Wednesday, 14 December 2016
Volume 719
Sitting date: 14 December 2016
WEDNESDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2016
WEDNESDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2016
Mr Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.
Prayers.
Motions
Syria—Aleppo Crisis
ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition): I seek to move a motion without notice or debate that the House express its deep concern with the situation in Aleppo and call on all parties to cease hostilities immediately.
Mr SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that course of action being followed? There is none.
ANDREW LITTLE: I move, That this House express deep concern with the situation in Aleppo and call on all parties to cease hostilities immediately to ensure the protection of civilians and prevent what is already a major humanitarian disaster from getting worse, and call on the United Nations Security Council to put aside political differences, demand an end to all attacks, and immediately move to provide assistance to the thousands of innocent Syrian people who are caught up in the fighting to stop the brutal and indiscriminate slaughter of civilians.
Motion agreed to.
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Leader of the House): I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I use the point of order process to thank the Leader of the Opposition for that motion; it is appropriate that he moved that today in the New Zealand Parliament. It is totally in line with what the Government has moved as a representative of New Zealand on the United Nations Security Council, and it is very pleasing that the whole of Parliament has been able to affirm that today.
Mr SPEAKER: I thank the member.
Points of Order
Leave to Move Motion Without Notice—Australia, Refugees
MARAMA DAVIDSON (Green): I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I seek leave to move a motion without notice or debate—
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Can I just interrupt the member for a minute. Has the member done as the Business Committee agreed and tested this with the other parties and got agreement, before we proceed with the putting of that motion?
MARAMA DAVIDSON: Yes, we did, yesterday.
Mr SPEAKER: OK, then on that basis, I will certainly put the leave. Can I just hear briefly—[Interruption] Order! If the member could briefly describe the motion she is seeking, I will see whether there is any objection.
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First): I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. [Interruption]
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I now have an additional point of order from the Rt Hon Winston Peters.
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: There seems to be some doubt as to whether what you are being told is, in fact, the state of affairs. I would like some clarity on that, because it is New Zealand First’s view that we did not agree to that.
Mr SPEAKER: Let me see if I can assist. To give these motions the respect that they deserve—and the Business Committee has discussed it on numerous occasions—it has been agreed at the Business Committee that any member wishing to move a motion will take the opportunity of assuring that it has the support of other parties. I asked the member whether that has been done, and the member assured me that it has been done. Even if there was not support from all parties, the member still has the right to move the motion—that is something that is available to all members—but if support has not been given by all parties, it will not surprise me if leave is then denied, and what we then see is a situation where I do not think motions are given the respect they deserve in this Parliament. So the member has given me assurance that she has taken the motion around to the other parties and that they have agreed to it. We will now have a brief description of it. I must take the member at her word. We will now have a brief description, and if there is no objection, we will proceed.
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Leader of the House): I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I appreciate very much your ruling. It is exactly as it should be, and all members of the House would accept that. One of the reasons—I think it is worth getting it on the Hansard record—for the Business Committee asking parties to adopt the process that you outlined is that when a member stands up and reads a motion that other parties may not agree with, all they can do is object to it. Therefore, they leave themselves without any explanation for that objection, when in many cases—and, indeed, it will be the case today—there is good reason for that objection.
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First): Just to clarify the matter, it is our position that we did not signify agreement.
METIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green): This is just a question of clarification as to the Business Committee view. Is it the Business Committee’s view that a motion should—it still can, but it should be put to the House only if it has the guaranteed support of the whole House, or, as I understood it, if the motion has been discussed with members and there is some support across the parties, but not necessarily full support?
Mr SPEAKER: The decision of the Business Committee was quite clear that if members intended to put a motion, they would take it to all parties and make sure they agreed to it, so that we would not be in an embarrassing situation of putting leave and then someone having to object. However, the rules still allow the member to put the motion if she wants to. I am now in a situation where she has assured me she has got agreement. We have had one party that says she has not got agreement. I cannot clarify that any further. The way forward—if the member wishes to move the motion, I will allow her now to give a brief description of the motion she seeks to move. I will then put it to the House as to whether there is any objection to that course of action, and we will move from there, if there is no objection for the member to then read the full text of her motion.
DAVID CLENDON (Green): I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. My apologies. I believe Marama Davidson was responding to your question—has permission, or approval, been sought from other parties. That is the question to which she answered yes, not whether it had been approved by all parties.
Mr SPEAKER: I appreciate that point, and I think that may well be the confusion. I will allow the member now, if she still wishes to proceed, to very briefly describe her motion. I will seek leave from the House.
MARAMA DAVIDSON (Green): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I seek leave to move a motion without notice or debate that has the support of the cross-parliamentary Parliamentary Human Rights Network, calling on the Government of Australia to withdraw legislation banning refugees who arrive by sea from entering Australia.
Mr SPEAKER: Right. Is there any objection to that course of action being followed? There is objection.
Oral Questions
Questions to Ministers
Economy—Diversification, Infrastructure, and Employment
1. ALASTAIR SCOTT (National—Wairarapa) to the Minister of Finance: What reports has he received on the diversification of the New Zealand economy?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Acting Minister of Finance): I have received a range of positive reports over the course of the year. For example, the most recent Statistics New Zealand export data release shows that despite a drop in the value of dairy exports of around $1 billion, total exports in the year to June increased by $3.3 billion. That growth is coming from across the economy. In the primary sector, meat exports are up 3.6 percent, fruit up 30.9 percent, and wine up 10.1 percent. In services, international visitor spend was up 18 percent, international education is worth $4.28 billion, and in the manufacturing sector the volume of sales rose 2.1 percent in the September 2016 quarter, following a similar rise in the June quarter. These numbers are a testament to the hard work of our producers and exporters and validate the approach of this Government of an outwardly focused and open trading economy.
Alastair Scott: How is the Government encouraging diversification of the New Zealand economy?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE: In addition to our strong commitment to free and open trade, which is creating new markets for new products offshore, we have recognised the huge role that innovation plays in making our companies more productive, competitive, and profitable. Through Callaghan Innovation and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, we are encouraging innovators and entrepreneurs to develop, commercialise, and sell new ideas and products, and they are taking up the Government’s challenge. New Zealand’s 200 leading high-tech companies grew their investment in research and development by a record 16 percent last year, and their turnover was up $1 billion in the year to $9.4 billion. This growth is fuelling more jobs and more opportunities for Kiwis and their families.
Alastair Scott: What role does infrastructure play in encouraging economic growth?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Well, it plays a very significant role. Critical infrastructure like roads and broadband connect our cities and regions with the rest of New Zealand and with the rest of the world. That is why we have invested so heavily in recent years in projects like the roads of national significance and our $200 million Accelerated Regional Roading Package. It is why we are rolling out ultra-fast broadband to 80 percent of the country and rural broadband initiatives to more remote areas.
Alastair Scott: How is this growth delivering more jobs for New Zealanders?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE: This is a very important question. The growing economy is delivering strong labour market growth, with 144,000 more people in work in the last year alone. This has seen the unemployment rate fall to 4.9 percent, which is the lowest rate since December 2008, before the global financial crisis, and it is projected to fall to 4.3 percent in coming years. Labour market participation is now 70.1 percent. That is the highest since the series began in 1986. Average weekly wages are up 1.9 percent in the last year, compared with inflation of 0.4 percent. These are the results that count: results for hardworking Kiwis and their families, delivering more and higher-paying jobs.
Immigration New Zealand—Holidays Act Compliance
2. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) to the Minister of Immigration: Does he stand by all his statements; if so, how?
Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (Minister of Immigration): Yes, in the context in which they were given; and, to the second part of the question, vertically and confidently.
