EThat is the kind of condition that this Government has established for New Zealand in the last 7 years. It will continue along that pathway, based on this legislation. Yes, Government members can say all they want about helping the poor, but this piece of legislation does not do that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000679\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b398827c-6bf5-403e-90dc-ff03205302a5\u0022\u003EI want to finally finish off. Most of us would have campaigned and walked around and at one time or another would have stood on dog tae tae. If you imagine standing on that, we have often had the experience of trying to clean it off. It does not go away\u2014it stays. I would say that when this Government passes this piece of legislation, New Zealanders will for ever remember it is this Government that is selling off Housing New Zealand homes, and the stench is going to stick with it for ever. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000680\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b398827c-6bf5-403e-90dc-ff03205302a5\u0022\u003EI want to finally say\u2014farmers will appreciate this. Farmers have a saying \u201CIt does not matter how much perfume you pour on pig shit, it still stinks\u201D. That is why, despite Government members\u2019 flowery words, this piece of legislation will hurt ordinary New Zealanders.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002258eae615-ef83-4df5-bace-6749bdd312a8\u0022 data-id=\u00222c4f3de6dcba491fa8fd806b5ac39bf2\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000681\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258eae615-ef83-4df5-bace-6749bdd312a8\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00222c4f3de6dcba491fa8fd806b5ac39bf2\u0022\u003EDr PARMJEET PARMAR (National):\u003C/span\u003E Thank you for the opportunity to speak on the Social Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill in its first reading. It is a pleasure to take this call in support of this bill. The social housing reforms are important and they are well on track. Our social housing reforms are about recognising and understanding families in need. Our focus is on making sure that people who need social housing get that at the right time, and also for the right amount of time. People have different kinds of needs. Some people need long-term State housing, while others are able to move on to private rentals as their circumstances change. So this is about privatising social housing for people in the greatest need and also providing opportunity for people who can move on to private rentals.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000682\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258eae615-ef83-4df5-bace-6749bdd312a8\u0022\u003EThis Government is keen to work with different organisations to encourage community housing, and that is what this bill is about. This bill is to support the Social Housing Reform Programme by amending the Housing Corporation Act 1974 to provide designated Ministers with the authority to transfer Housing New Zealand Corporation properties. Ministers will be able to do that by getting into contracts in the name of Housing New Zealand. This bill will also help Ministers to make sure that Housing New Zealand looks after tenants in those properties that are being transferred. So those tenants are the focus of this bill. The Social Housing Reform Programme is to provide more social houses through Housing New Zealand and also through community housing providers. This involves the transfer of houses from Housing New Zealand to community housing providers. The initial proposal is to transfer 1,000 to 2,000 houses from Housing New Zealand to community housing providers.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000683\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258eae615-ef83-4df5-bace-6749bdd312a8\u0022\u003EThis National Government cares about people. We care about families. This National Government is committed to looking after people\u2014those who need social housing. This National Government is committed to providing income-related rental subsidies for more households. Currently there are 62,000 households around New Zealand receiving taxpayer-supported, income-related rental subsidies. This National Government has committed to increasing that by 3,000 households by 2017-18.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000684\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258eae615-ef83-4df5-bace-6749bdd312a8\u0022\u003EWe need these reforms; that is why we need this bill. It is important because there are around 3,600 people assessed as having a high need. They are on the waiting list of the social housing register\u2014yes, 3,600 people are on the waiting list. There are around 1,300 Housing New Zealand tenants who have applied for a transfer. This is a very challenging situation because one-third of the $18.7 billion Housing New Zealand portfolio is in the wrong place or is of the wrong type. For example, 30 percent of people on the waiting list want to get into a one-bedroom house. But if we look at our stock, only 9 percent of the houses that we have are one-bedroom houses. Also, people\u2019s needs change with time and their needs are not just about housing itself, so it is important to look at other kinds of arrangements.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000685\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258eae615-ef83-4df5-bace-6749bdd312a8\u0022\u003EThis Government has already taken a number of steps to improve the supply of social housing. If you go back to 2010, after a report from the Housing Shareholders\u2019 Advisory Group, the Government\u2019s programme has so far included setting up the Social Housing Unit in 2011. This was recommended by that advisory group, and this was to help grow a community housing sector and, also, then changing the law in 2013 was to open social housing to approved non-Government providers so that they could receive the same subsidies as Housing New Zealand. During the 2014 election campaign the Prime Minister confirmed that we will be moving away from Housing New Zealand\u2019s monopoly to a range of social housing providers.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000686\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258eae615-ef83-4df5-bace-6749bdd312a8\u0022\u003EOur goal is to have a strong social housing system that people can access and that provides for people\u2019s needs. We want to make sure that people are able to get into social housing when they need to. We also want to make sure that those houses are of the right size, that they are of the right configuration, that they are of good quality, and that they are in the right kind of area. The Government will continue to be the largest owner of social houses, and it will further increase subsidies for New Zealanders in housing need. Over the next few years the Government wants to see that Housing New Zealand and community housing providers collectively are able to provide more social houses than we have now. As I said, Housing New Zealand will continue to be by far the largest owner of subsidised houses, and we will ensure that in 2017 it provides at least 60,000 properties, which is down from 68,000. This is taking into consideration various community housing providers coming on board.