Rt Hon Winston Peters: I never thought he would say that. Can I ask the Minister this: how does he reconcile, and I quote him, “there are forms of exploitation that are going on” with Immigration Instruction BM2, that people will not be eligible for the grant of residence if they exercise significant influence over the management and administration of any business that has not complied with our employment, immigration, and taxation laws—page 52?
Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: With no difficulty whatsoever.
Rt Hon Winston Peters: Does he agree, in respect of compliance with the Holidays Act 2009, that it is relevant legislation in terms of Immigration Instruction BM2, page 19?
Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: I need to check with the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, but I think the Holidays Act was passed in 2003. [Interruption]
Rt Hon Winston Peters: They were in power at the time. Can he confirm that many Government departments, like the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and Immigration New Zealand, have not complied with the Holidays Act 2009 by not paying the correct holiday pay for several years, resulting in a taxpayer liability estimated between $200 million to as high as $2 billion—that is page 45?
Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: That is beyond my ministerial responsibility. It would be best directed at either the Minister for Economic Development, who has responsibility for MBIE, or the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety.
Rt Hon Winston Peters: Given active corruption and investigations into Immigration New Zealand staff, huge Holiday Act liabilities, and migrant workers being exploited, which is seriously harming our reputation, and given that he exercises significant influence over management and administration of Immigration New Zealand, does that mean that he is not a fit and proper person?
Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: Well, firstly, I reject the inference in the first part of that question that there are investigations into widespread corruption at Immigration New Zealand, or that it is occurring. Actually, I am very proud of Immigration New Zealand. When this Government came into office, and certainly under the oversight of the very excellent former Minister of Immigration, Dr Jonathan Coleman, it was a mess. It was tidied up. Timeliness has improved, the quality of decision making has been improved, and, most importantly, the public perception of that organisation has materially improved.
Prime Minister—Police Resourcing, Homeownership, Education, and Government Debt
3. ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Which of these facts, if any, is he most proud of as he looks forward to Christmas: understaffed Police, as confirmed by his police Minister; the lowest homeownership since 1951; pupils getting the worst PISA test scores ever; or the most debt ever amassed by a New Zealand Government?
Mr SPEAKER: Before I call the Prime Minister, my office has been advised that the answer may be a little longer than normal.
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH (Prime Minister): In the first case, they are not facts. But, secondly, the member should cheer up. The country is pleased that it has been able to get a new Prime Minister, with a stable Government that wants to pay off debt, lift education standards, support the police, reduce crime, and build on its major achievements from last year. [Interruption]
Mr SPEAKER: Order! School will be out shortly. In the meantime we need to complete question time.
Andrew Little: How much of a merry Christmas will young Aucklanders have after being shut out of the Kiwi Dream of homeownership because now the average home costs more than a million dollars?
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: I am sure there are some who will go into Christmas disappointed that they have not been able to buy the house they wanted for a million dollars, but, actually, a significant number of young New Zealanders have bought houses in Auckland because they have had the lowest interest rates in 50 years, because they have had good jobs with rising incomes, and they have been able to get into the housing market. Those who have not can see that the Government’s building programme is getting under way, and the policy changes that have led to the enabling of a lot more houses in Auckland will give them the opportunity in the future.
Andrew Little: Is it a merry Christmas for the 90,000 children in severe poverty under his Government?
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: I can tell the member that it is a much better Christmas this year for the 100,000 of New Zealand’s lowest income - earning households that on 1 April got a $25 a week increase, the first such increase in 40 years, and an increase that the Labour Government did not put in place even though it had large surpluses.
Andrew Little: With so many Kiwis missing out after 8 years of National, is it not true that the best present he could give them is Labour’s plan for affordable houses, more cops on the beat, properly funded schools and hospitals, and a fair share for all?
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: I do not think anyone would want to inflict on a New Zealand household, particularly one that was working hard to get ahead, the dreary picture that Labour paints of their prospects in this wonderful country. We certainly would not want to present them with anything from the Labour Party.
Andrew Little: Will Judith Collins finally get more police in her stocking this year, or is it a merrier Christmas for the burglars, who now have a 95 percent chance of just getting away with it?
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: I am sure that the Minister of Police will be getting a lovely Christmas card from the Commissioner of Police, and also that any burglars who think they are going to be active over Christmas need to understand that the commissioner has said that burglary is a priority and the police will be attending burglary call outs.
Andrew Little: Will Jonathan Coleman finally get the properly funded health system he asked for in his letter to Santa last week, or is he on the naughty list for challenging the leadership?
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: As his deputy leader will know, every Budget is like Christmas time for a health Minister, because they always get the lion’s share of new spending from Government. But this health Minister has actually made much more impact with the money that he has had through new programmes like the bowel screening programme, which will screen, I think, hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders and prevent hundreds of deaths.
Andrew Little: Given that he now has four ambitious amigos, three resigning Ministers, and two brooding rivals, who is going to rescue Nick Smith from the pear tree?
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: The basic difference is this: we have 59 members of Parliament, and that is a great deal more than that member has. It does not matter what presents he gets for Christmas—that is basically not going to change.
Rt Hon Winston Peters: Exactly what sort of Christmas will it be for a bunch of egregious, self-serving careerists who have been given the “Don’t come to”—[Interruption] Ha, ha! They cannot take it, eh? They cannot take it. [Interruption]
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I can understand the reason for the interjection, but we now require no interjection so the question can be heard, and then I can decide whether it has been addressed satisfactorily.
Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I had hardly got going and they recognised themselves. [Interruption]
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I am not sure why they were making that noise, but I do not think that was the reason. The member can proceed with his question if he wants.
Rt Hon Winston Peters: What will a bunch of egregious, self-serving, ambitious careerists who have been given the “Don’t come to caucus Tuesday” message, and certain tiresomely useless Cabinet Ministers, get on this Christmas when they know they have been given the boot?
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: Given it is the season of goodwill, and the member has seen many Christmases, I must say he is a very well-dressed egregious, self-serving careerist.
Earthquake, Kaikōura—Government Response
4. NUK KORAKO (National) to the Minister of Civil Defence: How has the Government responded to the Kaikōura Earthquakes of 14 November 2016?
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Acting Minister of Civil Defence): One month on from the magnitude 7.8 earthquake this Parliament and the Government continues to stand beside the people of the affected communities in Kaikōura. During the last 2 weeks the House unanimously passed three bills that provided the legislative framework that allows us to support and promote full recovery from those earthquakes. The bills recognise the significance of the earthquake sequence and show the willingness of this House to move swiftly in supporting communities to resume their livelihoods and restore the damaged infrastructure without unnecessary roadblocks.
Nuk Korako: What additional support has the Government provided to the disaster response?
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: Key to any civil defence response is a wide range of Government agencies working together. Examples of how other agencies have contributed to affected communities are the $12.5 million business support package to cover 16 weeks of wage losses from the date of the earthquakes; the $3.6 million health package to support Kaikōura and Marlborough, so people can access the health services they need following the recent earthquakes; and a $5 million support package for the primary sector in the upper South Island. Tax measures and KiwiSaver relief are also available to affected areas. The enhanced Taskforce Green has been activated so councils can employ local job seekers to support in a clean-up operation, and the Earthquake Commission and New Zealand’s major insurers have reached an agreement that will have thousands of claims dealt with more quickly than might ordinarily have been the case. The assessment of what is needed in these areas will continue, as I am sure the support from across the House will.
State Housing—Sale of Housing Stock
5. METIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green) to the Prime Minister: Ka tū ia i runga i te mana o āna kaupapa here katoa?
[Does he stand by all his Government’s policies?]
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH (Prime Minister): Yes.
Metiria Turei: Does he stand by the policy of the previous Minister responsible for HNZC on the sale of the State houses in Christchurch that “No decision has been made on the proceeds from the proposed transfer in Christchurch.”, or does he stand by the previous Prime Minister’s statement that “The Government would use that capital to build even more State houses.”?
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: The Government’s policy is that any proceeds from the transfer of social houses in Christchurch to another provider of social houses will be used to finance the Housing New Zealand building programme.
Metiria Turei: Is the reason Treasury officials were sent to Sydney this week to try to sell State houses to overseas investors that his plan to sell them to New Zealand housing providers has been completely stuffed?
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: You would need to talk to Treasury officials about why they were going to Sydney, but it has, clearly, been the Government policy to bring—
Grant Robertson: A holiday or something? Shopping?
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: If the member just looks at our State housing stock, even she might believe that something should change. Keeping doing the same thing may mean that our communities where there is a lot of State housing continue to be run down. The Government is keen to see a wide range of participants in social housing with the skills to do a good job.
Metiria Turei: Should he not reconsider his policy to sell off thousands of State houses now that it is clear that most community housing providers, particularly those in Christchurch—people who know best about these issues—are against his policy?
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: No. I do not agree with the member that the providers are against the policy; most of them are just too small to take on the responsibility of 4,000 or 5,000 houses or 2,000 houses, and the process, of course, will create consortia, which may well include those providers that do have good experience with their communities and the tenants.
Metiria Turei: Does the Prime Minister agree with the recent Press editorial that asked: “how can an Australian provider know best what New Zealand tenants need?”
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: As I understand it, it would have to meet the criteria laid out for the transaction, which is that it demonstrates close links to its community. The member may not realise this, but the effect that had in Tauranga was that a number of different players with property skills, financial skills, and tenant-management skills came together into consortia. You can call it cooperation or collaboration, but that seems to be the recipe that makes these transactions successful.
Metiria Turei: Is it not a fact that, in the middle of the housing crisis, he has no idea who is going to be buying these homes, and that the Press editorial is right when it says that “He now leads a tired Government that has almost completely lost interest in the job of providing warm, dry, and safe homes for New Zealanders.”?
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: That is complete nonsense. In fact, the Press should talk with the Christchurch City Council, which has been displaying a great deal of enthusiasm for precisely the opportunity that the Government peter is providing. In fact, it is going through a process of upgrading its own social housing stock, which is large and poorly managed. So it would help if the local newspaper talked to the local council, and it would be better informed. In fact, the member should probably go and talk with the local council, rather than relying on the newspaper.
Health Services—Funding and Subsidised Medicines
6. Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour) to the Minister of Health: Does he stand by his statement, “if health starts to slide, governments are in trouble”, and is this the reason he called for health to be “properly funded” when seeking leadership of the National Party?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister of Health): First of all, merry Christmas to the member. I would like to thank her for her questions this year; they are like a little Christmas present to the Government every single sitting day. In response to the second part: no. As she knows, as usual, she is out of context, and that is total distortion. In relation to the statement “if health starts to slide, governments are in trouble”: absolutely, yes. That is what happened to the Labour Government in the mid-2000s, when health, under her watch, fell apart, leading to her departure from the portfolio and the eventual decline and fall of her Government.
Hon Annette King: Talking of distortions, why has he been claiming all year that health has all the funding it needs, only to declare when he got a sniff at the leadership: “mortgage-belt New Zealand—they’re not saying to me I need a tax cut, they’re saying actually we want to make sure we’re getting access to the best and latest drugs.”?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: Because it is true—but, of course, as usual, she is part of the past, and we are talking about the future.
Hon Annette King: If he is ensuring New Zealanders are getting access to the best and latest drugs as Minister of Health, why did he ask for funding for cancer drugs that have been given high priority by Pharmac since 2013 for patients with head and neck cancer?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: As the member knows, Pharmac funding has gone up by $200 million under this Government—from $650 million to $850 million. If she can still remember yesterday’s question, I announced that new tranche of medicines, many of them to deal with a range of cancers and for various new applications of medicines. New Zealanders are getting very good access to the medicines they need, and we have got a world-class system in Pharmac. Actually, I know that the member agrees with that, but she cannot say that in here.
Hon Annette King: Why have approximately 160 women, who have already been diagnosed with breast cancer and are taking Herceptin, been denied the new breast cancer drug Perjeta and are required to pay for it if they want it?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: The member asked this question yesterday, and what I told her was that there is actually a new drug that has just been approved, Pertuzumab, which is for metastatic breast cancer and it is actually the very best treatment available. Pharmac is funding it, and the Government totally backs it in doing that.
Hon Annette King: Does he agree with Craig Foss, now former Minister of Statistics, who tweeted today that New Zealanders—
Hon Members: He still is.
Hon Annette King: Well, he has announced that he is going, like you are going to be, Nick, soon.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is no need for interjections from my right, but there is equally probably no need for the part in there about Mr Foss. To give the essence of the question, please ask the question.
Hon Annette King: Does he agree with Craig Foss, Minister of Statistics—
Hon Member: Yeah, get it right.
Hon Annette King: —yeah, I am getting it right—who tweeted today that New Zealanders are now spending almost $40 a week out of their household budget on health costs, and what impact will that have on people on modest incomes?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: I mentioned in my opening answer about distortions and taking things out of context, and I am sure this is yet another example.
Hon Annette King: If he retains the health portfolio, will he stop being a Grinch and a grouch of Parliament, will he lighten up, instead of lighting up, and will he spread a little bit of joy around for those who have been waiting all year for some services from the health system?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: The problem for the Labour Party is they have absolutely no one else who could do the health portfolio, and that is why Mrs King is still stuck there, 30 years after first assuming it.
Earthquake, Kaikōura—Health Services
7. SARAH DOWIE (National—Invercargill) to the Minister of Health: Can he confirm that the Government is committing $3.76 million to assist the people of Kaikōura and Marlborough to access the health services that they need following the recent earthquake?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister of Health): Yes. The Government is committed to supporting the people of Kaikōura and Marlborough, and we know, from the Canterbury earthquakes, that psychosocial recovery is a long-term process. For this reason, we have announced that $1.76 million will be split between Canterbury and Nelson-Marlborough district health boards to essentially fund a range of mental health clinical staff and to increase access to general practice consultations. We will review this package in a year’s time, but we are committed to these people for the long haul.
Sarah Dowie: What is the other $2 million of the package going to provide?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: Earlier this year, I had the privilege of opening the new $13.4 million Kaikōura health centre, which is a major hub for the community and the sole provider of health services in Kaikōura. The Government put in $10 million and the community contributed $3.4 million, but up to this point they had raised only $1.4 million, leaving a debt of $2 million still to be paid. Given the other challenges facing the people in Kaikōura, the Government is providing $2 million to clear the loan. We feel it is really important that these people can focus on the challenges that the earthquake has presented, and we do not want them weighed down by the prospect of raising $2 million. That is why the Government is coming to the party.
Economic Development—Government Procurement Process and Regional Economic Development
8. FLETCHER TABUTEAU (NZ First) to the Minister for Economic Development: Does he stand by all his statements?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Economic Development): Yes, particularly my statement where I congratulated that member on asking me as many Northland-related questions in the last 2 days as the member for Northland has in the last 2 years.
Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. [Interruption]
Mr SPEAKER: It is a point of order and it will be heard in silence.
Rt Hon Winston Peters: Having asked over 1,100 questions since I have been the MP for Northland, this man must be stopped from being a demonstrable liar.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I have explained to the member on a number of occasions that if he feels there is a case of deliberate misrepresentation, he needs to refer to Standing Order 359.
Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. As you know, Mr Speaker, the Business Committee has made some determinations about the adjournment debate this afternoon. I know that New Zealand First will be taking speeches. Should that member wish to extend his time by 5 minutes to list his achievements on behalf of Northland, then the Parliament—or this party, I am sure, would be agreeable to him doing this. Of course, it would not take 5 minutes; it would take 5 seconds.
Mr SPEAKER: That, equally, is not a point of order. The member Mr Peters may decide to seek leave to take that course of action later in the adjournment debate.
Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. You see, Mr Speaker, I love that idea and I seek leave for that motion to be put right now—the House being a master of its own destiny.
Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought—[Interruption] Order! If I can summarise the leave that is being sought by the Rt Hon Winston Peters, he is seeking leave for an additional 5 minutes in his call in the adjournment debate this afternoon. [Interruption] I will invite him to list his achievements as the member for Northland. Is there any objection to that course of action? There is. That is a very sad decision but it is the decision of the House.
Fletcher Tabuteau: If—and I quote the Minister—“The Government’s procurement programme has a proven track record of creating significant value for taxpayers”, is the Minister worried that the Government’s own procurement corruption-free status could be questioned, given that the former deputy chief executive officer at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), responsible for procurement, Peter Thomas, joined Fuji Xerox just before it then won a multimillion dollar Government contract for printers?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I am advised by officials that there are no issues with the claim that the member has raised.
Fletcher Tabuteau: How has Fuji Xerox created significant value for Northland schools by (1) charging them for much higher print volumes than they previously used; (2) saying there is no monthly charge but then charging $195 per month per machine; and (3) locking schools into 84-month - long contracts with exorbitant cancellation fees?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I am happy to take the member through it, as I already have done with Mr Peters in written questions. The key point is the contracts he is referring to were signed by the schools outside the all-of-Government framework and without MBIE’s knowledge. At that point, the whole accusation falls to bits.
Fletcher Tabuteau: Will the Minister concede that it does not matter what statements he makes in his regional development reports as long as—and I quote Mayor Cameron from Ruapehu here, for yet another example of the Electricity Authority failing another region: “the issues created by the Lines Company and its charging model … is recognised as causing significant social issues and acting as a ‘hand brake’ on investment and growth.”?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I completely agree with the premise of the member’s question. Actually, I bring more good news for the area that he was talking about before—Northland. My colleague the Minister of Transport has announced today that there has been a completion of the $1 million upgrade of Whangarei Airport, which just shows another of the benefits of the Government’s regional growth programme. Those upgrades were part of a partnership between the Crown—
Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. This answer has nothing at all to do with the question he is being asked. [Interruption]
Mr SPEAKER: No, I do not need any assistance. It may well be the member’s point of view, but when I listened to the length of the question and tried to decipher it myself—had there been a clear and concise question as there should have been according to the Standing Orders, I might have been able to help him, but it certainly was not.
Wage Rates—Growth and Inequality
9. GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) to the Minister of Finance: How much will real wages rise in percentage terms over the 2017 and 2018 years, according to the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Acting Minister of Finance): The Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update forecast shows strong labour market growth in the period to 2021, with unemployment expected to drop to 4.3 percent; another 150,000 jobs expected to be created; and the average wage expected to increase by $7,500, to $66,000. In combination with an expected fall in net migration, and assuming inflation returns closer to its long-run average, Treasury forecasts real wage increases of 0.1 percent in 2017, 0.2 percent in 2018, 0.7 percent in 2019, 1.1 percent in 2020, and 0.9 percent in 2021. These are, of course, forecasts and, of course, we will see how they roll out in practice.
Grant Robertson: Does he think that an average wage earner getting $11 a week, in the face of record increases in housing costs and an average increase in rentals of at least $20 a week, represents a fair share of the economy for working people?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I presume the member is basing that on Treasury’s predictions, and I should point out to him that Treasury’s forecasting in relation to real-wage growth has undershot the actual real-wage growth three times in the last 4 years. In fact, since 2008, average Kiwi wages are up around 25 percent, which is almost double the increase in the cost of living over the same period. So we do not yet know how that is going to roll out in the years ahead, but I think if you were a betting man looking at Treasury’s forecasts for the last 4 years, you would say it will probably be a little bit ahead of what it is proposing.
Grant Robertson: Can he confirm he will be using those same Treasury forecasts when he decides whether or not to do tax cuts?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE: In terms of the Government’s spending intentions, and all its fiscal intentions, we will make the decisions at the time based on the actual accounts and also the forecast accounts, as we have always done. But I would point out to the member that in terms of real wage growth, the biggest variable has actually been the Consumers Price Index inflation figure. Treasury is predicting that that will return to 2 percent by 2018. It has, of course, been 0.4 percent in each of the last 2 years. Those predictions are yet to be borne out.
Grant Robertson: Does he think it is fair that salary increases for chief executives have increased at four times the rate of average workers’ in the last year?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Well, I would have to check the member’s figures on that and where he has got those from, but the actual fact is that wage growth over the last year has been strong relative to inflation, and average weekly wages are up 1.9 percent compared with an inflation rate of 0.2 percent. So, regardless of the individual elements of that, overall, Kiwi workers have done far better than inflation, and we are very pleased for them for that.
Grant Robertson: What, if anything, will he do differently from his predecessor, if he becomes the Minister of Finance, to fulfil the commitment of the new Prime Minister that he will ensure the benefits of growth are widely shared?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Well, this Government is already ensuring just that. Real wages—
Hon Members: No, it’s not.
Hon STEVEN JOYCE: —have been growing at twice the rate of inflation. I know those members are not accustomed to this, because if you go back to 2008, they were actually growing nominally at 5 percent, but then inflation was around 5 percent as well. Now, with very low inflation rates, real wages have been growing, and I know that is not something the Labour Party is familiar with.
Grant Robertson: Does he really think that growth in real wages of 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent in the next 2 years represents a Government that is ensuring that the benefits of growth are widely shared?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE: This gets to the heart of Mr Robertson’s trainspotting approach to the finance portfolio, because it is not Governments that decide the 0.1 percent; it is decided by the strength of the economy. This Government is absolutely focused on improving the competitiveness of the New Zealand economy, and that has flown through into real wage growth. I am prepared to predict that it will continue to flow into real wage growth, only provided you continue to elect a National-led Government.
Prime Minister—Statements
10. JAMES SHAW (Co-Leader—Green) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement that “I want to be a Prime Minister that New Zealanders feel they can approach. Not just some of them, but all.”?
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH (Prime Minister): Yes.
James Shaw: What, then, will he say to Amanda Claire Richards, who has approached us to ask him whether he will be making climate change more or less of a priority than John Key did?
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: The Government policy will remain the same, and that is that climate change is an important area of policy. New Zealand has—actually, partly because of that member’s party, back in the early 2000s—the most comprehensive emissions trading system in the world. We believe that is a powerful and effective tool.
James Shaw: What will he say to New Zealanders like Paul Axford, who wants to know why New Zealanders have to compete with non-resident investors in the housing market?
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: I would say to him, particularly if he is a Greens supporter, that he should encourage—
Hon Annette King: It doesn’t matter whom he supports.
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: —no—that he should encourage his party to support legislation that enables the building of more houses, because, in fact, the Green Party policy is to restrict the building of houses. That is the one thing sure to push housing prices up, and we know that because that is exactly what has happened in Auckland, twice in the last 15 years. I would hope that Mr Axford will encourage the Green Party to make more sensible policy.
James Shaw: What does he say to Anita Patterson, who has lived in her earthquake-damaged home for 6 winters fighting the Earthquake Commission and her insurance company, and who wants to know when her home will be repaired or rebuilt?