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000687\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258eae615-ef83-4df5-bace-6749bdd312a8\u0022\u003EI heard the previous speaker, Su\u2019a William Sio, and, just to clarify, tenants in properties that will be sold will continue to stay in those properties. They will stay in those properties for the duration of their need. The Government will spend more on income-related rent subsidies and ensure that Housing New Zealand has enough capital to redevelop and look after those properties. This bill is not about selling State houses\u2014just to explain to the Opposition. Yes, it is not about selling State houses. It is about better meeting the needs of tenants by supporting the growth of the community housing sector and ensuring that there are more social houses available for people who need them. As I said before, the Government will be providing income-related rental subsidies for another 3,000 houses by 2017-18, taking that number from 62,000 houses to 65,000. The Government is committed to both supporting a stronger community housing sector and also investing significantly in Housing New Zealand properties, and to providing $1.9 billion per year in accommodation support.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000688\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258eae615-ef83-4df5-bace-6749bdd312a8\u0022\u003EOur focus is on families, not on the number of houses owned by the Government. We know that tenants\u2019 needs can be better met through innovation, through diversity, and through providing choice, and that is why we need to involve community housing providers. Community housing providers can provide a wraparound support to those people who need social services, so that they do not have to go to multiple agencies and explain their circumstances. So it makes it really easy for people.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000689\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258eae615-ef83-4df5-bace-6749bdd312a8\u0022\u003EI also heard Su\u2019a William Sio, the member speaking before me, saying that these houses will be sold in Australia. These houses will be sold to organisations that are willing to register with us as community housing providers, which means that they will have to meet some strict standards. There are standards that they will have to meet, and only then can they buy these houses. So there are strict criteria for them to buy these houses. Properties sold as social houses will continue to remain as social houses, unless the Government agrees otherwise. In most cases, when these houses are transferred there will be tenants in them. They will be looked after. So this bill is about making sure that Housing New Zealand looks after those people during that transfer process, and if there is any redevelopment of those houses, it will make sure that those people are provided with proper accommodation as per their needs.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000690\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002258eae615-ef83-4df5-bace-6749bdd312a8\u0022\u003EPeople have complex needs, and to provide for those complex needs the Government needs to work with different parties\u2014non-government organisations and community-based organisations\u2014and that is what we are doing. So I support this bill and commend it to the House. Thank you.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca id=\u002249f8513fd2554d7e8b9c8816ac20e75f\u0022 name=\u0022division\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EA party vote was called for on the question, That the Social Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill be now read a first time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EAyes 63\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand National 59; M\u0101ori Party 2; ACT New Zealand 1; United Future 1.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENoes 58\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003ENew Zealand Labour 32; Green Party 14; New Zealand First 12.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp class=\u0022HpsDivision\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsItem\u0022\u003EBill read a first time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000691\u0022\u003EBill referred to the Social Services Committee.\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022\u003EBills\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000692\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002228e2081e6c7f4a51a32424d709f8c390\u0022\u003EHealth Practitioners (Replacement of Statutory References to Medical Practitioners) Bill\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000693\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubproceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00221c55b51973564edcb3130131c6459673\u0022\u003EFirst Reading\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000694\u0022\u003EDebate resumed from 23 July.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00224a25943b-cb3b-49c3-bd10-74316fae17f1\u0022 data-id=\u00222edf1b523b1c4901a876d720df9277a0\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000695\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a25943b-cb3b-49c3-bd10-74316fae17f1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00222edf1b523b1c4901a876d720df9277a0\u0022\u003EJACQUI DEAN (National\u2014Waitaki):\u003C/span\u003E The Health Practitioners (Replacement of Statutory References to Medical Practitioners) Bill, I am assuming, enjoys wide support through the House. On the face of it, it looks like a pretty sensible bill. As I have been reading the bill for the first time this evening, it seems, on the face of it, relatively, in concept, quite straightforward. What this omnibus bill does do to a number of statutes is to bring legislation into line with current practice. Once again it is another statute that is being brought to the House that is modernising legislation to make it fit for modern times, and so it is with this bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000696\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a25943b-cb3b-49c3-bd10-74316fae17f1\u0022\u003EMedical practitioners, or medically trained practitioners including general practitioners, have for many years been the medical personnel who have had statutory duties under a number of pieces of legislation. Of course, current practice has changed now. For example, we have a much higher level of competency and training in a number of other health professionals\u2014nurses, in particular, and other health practitioners as well.