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: I think I would say to her that that must be an incredibly frustrating and, at times, very miserable experience, one which she has shared with a number of people in Christchurch. I wish that I could tell her when her claim will be settled, but I have no idea of the details of it. But I would hope that as the insurance process comes to its end, they are finding the most complex cases. For many people, who are just worn out by the process, getting to a solution is proving to be something of a challenge. We hope that she is able to get a solution.
James Shaw: Why should New Zealanders who are concerned about climate change or the housing crisis or rebuilding their homes believe that he will be able to fix these issues as Prime Minister, when he did not in his 8 years as finance Minister?
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: I think the member knows enough about climate change to know that it is a long-term issue and will not be fixed next month, last month, or even next year. With regard to housing, I can assure the member that there has been a large amount of activity, which is starting to bear fruit, in fact. The Government building programme is now picking up momentum, and we will be building thousands of houses over coming years. The success of the Auckland Unitary Plan has a high impact, and if that member would support more changes to legislation to enable more housing to be built, then we could go faster.
School Buildings—Investment
11. MELISSA LEE (National) to the Minister of Education: What recent announcements has the Government made about investment in school property?
Hon HEKIA PARATA (Minister of Education): Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. This week I was pleased to announce over $30 million towards school redevelopments in Auckland. This means that in the last 6 months this Government has announced over $268 million of school property redevelopments in Auckland either under way or approved. We are committed to ensuring that students all over New Zealand can achieve the very best of their potential. That is why we are addressing the needs of schools with complex property issues, and we are also building new classrooms to accommodate roll growth up and down the country.
Melissa Lee: What priority is the Government giving to school property needs?
Hon HEKIA PARATA: In this year’s Budget, Associate Minister Kaye and I announced over $880 million in new money for school infrastructure. This is more than twice the spend of last year’s Budget and means the total amount this Government will have invested in school infrastructure is over $5 billion, significantly more than any previous Government. We inherited a school property portfolio with an average age of 40 years, so have put a huge amount of effort into getting the full picture of the state of the school property portfolio and making plans to address these needs such as weathertightness and earthquake strengthening. On top of this, we are also expanding the school network where necessary to accommodate roll growth in line with New Zealand’s changing populations.
David Seymour: Can the Minister confirm that Newmarket Primary School’s new building is the first four-storey classroom building in an Auckland school, will have 11 new learning spaces and a new school hall, and is a very welcome addition to the school network in that area by local residents?
Hon HEKIA PARATA: I am delighted, and fully able, to confirm the member’s question, and it is to the tune of $8.7 million, announced on 18 July. There are many happy people in Newmarket, as there are on this side of the House.
Fletcher Tabuteau: I seek leave of the House to submit two documents relating to the Northland School cluster agreement—
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I just need to be clear. The member is seeking leave to table two documents?
Fletcher Tabuteau: Yes.
Mr SPEAKER: I need a brief description and the source of those documents.
Fletcher Tabuteau: They were supplied to New Zealand First confidentially, and they describe the cluster agreement between schools and the said company.
Mr SPEAKER: The easiest way is for the House to decide. I will put the leave. Leave is sought to table those two documents. Is there any objection? There is objection.
Employment Relations—Migrant Exploitation
12. IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Labour—Palmerston North) to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: Does he accept that exploitation of migrant workers is pervasive in New Zealand; if not, why not?
Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety): Migrant exploitation in any form and in any quantity is a great concern, but I do not consider it to be pervasive. The vast majority of employers in New Zealand are law-abiding and treat their employers fairly, and the labour inspectorate is working very hard to stamp out those employers whose practices do not meet minimum employment standards.
Iain Lees-Galloway: Why does he think migrant workers continue to report high levels of abuse, intimidation, underpayment, debt bondage, and a host of other exploitative employment practices despite his so-called efforts to stamp out migrant exploitation?
Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: Well, that is a question best put to the complainants, but I would imagine that it is because they have a great deal of confidence that they will be listened to, taken seriously, and that their issues will be prosecuted. Indeed, that is exactly what is happening with the extra resources we have given to the labour inspectorate.
Iain Lees-Galloway: Why does he think that migrant workers are reporting these issues to a researcher rather than taking them to the appropriate authorities?
Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: I presume the member is referring to the document entitled Worker Exploitation in New Zealand: A Troubling Landscape, prepared and published by the University of Auckland. What is important to consider about that report is that although it draws conclusions that migrant exploitation is pervasive and widespread—and, indeed, it is a very thorough empirical study—the method of gaining those stories was to go and ask people who have said they have been exploited. One hundred and five people did so and told their stories. That is concerning, but given the tens of thousands of overseas workers—maybe more than that—during the period of those told stories, I do not believe that that constitutes pervasive or widespread exploitation.
Iain Lees-Galloway: Is he concerned that it is the same industries—dairy farming, fishing, hospitality, horticulture, construction, and international education—that keep coming up as the most exploitative; if so, why is he not doing more to end the exploitation epidemic in those sectors?
Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: As I said in the answer to the primary question, I am concerned about any migrant exploitation wherever it occurs and in whatever volume, but if that member truly expects to come to this House and cry crocodile tears over migrant exploitation when his party is not prepared to support the very legislation that this Government passed, like the Immigration Amendment Bill, which significantly increased the penalties in 2015, and like the Immigration Amendment (Mass Arrivals) Bill that we passed in 2013, then there is a word for that sort of thing, and I am not allowed to use it.
Iain Lees-Galloway: Does he accept that migrant exploitation has a chilling effect on wages and conditions for all workers in those sectors; if not, why not?
Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: Firstly, there is no evidence that the exploitation is widespread or that it would lead to the suppression of wages. Rather than be driven by hyperbole, I need to be driven by the data, and the data says that there has been a 3.1 percent increase in wages year on year in those industries since this Government came to office, and very low interest rates and inflation rates, which suggests quite the opposite: that wages are growing.
Richard Prosser: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. While the Minister is answering from the realms of fantasy, can you arrange for each member to get a unicorn for Christmas?
Mr SPEAKER: Supplementary question—Iain Lees-Galloway.
Iain Lees-Galloway: When will he accept that too many employers rely on exploiting migrant workers so that they can avoid paying decent wages and meeting basic employment standards?
Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: Here is what I will accept: I accept that one example of migrant exploitation is one too many, which is why we invested heavily in improving compliance with immigration law, with a labour inspectorate that has grown by 90 percent since this Government came to office, and we have passed laws strengthening the sanctions against non-compliant employers. I encourage that member and his party to support the Government in its efforts.
Bills
Subordinate Legislation Confirmation Bill (No 2)
Second Reading
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Leader of the House): I move, That the Subordinate Legislation Confirmation Bill (No 2) be now read a second time. The streamlined procedure adopted in the 2014 revision of the Standing Orders provides that the bill at second reading will be followed by its third reading without debate. The bill confirms 17 instruments under 12 different Acts in the year ended 30 June 2016. It must be enacted by 31 December 2016 to avoid subordinate legislation being revoked.
The bill was introduced on 18 August and referred to the Regulations Review Committee on 23 August. The committee asked the six relevant Government agencies responsible for administering the legislation to explain why a confirmation of the regulations and orders is warranted. I know that the shadow Leader of the House over there will want to examine this at some length when he speaks. However, his opportunity did come at the Regulations Review Committee. I understand that on that day he was detained on other important matters and his thoughts could not be directly given to the committee, but he has conveyed them, and therefore will be relieved that there is no Committee stage here today.
The committee was satisfied with the responses it received and presented its report on 10 November recommending that the bill be passed without amendment. The committee has recommended that the confirmation bills be introduced earlier in the year than has usually been the case, and I would have to agree with that. The Government agrees with this recommendation. In previous years we have introduced confirmation bills before 1 August, and these bills have a cut-off date of 30 June for including confirmable instruments. The 4-week adjournment in July and early August this year meant that it was not possible to introduce the bill any earlier. The Government will work to ensure that the next Subordinate Legislation Confirmation Bill is introduced as early as possible in 2017. I thank the select committee for its thoughtful consideration of the bill.
CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka): Can I assure the House that the Regulations Review Committee, which is in fact chaired by a member of the Opposition, has thoroughly scrutinised this legislation. It had no matters to report to the House’s attention; therefore, I commend the bill to the House.
Bill read a second time.
Third Reading
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Leader of the House): I move, That the Subordinate Legislation Confirmation Bill (No 2) be now read a third time.
Bill read a third time.
Bills
Statutes Amendment Bill
In Committee
New Part 6A
CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka): I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the leader of the ACT Party, David Seymour, on this piece of legislative brilliance, because it is important to note that the reason we are here today is that David Seymour boasted that he had converted one of the National Party MPs’ members’ bills into a Supplementary Order Paper to be incorporated into the Statutes Amendment Bill, and it took him only 2 hours. It took him only 2 hours, and therefore he was going to save the House’s time. And yet, because he got it so completely wrong, here we are again back in the Committee reconsidering it again because, actually, David Seymour’s 2-hour drafting effort went far further than simply incorporating the member’s bill into the Statutes Amendment Bill. It then inadvertently covered all companies. So, in fact, more and more companies were going to be bound up in red tape by the amendment put forward by the leader of the ACT Party.
So in order to fix it—and I give credit to Simon Bridges for bringing this matter to the attention of the Committee—and to ensure that the ACT Party’s cunning plan to wrap small business up in red tape, to add a whole heap of additional compliance requirements on to them is thwarted, Simon Bridges has brought this very sensible amendment to the Committee, which would, in fact, ensure that the original intention, as proposed by one of the National Party backbench—I cannot remember which one it was who put forward the somewhat pointless member’s bill in the first place, given that it could have always been incorporated in the Statutes Amendment Bill; I cannot remember who it was who put that forward—has now been preserved. Therefore, it is with great pleasure that the Labour Party members can say that we will be supporting the Supplementary Order Paper as put forward by the Minister, Simon Bridges, and I do not intend to waste any more of the Committee’s time, whatever the ACT Party has decided to do.
DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): I think what we just saw was actually a window into Chris Hipkins’ character, which is nasty, vindictive, and somewhat overwrought, when, in reality, what we have achieved with this Supplementary Order Paper is to save the House the 7 hours of parliamentary time that would have been required to put a whole bill through, and, instead, pass a Supplementary Order Paper in a matter of minutes, which is all that has been required to achieve the same thing.
Yes, there was a drafting error that existed in the original member’s bill, and yes, that would have been discovered had it gone through the full process, but it would not have justified all of the time required to catch this minor error, when we have just displayed that we can correct it in such a short period of time and achieve exactly the same result.
So the net effect is that by including this private member’s bill in a Supplementary Order Paper, we have saved the House 6 or 7 hours of debating time, to achieve the same result. So I would like to thank Simon Bridges for catching this and including it in this extra period, so that we could get the law exactly right. What a pity that good grace and magnanimity have not quite yet got to Chris Hipkins this Christmas-time. Merry Christmas, Chris.
Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Deputy Leader of the House): Very briefly, can I just thank all members for their contributions. Can I make clear that both Matt Doocey—it was Matt Doocey’s member’s bill and then of course David Seymour had fantastic intentions in reducing compliance on publicly listed companies. Of course, Deputy—David Seymour’s Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) previously—
Chris Hipkins: Something’s on his mind.
Hon SIMON BRIDGES: No, I have moved on. It was previously debated at the Committee stage and it proposed inserting a new Part 6A into the Companies Act 1993 in relation to annual report notice requirements. It sought to replace the requirement for companies to provide a written notice of the annual report to shareholders and allow companies the ability to make reports available online. These are very common-sense intentions. However, the Government has since been advised by officials that it could inadvertently impose additional requirements on some companies that were not meant to be captured.
I have tabled a new Supplementary Order Paper 257 for Part 6A of the bill pertaining to the Companies Act 1993. It retains the intent of SOP 207 but clarifies that Part 6A should only apply to companies that are required to prepare financial statements under Part 7 of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013. The limited application of the amendment will ensure that there are no unnecessary compliance costs placed upon companies such as private companies with fewer than 10 shareholders and public entities whose primary audience are taxpayers and ratepayers and not shareholders.
This SOP will remove ambiguity and provide certainty around the requirement to provide annual reports to shareholders. Without this change, the broad application of the amendment as it currently stands may also raise issues of commercial confidentiality and shareholder privacy. Any changes made through this bill are technical, short, and non-controversial, and this change is necessary in order for the amendment to satisfy the criteria of a Statutes Amendment Bill.
The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 257 in the name of the Hon Simon Bridges to Part 6A be agreed to.
Amendments agreed to.
Part 6A as amended agreed to.
House resumed.
Bill reported with amendment.
Report adopted.
Third Reading
Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Deputy Leader of the House): I move, That the Statutes Amendment Bill be now read a third time. By their nature statutes amendment bills do not address significant policy matters. The amendments proposed must be technical, short, and non-controversial. However, statutes amendment bills are an important part of the Government’s legislation programme. They make amendments that individually would not receive the priority needed to be progressed. They allow us to keep the law up to date and accurate.
Some of the objectives achieved by the amendments in this bill include clarifying that a special licence permits the sale and supply of alcohol, not the sale or supply of alcohol; removing obsolete references to imprisonment served on home detention, which is no longer used in the criminal justice system; ensuring that employees can pursue a personal grievance when their employer has not provided them with either notice of a cancelled shift or compensation if notice is not given; and correcting discrete drafting and cross-referencing errors throughout the statute book.
I want to thank the members of the Government Administration Committee for their time and their considerable efforts in going through this bill. It is a thankless task that they do, going through all of the parts and making sure they cross the t’s and dot the i’s. They were very thorough in this bill and in the process that they put in place. I would also like to thank those who submitted on the bill for their, I think, very useful and considered submissions. I know that the committee heard from a cross-section of society—a lot of lawyers and so on—who, again, helped the committee in getting this bill into shape.
Finally, I want to thank all parliamentary parties for their backing of the amendments contained in this bill. Can I just wish you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and all of my parliamentary colleagues a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. I commend these bills to the House.
CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka): I am very happy to speak briefly on the Statutes Amendment Bill to indicate the Opposition’s support for this legislation. Statutes amendment bills are a very good way for the Parliament to expedite tidying up matters across a number of different pieces of legislation, and therefore avoid the House having to engage in lengthy debates about things that are non-controversial and that simply tidy up mistakes or clarify things, as required.
There are many bills currently proposed in the members’ ballot, for example, that could quite happily be incorporated into statutes amendment bills, given that they are very uncontroversial. They compromise the majority, I think, of the members’ bills put forward by National Government backbenchers. The ballot for those members who have bills of greater substance may be a more satisfying exercise if the ballot was not currently being padded out with bills that serve no useful purpose, other than to soak up the time of the House.
So I can indicate that the Opposition would certainly be happy to support a significant number of those bills being incorporated into the next Statutes Amendment Bill so that they can be passed through the House without wasting time, as we have done with two bills already: the lost luggage bill, and the bill that we just dealt with—
Hon Gerry Brownlee: Give us a list.
CHRIS HIPKINS: —in Committee regarding our reporting. I will be very happy, in the new year, to furnish the Leader of the House—whoever that may be—with a list of all of those National Government members’ bills that we would be happy to support in a Statutes Amendment Bill—
Hon Gerry Brownlee: How will the member have a holiday if he’s doing that work?