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000697\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a25943b-cb3b-49c3-bd10-74316fae17f1\u0022\u003EAs I often do, I will refer back to my large rural constituency, where health services are delivered increasingly away from the base hospital and towards where the local population lives. That is a laudable move by this Government, and it is working particularly well for the people who live in my communities. We are getting health services closer to where people need them.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000698\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a25943b-cb3b-49c3-bd10-74316fae17f1\u0022\u003EAnother component of the delivery of those health services is to allow those highly trained health practitioners to now deliver some of those roles that have been the province so far of medical practitioners. So if I can simplify the omnibus bill right down, in many instances the changes in this bill proposed for the statutes to which it refers are to change references from \u201Cmedical practitioner\u201D to \u201Chealth practitioner\u201D. \u201CHealth practitioner\u201D is not just a term thought up by some officials in the Ministry of Health. Health practitioners are required to have competencies and knowledge, as you would expect, and the ability to perform a number of tasks.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000699\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a25943b-cb3b-49c3-bd10-74316fae17f1\u0022\u003EI am just going to go through some of the statutes that are covered in this bill. There are a number of them, of course, as this is an omnibus bill. It is interesting for those of us who are in this business that an omnibus bill may be introduced to the House if the amendments to be effected to each Act are of a similar nature. Of course, in this case, this bill, as it is applied to those statutes, recognises the increasing skill levels of health practitioners. I will refer to the Accident Compensation Act. What the amendment to that Act will do is make reference to a health practitioner rather than a medical practitioner, in clause 7 of schedule 1. What that means, if you go to schedule 1, is that a health practitioner leading the coordination of treatment or rehabilitation of the claimant for ACC must now be given the opportunity to participate in the preparation of the individual\u2019s rehabilitation plan. Again, that is using, wisely, the enhanced skills of health practitioners.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000700\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a25943b-cb3b-49c3-bd10-74316fae17f1\u0022\u003EUnder the Burial and Cremation Act, which is an older Act of Parliament\u2014from 1964 and probably due for renewal\u2014a \u201Cdoctor\u2019s certificate\u201D, which is required by that Act, is going to be renamed a \u201Ccertificate of cause of death\u201D. References to \u201Cdoctor\u201D in that piece of legislation will be replaced by references to \u201Cmedical practitioner\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000701\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a25943b-cb3b-49c3-bd10-74316fae17f1\u0022\u003EAnd so it is with the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act. This one is our very important Act for vulnerable children, in particular, in the New Zealand legislative system. So in that legislation there is an equivalent duty to minimise distress to children and young persons when carrying out medical examinations, and that duty goes on to health practitioners so that it is in line with the duty of medical practitioners who do the same thing. So the benefits there\u2014and I am looking forward to the select committee consideration of this bill\u2014are that the focus under this Government goes on, yet again, to what is good for children. A health practitioner who may have an existing relationship with the child under care now has the ability to undertake procedures and medical examinations, rather than it just being confined to those of the health practitioner.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000702\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a25943b-cb3b-49c3-bd10-74316fae17f1\u0022\u003EThe bill also amends the Holidays Act, the Land Transport Act\u2014and I am not going to go into each piece of legislation. There are other members who, I know, are very keen to speak to those particular Acts. I know that my colleague Scott Simpson is particularly keen to focus on the Holidays Act and the Land Transport Act in his initial contribution, so I am going to leave those up to him.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000703\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224a25943b-cb3b-49c3-bd10-74316fae17f1\u0022\u003EI just want to finish my contribution with a couple of comments on our health workforce because, of course, this omnibus bill, once it is passed, will have a large impact on health professionals in New Zealand. I will just note that it is this Government that is investing in the training of health professionals, which is why it is appropriate for us to be able to make these changes in the way health services are delivered to New Zealand. Although this is a simple bill on the surface, it has wide-reaching implications, and I commend it to the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022 data-id=\u0022b8999f761ff1446f8c8f71a28d76a055\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000704\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022b8999f761ff1446f8c8f71a28d76a055\u0022\u003EJENNY SALESA (Labour\u2014Manukau East):\u003C/span\u003E Labour supports the Health Practitioners (Replacement of Statutory References to Medical Practitioners) Bill. This Government has been going on about increasing the focus on primary and community - based care and improving and implementing new models of care to ensure the sustainability of Vote Health, part of which involves nursing and ensuring that health care workers carry out a wider range of functions. And yet it has taken 7 years to get this bill on to the Order Paper\u20147 years. This delay has been frustrating for the nursing profession, which has been promised more support for increasing its scope of work in legislation for many years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000705\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022\u003ELabour supports this bill, but I wonder why it has taken the Government so long to get cracking on this legislation, which is needed to enable nurses and other health practitioners to contribute fully within our health system. The Government has been told for years that it needs to remove the barriers to innovative practice by removing legislative references to medical practitioners, when certain health professionals like nurses are perfectly capable of undertaking this work. The National Nursing Organisation body has reported that nurses have long been frustrated by the models of care in primary health care and that they do not make the best use of their knowledge and skills as well as they should.