CHRIS HIPKINS: —so that we can—I am happy to give it to him before he goes away on holiday then. Although, actually, it is difficult, in his case, to tell which holiday he would want it before. But I will supply the Leader of the House with that list, because statutes amendment bills are a very efficient way, as I have said, of passing legislation that is not controversial. This particular amendment bill has been thoroughly scrutinised by the Government Administration Committee and it had no concerns to draw to the attention of the House. Therefore, the Opposition is happy to support it.
Bill read a third time.
Adjournment
Adjournment
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Leader of the House): I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The Government notice of motion No. 1 is in my name and—[Interruption] Sorry?
Hon Member: It’s been reshuffled.
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: It is on page 7 here. I thought I might have got some uncomfortable information then, Mr Deputy Speaker.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have not even got a page 7.
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: Eh?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have not even got a page 7.
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: That is right—page 7. In normal circumstances, if another member was to move that, the member whose name it is in would be required to leave the House. Members will appreciate that the somewhat arcane rules about tabling in the House have meant that it was not possible to achieve the desired effect of having the motion in the name of the member who would like to speak to it. I therefore seek leave of the House to remain—notwithstanding the Standing Orders around this matter—during the adjournment debate.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leave is put for that purpose. Is there any objection? There appears to be none.
Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH (Prime Minister): I move, That the House do now adjourn until 2.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 7 February 2017, and that the sitting days in 2017 be as follows:
February 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, and 16;
March 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, and 23;
April 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, and 13;
May 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 23, 24, 25, 30, and 31;
June 1, 6, 7, 8, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, and 29;
July 4, 5, 6, 25, 26, and 27;
August 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 29, 30, and 31;
September 5, 6, 7, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, and 28;
October 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, and 31;
November 1, 2, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, and 23;
December 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, and 14.
This Parliament has achieved an awful lot this year. I want to acknowledge, first, the MPs in this House, who leave their homes and their families every week to come here with one purpose in mind—to make New Zealand an even better place to live, to work, and to raise a family. I also want to acknowledge those families, who put up with the demands of the jobs, and sometimes the unwarranted opinions of the public.
Can I acknowledge those who make Parliament work so smoothly that quite often we do not even notice that they are doing it: the Beehive staff and the Parliamentary Service staff. I acknowledge the ones who do the real work in the buildings: the cleaners, the messengers, security, catering staff—to whom I want to say politicians will always complain about the menu; do not listen—the maintenance staff, and VIP Transport Service. And, of course, I acknowledge those who service the important fundamental constitutional purpose of this Parliament—that is, the passing of legislation—the Parliamentary Counsel Office and the staff in the Clerk’s Office, the Bills Office, and the Table Office.
I also want to acknowledge my National Party colleagues, who have taken part in a historic set of events over the last couple of weeks—that is, the resignation, for the first time in perhaps a hundred years, of a popular, successful Prime Minister and the transition to new leadership. Apart from the fact that you did a great job of getting the right result, can I acknowledge the civilised and constructive way in which that was handled, which is testament to the culture created and left behind by the previous Prime Minister and one that we can honour by continuing it.
Can I also acknowledge our coalition partners. People forget, because this Government makes it look relatively easy—it is not—that we have to get votes for every piece of legislation that goes through this House. I can assure the public and the Opposition that the respect that is maintained within this relationship is based on the robustness of the discussions that are had in getting our solutions. The Māori Party, ACT, and United Future have played a critical role in stable Government, and the stability of that collective was so ably demonstrated just in the last week or so.
The year 2016 has been a great year for New Zealand. We forget some of the highlights. There were the Olympic Games and the fantastic performances like the Joseph Parker triumph—controversial as it was—on the weekend. There was the hardship package, which came in on 1 April this year, where the 100,000 lowest-income New Zealand families got the biggest pay increase they have had in 42 years. Some others may be of lesser note. ACC levies are now $2 billion lower than in 2012, the Government announced Predator Free New Zealand 2050, and the most important thing of all is that the All Blacks thrived after Richie McCaw, and isn’t there a lesson there?
Our opponents have not had such a good year. New Zealand will wake up next year—election year—and find they cannot vote for a mainstream Labour Party because that has disappeared. It is not that those members’ ideas are progressive or dangerous, but what we need to protect this country from is the bland, awful nothingness of the current Labour Party—a party without confidence and without energy in a country that has more and more confidence and energy.
And, of course, it has been drawn into the relationship with the Green Party, about which I can only quote Taylor Swift, an insightful political commentator who wrote a line for Andrew Little, “Oh my God … you look like my next mistake”—looking at the Green Party—and a line for James Shaw, “I’m a nightmare dressed up as a daydream”. So, on the basis of Taylor Swift’s insightful commentary, I say merry Christmas to the Opposition.
ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition): Thank you for that expression of peace and goodwill from the Prime Minister to all members of the House. It has been a very big year this year, 2016: it has been a big year around the world, a big year for New Zealand, and a big year for me. In fact, I have seen a rug recently that suggests it has been a particularly big year for me. A lot has happened around here in the last week, as the Prime Minister referred to, as well. We have gone from the Key team to the B-team; we have gone from the rowing eight to the coxless four. We might be at only the second year of a 3-year parliamentary term, but already it is fraying at the seams. The previous Prime Minister has taken off, without any apparent good reason for doing so—talk about “Spray and walk away.” Well, we have had the walk away, and we are all surviving the spray.
We have a growing number of Ministers now sitting in the exit row, braced in the emergency position, waiting to get out one way or another.
Hon Member: Where’s David Shearer?
ANDREW LITTLE: Some have gone already, it is true. Steven Joyce reminded us this afternoon when he talked about the record wine exports that Tim Groser has taken his wine cellar to Washington. We have got a new Prime Minister, but the reality is he is not that new. The Deputy Prime Minister, on the other hand, is kind of newish, but even she has been around for every single one of the last 8 years of this Government and every decision it has made. It is a new Government for this Christmas, wrapped in last Christmas’s wrapping paper. That is the kind of Government that we have got. It will be, as Elvis Presley sang, another “Blue Christmas”. But many New Zealanders will feel about this Government this Christmas the same sentiment that Kirsty MacColl felt when she sang with the Pogues in the “Fairytale of New York” and “pray God it’s our last.”
But this is a time for peace and goodwill, so let us start at home, right here in Parliament. I want to thank, on behalf of the Labour Party, all the incredibly hard-working staff around here in the parliamentary precinct. To the Clerk and to all of the Clerk’s staff, you make this place and our select committees—good grief, how else would we function? The constructive and productive work that happens away from the public gaze simply would not be able to happen without you. To the professionals of the Parliamentary Service, who do so much for members and their offices and keep things ticking over; to the buildings and maintenance staff, without whom we would not be able to put up pictures on the wall; to the Serjeant-at-Arms, the messengers, and the security staff; and to the contractors who keep our offices clean and keep us fed, thank you very much for what you do. To Labour’s amazing team of executive assistants, to my own brilliant leader’s office staff—that is brilliant staff and brilliant leader—to all members across the House, and to you, Mr Speaker, I thank you and Labour thanks you all for the public service that you give to the people of New Zealand.
But this Christmas our thoughts extend well beyond this place, as well. Wishing goodwill to humankind means sparing a thought this Christmas for those going without, both here and around the world. Whether they are living in hardship in New Zealand—and good grief, there are far too many of them—or coping with war and hardship and deprivation overseas, and I had the chance to see that in Jordan earlier this year, my thoughts are with everyone who is doing it tough at this time in 2016. At this time of the year we turn our minds to those less fortunate than ourselves, not just to sympathise but also to offer hope for a better 2017 for everyone. That is why we can all take pride in the work that David Shearer is about to undertake in South Sudan. I wish him every success.