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000706\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022\u003ETreasury and the Ministry of Health have both urged the Government to speed up this bill and to remove the barriers to extending nurses\u2019 roles within the current health workforce. There has been a constant chorus from the Government about an increased focus on primary and community - based care, and I am really pleased that this bill is actually being read for the first time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000707\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022\u003ECan I just acknowledge that 13 years ago the first piece of nurse practitioners legislation was introduced to this House in 2002 by none other than the Minister of Health at that time, the Hon Annette King. The first prescribing rights for nurse practitioners were announced 10 years ago, in 2005, again by the Hon Annette King. Now here we are, 5 years further on, finally looking at a partial response by the Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000708\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d14b1afe-2069-41e4-96fa-c8dc81a991a4\u0022\u003EThe Hon Annette King has continued her visionary work in this area, and has had a Nurse Practitioners Bill in the members\u2019 ballot since last December. That bill would amend a total of 21 pieces of legislation that would have provided for nurse practitioners to perform an even wider range of tasks, to take the pressure off our doctors for the benefit of all of us here in New Zealand. The Government should have stopped its dilly-dallying in this area and simply adopted the Hon Annette King\u2019s bill in 2002. It would have been law by now. Labour supports this bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022 data-id=\u00226a60403af43243eba6a5619f10f0770b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000709\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226a60403af43243eba6a5619f10f0770b\u0022\u003ESCOTT SIMPSON (National\u2014Coromandel):\u003C/span\u003E I am delighted to take a call in this first reading of the Health Practitioners (Replacement of Statutory References to Medical Practitioners) Bill in the name of the very good and competent Minister of Health, Dr Jonathan Coleman.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000710\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EThe previous member, Jenny Salesa, was obviously receiving some kind of incentive or reward for mentioning a former health Minister in the last Labour administration, Annette King, because I suspect that probably every mention received a chocolate fish, or something along those lines. I counted about five or six mentions. Of course, some of us have been involved in the political system long enough to remember that when that member was the Minister of Health we had people lined up in corridors under fluorescent tubes for days on end at North Shore Hospital, waiting to get a place in a hospital. It was a shocking and dreadful shambles. So this Government has been busy reforming health, making health more efficient, and getting it so that, for instance, New Zealanders no longer have to travel overseas to receive cancer treatment, as they did during the time of the Hon Annette King\u2019s administration. This bill, particularly, is of importance because it is reflective of the changes that have been occurring for a long number of years in our medical and health systems.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000711\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EMy late mother was a registered nurse. She practised her nursing at Waikato Hospital. I well recall the many stories that she used to tell of how, in those days, the most important things that nurses seemed to do was to starch linen and make beds and do everything that was ordered, literally, by the doctors, who were like gods, if you like, in our medical system. The nurses did the menial tasks, and the doctors and the senior medical physicians really did sort of administer a regime that was strict and controlled. Their judgment was never questioned\u2014their judgment was always the be-all and end-all of any medical intervention. Things have changed a lot since the days that my mother was practising nursing at Waikato Hospital.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000712\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022859e13f9-33bb-41bb-b2f0-d848eaf25407\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bad1ae137d4b499bad7faf151f58173b\u0022\u003EAndrew Bayly\u003C/span\u003E: And for the better.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000713\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223dea40e55c9f482bbeeb28c435426762\u0022\u003ESCOTT SIMPSON\u003C/span\u003E: And, indeed, as my friend and colleague Andrew Bayly says, for the better. And much for the better, because these days there are so many aspects of our health interventions and procedures that can be done by very competent, skilled, and well-trained people in the medical profession who, actually, are not general practitioners or doctors, as such, but they do have the registration and the current education and training to ensure that they can provide all sorts of services and support for people needing that from our health system.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000714\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EThis bill, I want to make very clear, as I understand it, makes absolutely no increased risk of harm to the New Zealand public, with the scope of practice being set in every instance that this bill envisages by the relevant responsible authority, and the professional accountability of each practitioner to be responsible for their actions and their deeds. So although we are moving forward in this area, there will be no lowering of standards or lack of protection for members of the public.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000715\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EIt is an omnibus bill and it, effectively, amends seven statutes, which enables a wider range of suitably qualified health practitioners, as defined under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, to undertake a wider range of functions than they are currently able to do and that are currently restricted to medical practitioners.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000716\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EThis Government has spent a lot of time in its 7 years of Government in ensuring that our health dollars go further and that we get better results, because under the last Labour administration we had a doubling of health spending but a reduction in actual results for New Zealanders, and that, of course, needed to change and it needed to change in a significant way. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000717\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EI am very proud to be part of a Government that has worked diligently both during the time of the Hon Tony Ryall\u2014during his administration as the Minister of Health\u2014and that is now being carried forward by Dr Jonathan Coleman in his areas of portfolio responsibility.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000718\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EThis is a Government that is completely committed to delivering much higher-quality services for all New Zealanders, no matter where they live. A previous speaker in this debate, my colleague Jacqui Dean, who, like me, represents a provincial rural electorate\u2014these are matters that are of concern to constituents in seats like the Coromandel, because often the bricks-and-mortar hospitals are actually quite a long way physically from where the patients are. So the increasing focus is upon ensuring that people can receive the benefits of health and medical advice and intervention in their own communities, or, indeed, in their own homes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000719\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EWhat this bill seeks to do is to provide a much greater role for community health providers like our nurses and our pharmacists. Nurses and pharmacists, of course, have an ability to operate neatly and easily within communities\u2014local communities\u2014often in places that are geographically isolated and some distance away from base hospitals. So by making these changes and by ensuring that we have a greater role for, for instance, pharmacists and nurses, there will be a better supply of health benefits to a wider range of people in our more far-flung rural and provincial communities. This is a Government that is just as concerned about supplying good public services to people in the provinces as it is to supplying them to the cities.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000720\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EThis National-led Government, of course, has put a very big emphasis on increasing the number of doctors and nurses within our health system, who are now able to be working within our broader communities. They are working hard to ensure that better services are provided to a much wider range of people. We have now over 3,000 enrolled nurses registered to practise across all areas of our health sector. There are 3,000 enrolled nurses\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000721\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002257e41e9d-285b-4fb3-847d-a63820ae7137\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d0c8bb54a5ee4f66892ed0cf579766de\u0022\u003EChris Bishop\u003C/span\u003E: How many?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000722\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002239f1c9b7127e481ca6bc6a80447ad5a2\u0022\u003ESCOTT SIMPSON\u003C/span\u003E: 3,000, Mr Bishop, and that is a large number of capable, talented, professionally competent nurses who can do a whole range of things that have previously just been the protected preserve of the medical practitioners. We now have a total of more than 40,000 nurses. So the 3,000 enrolled nurses make up the total of 40,000 nurses working in New Zealand\u2019s health system and they, of course, perform a very vital role. So the changes under this legislation will allow this highly skilled workforce with the appropriate knowledge, training, and professional background to treat and look after patients within our communities, and I think that that is a very good step. It is something that has probably been in the wind for a long time, but we needed to make sure that it was the right time to introduce this legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000723\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EAs a member of the Health Committee, I am very much looking forward to a thorough and diligent investigation of this legislation. I know that committee members on the Government side will be doing that, and I hasten to add that the Health Committee is a very collegial committee. I know that with the support of Labour members, who have indicated that they are going to support this bill through the House, I think that we will ensure a very good select committee process, under the capable chairmanship of Simon O\u2019Connor.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EOne of the things that has been most obvious over the last few years is that in many other countries, health spending has been cut and services to health have been cut. That has not occurred in New Zealand. I am very proud to be part of a Government that has\u2014during the very toughest of economic times, when there has been enormous global financial pressure\u2014in every single one of its seven Budgets increased health spending and increased the effectiveness of services to New Zealanders who require the use of our health system.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000725\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002298dbeffa-e059-49d5-8bbf-579cbaead9a3\u0022\u003EThis appears to me to be a very good bill. I am looking forward to the scrutiny that the select committee will give it, and I commend it to the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022 data-id=\u0022e71ce09846e840edbe356057129fe9e6\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000726\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022e71ce09846e840edbe356057129fe9e6\u0022\u003EHon RUTH DYSON (Labour\u2014Port Hills):\u003C/span\u003E I noted the words of the member Scott Simpson, who has just resumed his seat, when he said that he was going to do a thorough, rigorous, and diligent perusal of this bill at the select committee, and I commend those wishes. I wish he had done half as much of that on his attack\u2014unfounded, ill considered, and factually wrong\u2014on the former Minister of Health, the Hon Annette King. That member should look up the facts before he starts attacking other members of this House, because what goes around comes around, and it will be his turn very, very soon.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000727\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EWhen we were elected to lead the Government in 1999, we had a total of 43 radiation therapists in New Zealand\u201443. Is that enough radiation therapists to service the needs of New Zealanders who have cancer? I will give you a clue. The answer is either yes or no, and it is not yes. The answer is no.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000728\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EWhat does a Government do if someone presents at a hospital or at a doctor\u2019s with cancer but there are no trained staff available to treat them? Should we send them home? Should we send them to the backblocks of Coromandel, where Mr Simpson comes from? Shall we send them home, or shall we pay for them to go to Australia\u2014where they will get their treatment\u2014until there are enough trained staff in New Zealand? So what is the answer\u2014what is the answer? Scott Simpson has not got a clue. He has just demonstrated that. There were 43 radiation therapists when his party left Government in 1999 and within 3 years that number had doubled\u2014[Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000729\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227a0380c2a24a462c8d1649d7115180f2\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: Order! Now I want the House to settle down. We do not have comments like that. Speaker\u2019s ruling 48/2 refers to that. We will not have that again.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000730\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cfb32933b75b4a18abdfcc4e6726a9dc\u0022\u003EHon RUTH DYSON\u003C/span\u003E: Thank you very much, Mr Assistant Speaker. This bill is another contribution to being able to ensure that we can provide health services to people who are in need of them. But before I get back to the specifics of the Health Practitioners (Replacement of Statutory References to Medical Practitioners) Bill\u2014that has got to win the award for the longest title of a bill so far this year\u2014and to support the legislation, can I add another warning to Mr Simpson. Just 9 or 10 months ago his Minister of Health received exactly the same warning about the shortage of trained staff able to treat New Zealanders with cancer as the previous National Government had received in the late 1990s, and he ignored it. The then Minister of Health, between 1996 and 1999, got the warnings in writing from the Ministry of Health, saying: \u201CYou will not have enough trained staff to treat cancer patients in New Zealand. There will be a crisis.\u201D That Minister of Health did nothing, and that is exactly what Tony Ryall and Jonathan Coleman have been doing in the last 2 years. There were exactly the same warnings, in writing, to the same Ministers, and they have been ignoring it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000731\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229b3d09616854487790aae4e98dd08425\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: What a load of rubbish.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000732\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209a5b71a-ca7e-4e7c-9e09-f9e63f18aa12\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220a128fcedbe84bf98125ada817ddae34\u0022\u003EHon Annette King\u003C/span\u003E: We will table it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000733\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002230e76f8adda14b61ad1e9402dc1f5c8d\u0022\u003EHon RUTH DYSON\u003C/span\u003E: We will certainly table it, Mr\u2014I cannot remember his name\u2014whatever.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000734\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EIt is not very usual with the current Government that Labour is able to support legislation. For example, earlier this evening we had a couple of hours of debate about how National is proposing to sell off our State housing stock. It tried it in the 1990s, and it is doing it again now. Those members have got all sorts of magical words that they are weaving around it, but in the end they are hocking off a significant asset, putting some of our most vulnerable individuals at risk\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000735\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221148a341ac8e4baaaf6f9d848c32d11d\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: Order! That is not part of this debate.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000736\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022105818bae3e348ad871da51dbf695f41\u0022\u003EHon RUTH DYSON\u003C/span\u003E: So we could not support that legislation, but we are able to support the bill that we are debating at the moment. It has taken an awfully long time\u20147 years\u2014to bring this bill to the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000737\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EI could give the Minister of Health and his predecessor some advice. They should have just looked in the members\u2019 ballot, because Annette King has already got a member\u2019s bill in the ballot that does considerably more than this. This amends only six or seven pieces of legislation. Annette King\u2019s member\u2019s bill, without the resources of the huge Ministry of Health, amends 21 pieces of law in exactly the same way as this health practitioners amendment bill does. In fact, there are 59 pieces of legislation that need amendment in this way, and we have managed to get only seven out of this current Government. They are good moves; we certainly support them. But why has it taken the Government so long, and why is it such a shonky little bill? It is not nearly robust enough\u2014seven legislative changes instead of what the Ministry of Health recommended, which was changes to 59 pieces of legislation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000738\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003ESo how does this issue come about, and why are we debating the bill? Well, the issue comes about because, years and years ago, the only people who had the training to enable them to do some jobs in the health system were doctors. They were the only people who got the training. Over the last few years, particularly since Annette King was the Minister of Health and we had the introduction of extended scopes of work and new titles\u2014for example, nurse practitioners\u2014we know that now nurse practitioners, as one of a few examples, are trained and are competent to deliver their scope of work, but they are not allowed to within the law. There are some things that they are trained and are competent and able to do, but the law forbids anyone but a medical practitioner from performing them. That is just because the statute never caught up with the practice, and that is what we are fixing today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000739\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EI hope that during the select committee process there will be some pressure put on the Ministry of Health, and, indeed, on the Minister, to get the rest of the legislative changes on to the floor of Parliament, because it is clear that all parties agree with these changes. I imagine\u2014I have not heard from Mr Seymour from ACT. It is fabulous to have your presence with us tonight, unusual though that is in the Chamber. But I am hoping that even Mr Seymour will be supporting this legislation. It is certainly sensible.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000740\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003ESo I do not know why we have not got all 59 needed legislative changes included in this bill. I do not know why, when there was a priority of 10 identified in the regulatory impact statement, that we ended up with only seven, and I certainly do not know why it has taken 7 long years to get to this state. I know that it does not assist with training the additional cancer specialists whom we are short of, but I do know that it will help relieve the huge\u2014and predicted to be increasing pressure\u2014that we have on our doctors. This will enable competent, qualified, trained \u201Cother\u201D health practitioners\u2014and they are described in this legislation as health practitioners, sensibly, in my view, to avoid future extensions of scope that might allow other than nurse practitioners the ability to perform these tasks.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000741\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EIt does not explain why we have not covered off all the necessary changes. But the ones we have got in this bill are changes to the Accident Compensation Act, which are primarily around a health practitioner having input into a rehabilitation plan, and to the Burial and Cremation Act, which will allow a qualified person other than a medical practitioner to certify that someone has actually died\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000742\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227e22bb95-9afb-449c-bcd2-de9fd4f2277c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228a43dc0add724bcdb22bbfa05db58c17\u0022\u003EDavid Seymour\u003C/span\u003E: You\u2019ve run out of steam.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000743\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022404a3ce1a12948c1b40904d7efcb74cc\u0022\u003EHon RUTH DYSON\u003C/span\u003E: \u2014and I hope that they do not take too close a look at the member who is interjecting.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000744\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003EThere are amendments to the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act for medical examinations of children and to the Holidays Act, so that a health practitioner can testify that someone is actually too unwell to be able to go to work\u2014they might be too busy on public business across the road to be able to go work, but you do not need a health practitioner to be able to do that. Also there are amendments to the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act\u2014changes to that, and changes to the Misuse of Drugs Act. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000745\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002275a05f96-2474-4c90-a6ea-cf7b5798e03e\u0022\u003ESo, as I said at the beginning, this is a bill that we strongly support. It is long overdue. It is short in terms of the breadth of legislative changes that are needed, which were recommended by the Ministry of Health and, without any explanation, were not presented to us. I look forward to its progress in the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022861a1798-a396-4a6c-b9e2-7d2f15d4a001\u0022 data-id=\u0022ce5cc6621f574c1c96e709e7ad36b1bf\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000746\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022861a1798-a396-4a6c-b9e2-7d2f15d4a001\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022ce5cc6621f574c1c96e709e7ad36b1bf\u0022\u003EDr SHANE RETI (National\u2014Whangarei):\u003C/span\u003E It is a pleasure to stand and speak positively and affirm this bill, the Health Practitioners (Replacement of Statutory References to Medical Practitioners) Bill. Fundamentally and substantively, this bill is administrative, renaming the term \u201Cmedical practitioner\u201D as \u201Chealth practitioner\u201D, thereby increasing the scope and the number of people who can be engaged. The purpose of this will be to increase efficiencies in the health system, and it will do so in several ways.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000747\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022861a1798-a396-4a6c-b9e2-7d2f15d4a001\u0022\u003EFirst of all, health practitioners will be able to deliver better end-to-end service, without having to do segments of care, then have a medical practitioner intervene, and they then complete their care onwards. So end-to-end care is better preserved.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000748\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022861a1798-a396-4a6c-b9e2-7d2f15d4a001\u0022\u003EIt also prevents skill dilution. When you have highly skilled practitioners who have to undertake sometimes labour-intensive, repetitive work, you get what is called skill dilution. They lose their career path and they lose interest. They move out of what they are doing. So a bill like this also prevents skill dilution.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000749\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022861a1798-a396-4a6c-b9e2-7d2f15d4a001\u0022\u003EMost important, what it also does is that it allows more clinical people to do more things. I think this is useful in resource-depleted areas, particularly. One of the things that this bill will do is amend the Accident Compensation Act 2001. This allows a health practitioner leading the case to be involved in individual rehabilitative plans. Many times that practitioner may actually be a physiotherapist, a podiatrist, or maybe even a chiropodist. The health practitioner is also able to prescribe various aids and appliances. So the theme here is that the health practitioner with the most knowledge is able to contribute, and I think that is the way that it should be.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000750\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022861a1798-a396-4a6c-b9e2-7d2f15d4a001\u0022\u003EThe Burial and Cremation Act 1964 is also amended. Particularly, it allows nurse practitioners to complete certificates of causes of death. This is a very important function. The certificate of cause of death is very important for epidemiological studies. It gives us some sense of trends of death and trends of disease over time. It is actually also very important for closure for patients. I have often found that when they have got their certificate of death in their hand they can look at it, and, in amongst their grief, that episode of sadness reaches some level of closure. New section 46B in clause 9 addresses this and talks about how a medical practitioner or a nurse practitioner can complete a death certificate.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000751\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022861a1798-a396-4a6c-b9e2-7d2f15d4a001\u0022\u003EIf I could just go over some of those clauses\u2014first of all, it applies to a person who dies of an illness, so if you succumb due to an accident, you go to a coroner\u2019s inquiry. It also says that the death has to be a natural consequence of illness, and the section also says that a health practitioner has to reasonably consult with any other health practitioners who have been involved in the last illness.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000752\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022861a1798-a396-4a6c-b9e2-7d2f15d4a001\u0022\u003EThere are some safety clauses in this section as well. A health practitioner or a nurse who attended the person may refuse to give a certificate of death if a previous practitioner cannot say: \u201CYes, I think this was due to illness.\u201D Another safety clause is that a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner must not give a certificate of cause of death unless they have taken into account previous medical records and the circumstances of the death and, of course, they have examined the person\u2019s body. The final safety clause in this section is that the certificate of cause of death must not be given if a death must be reported to the New Zealand Police or to a coroner. So I think there are a number of safety clauses there.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000753\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022861a1798-a396-4a6c-b9e2-7d2f15d4a001\u0022\u003EWhen you do a certificate of death, it is actually quite a time-consuming event. You need to coordinate with the funeral director to be at the funeral parlour. So you coordinate schedules, you go in, and the very first thing you need to do is to certify that the person is dead, of course. There are a number of ways clinically to do that. What you then do is you complete some documentation that asks whether this person had a notifiable disease or any sort of disease that the funeral home might need to know about or that the public needs to know about. You are then asked whether they had a pacemaker, because if they are going to be cremated you cannot do that because pacemakers explode under cremation. Then you actually do the certificate of cause of death. In my experience this takes probably 30 to 35 minutes, and sometimes three-quarters of an hour, and to have this done by an appropriately qualified person, I think, is a really good thing.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000754\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022861a1798-a396-4a6c-b9e2-7d2f15d4a001\u0022\u003ENew section 46B also specifically talks about nurse practitioners, and our colleagues across the House have talked about them today. These are, indeed, highly trained professionals, many of whom actually have prescribing rights as well. In fact, just on Friday, I tried to persuade the T\u0101mariki Ora nurse in Nelson to become a prescribing nurse practitioner with Te Piki Oranga, the service she was with, and we have tried to enlist nurse practitioners up into some of our resource-depleted areas in Northland. Nurse practitioners really do have a high scope of practice. They are registered with the Nursing Council in a registered scope of practice, they have had a minimum of 4 years of experience in specific areas of practice, they have actually completed a clinical Master\u2019s, and they have passed an assessment panel as well. When I looked at the Nursing Council website a few days ago, there were actually 116 nurse practitioners.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000755\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022861a1798-a396-4a6c-b9e2-7d2f15d4a001\u0022\u003EWe have just talked about the Burial and Cremation Act, and it strikes me that there are three registered nurse practitioners who might especially benefit from that Act. These are nurse practitioners with scopes of practice\u2014there are only three of them\u2014in palliative care. The three of them come from Auckland, Canterbury, and Southland. Auckland and Canterbury may well be well served by medical practitioners in other services who can complete certificates of cause of death, but I am pretty sure that Southland would be very pleased to have a nurse practitioner who can complete some of this documentation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000756\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022861a1798-a396-4a6c-b9e2-7d2f15d4a001\u0022\u003EThis bill also amends the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989. Health practitioners are able to prescribe and undertake medical examinations. The duties of care are also amended so that health practitioners are aligned with medical practitioners.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000757\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022861a1798-a396-4a6c-b9e2-7d2f15d4a001\u0022\u003EI am always sort of interested in what health policy we enable and how many people it might actually touch\u2014is it a few or is it many\u2014and I think it is actually the amendments to the Holidays Act 2003 where this legislation may actually touch the most New Zealanders. When we look at the efficiencies that this bill creates\u2014let us take your standard practice, and how we actually complete a sick note. The patient comes in, you then consult with them, and what most of us would generally do is then show the patient through to another room and the nurse completes the sick note. They then will be required to come back to you for you to sign it and then it is complete. Well, that could be 45 to 50 minutes for a patient\u2014that is a lot of time. What could happen here now with the work flow is that they could be seen and diagnosed by a nurse practitioner or an appropriate health practitioner. The sickness certificate could be done, and that could all be completed in 15 minutes. This is particularly so if the nurse has high skills in some of the more frequent things that we see sickness notes for, like a urinary tract infection, for example. This can often be point-of-source tested in the surgery. The patient does not need to see the doctor but can see an appropriately\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022 data-id=\u002214e68415a38e4d61b33ea86daf8c7d77\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000758\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002214e68415a38e4d61b33ea86daf8c7d77\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch)\u003C/span\u003E: I am sorry to interrupt the honourable member. The time has come for me to leave the Chair.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000759\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003EDebate interrupted.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id201508183cddbdabf5334aea97092d8eb09fba44000760\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003EThe House adjourned at 10 p.m.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n  \u003C/body\u003E\n\u003C/html\u003E"