Labour’s mission here at home is also for a better 2017 for every New Zealander. Next year we will be building on our great successes in Mt Roskill and the local government elections, we will be up for the challenge in Mt Albert, and we are ready to go nationwide whenever the Government is game. But before that it is time for us all to have a break, get refreshed, and get ready, because we are ready and we are raring to go.
Hon Members: Grr!
ANDREW LITTLE: Mr Speaker, I want to wish you and all members across the House—get ready for the growl—I want to wish you and all members across the House a very merry Christmas, a very prosperous new year, and a restful Christmas. Thank you.
JAMES SHAW (Co-Leader—Green): The year 2016 has been one of those years that many people, I think, are actually pretty happy to see the back end of. We have seen the sad demise of David Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen, British common sense, American democracy, the media, and the truth itself. The last flickering hopes of young New Zealanders, that they will ever own their own homes, have also been extinguished this year—along with National’s re-election chances, so it is not all that bad.
During the bleaker moments this year, I have found myself returning to one of those famous quotes from Dr Martin Luther King Jnr. Dr King said: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” It is a hopeful message on which to end a long and strange year. It is comforting to think that things are going to change and that they are going to get better. It is nice to think that the universe bends towards justice. But if you read Dr King’s speech, it actually gets a little less optimistic. He talks about evil shaping events. He talks about the truth being crushed to earth. The speech is 50 years old, but, actually, it is just as true today.
Yesterday there were two reports about life in New Zealand in 2016, one of which was the Child Poverty Monitor and I think that it is worth mentioning today. It revealed that between 80,000 and 90,000 children in New Zealand are living in severe, profound, and deep poverty. For the past 8 years we have heard a lot of talk about social investment and equality of opportunity, and yet nothing has changed. The dial has not shifted, except for a deepening housing crisis that actually makes the child poverty crisis worse.
The second report that was released yesterday was from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, which announced that this will be New Zealand’s hottest year on record. Our climate is changing, and the rate of that change is accelerating. An existential threat is staring us in the face, and our Government has spent the last 8 years pretending that it does not exist, and that everything is going to be fine. It is all just going to work out, somehow. For the children who are born into poverty, who die because they live in cold, damp homes that are unfit for habitation, or because they are one of the Kiwi children murdered every 5 weeks, on average, by their own families, history does not get better. For them, it does not bend towards justice; it bends the other way, and then it stops. It is easy for us to be complacent if we tell ourselves that things are just going to get better and that history will work itself out. There is a temptation to do whatever is easiest for each of us in the short term, rather than what is best for all of us in the long term.
Climate change, polluted rivers, the housing crisis, and child poverty—these are hard problems. But the purpose of Government is to fix things that are hard to fix. That is our job. We are not here to pretend that everything is fine. We are here to accept that it is not, and to make things better.
Next year is an election year. We are going to have a chance to talk about these problems, and about what we are going to do together to solve them. Unfortunately, it is also going to be a chance for some people to spread misinformation and fear, and to try to get New Zealanders angry with each other, and to use that anger for political gain, to make things better for themselves and worse for the rest of us. My hope, at the end of this year, is that that is not going to happen, and that the members of this House and those who hope to be elected to it will realise that the reason we are free to stand here and speak today is that previous generations of political leaders chose to do the right thing, not the easy thing.
If we want a brighter future, we have to work for it. If we want a better world, we cannot just hope for it; we have to build it ourselves. If the arc of history does bend towards justice, it is because we choose to believe in justice and bend it ourselves. Make it bend, because if we do not, it will not. Thank you.
RON MARK (Deputy Leader—NZ First): Thank you, Mr Speaker, and may I start my contribution for New Zealand First by wishing you a very merry Christmas. I want to start on a positive note, by firstly acknowledging those people who make it possible for us all to do our job here. I know other speakers before me have mentioned the Office of the Clerk, the select committees, and the messengers. I want to make a special mention of those who service our offices in the wee hours of the morning—I know I have been there when they have had to come and clean around me. I see them time and time again. They always tell me they never see David Seymour in his office at that hour of the morning, but never mind.
Anyway, for those people who do that work for the minimal wage that they earn, it is very useful for us to ponder how we would survive in this day and age on that sort of a salary. I just leave it for a moment for the House to reflect upon. It is one thing to give Christmas wishes to these people, but I do think that some of the members might spend some time over Christmas wondering how those cleaners, and how those people who service our offices in those hours of the morning—some of whom pick up an afternoon job to keep their head above water so they can pay the rent—and their families survive on what they earn. From New Zealand First, thank you very much to those people. Thank you very much to security.
I want to pay respect and acknowledge all of my caucus colleagues. I think, Mr Speaker, you will agree—and I thank some of the members from other parties who have made this observation to me personally—
Hon Simon Bridges: Name check.
RON MARK: —including Mr Bridges—for a caucus that brought in so many brand-spanking-new MPs, for whom this is their first term, to be fronting Ministers daily at question time as front-bench members, and to do it so well throughout the last year, building on it to do it with such aplomb, to do it with such accuracy, and to generate the squirming in the seats that I get to observe from my front pew, is absolutely a pleasure. This is in contrast to—I’m sorry, Nuk—those of you who have to stand up and read out these pathetic patsy questions time after time, much to their own embarrassment.
On behalf of myself and the leader, I want to express to my caucus absolute admiration for the way they have gone about doing their job this year. I want to also acknowledge our parliamentary staff—New Zealand Firsters—and our out-of-Parliament staff who do a sterling job assisting people in the community, as I know all out-of-Parliament staff do, helping people with their day-to-day problems, and helping them get better access to services. I want to particularly thank those members of the executive, on the Government side, who have come to the party and assisted us in solving some of those problems. Simon, thank you for that; it was very well appreciated.
But I do hope that over the holiday break this Government will take time to reflect on a few things. I do hope that the new Prime Minister, Bill English, gets to recover and have a think about the hospital pass that he has just been given by John Key, who read and fled. He read the polls and he fled the Parliament. Of course, everybody knows that John Key hates being on a losing team. He can see quite clearly that the National Party benches are going to be much reduced in 2017, and he does not want a part of that. He is going to buck-pass it to Bill, who will cop it again. It is not Bill’s fault, but he is going to cop it again. He must be regretting that he did not announce his retirement before John Key announced his retirement, because he is going to cop it again, and for that, Mr English, we sympathise with you.
I want the Government to reflect on how arrogant and how out of touch it has got. So when Government members are on the beach—please do not pick a Hawaiian beach; go to a normal beach, and sit down—please look at the New Zealanders there. Please talk to them, and please take on the message that they are bound to give you, which is simply this: they have had enough. They have had enough.
I will finish my speech by saying that this year will go down as a year of accurate predictions by our leader, the Rt Hon Winston Peters, who predicted Brexit, and who predicted the American election result. It will come down as a year that the Greens ruled themselves totally out of Government next time round, because they cannot possibly accept the democratic decision made by the good people of the United States of America, and they cannot play any diplomatic role in any sane, sensible Government going forward.
To you, Mr Speaker, merry Christmas; to the Government, merry Christmas; to my colleagues, merry Christmas. There is more to come. We are going to have a ball next year. To all of our colleagues in Opposition, thank you; it has been a pleasure. Good afternoon.
Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL (Co-Leader—Māori Party): Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker, kia ora tātau katoa. Hei wawāhi i taku kōrero me mihi ki te hunga kua ngaro atu ki te tirohanga kanohi te roanga o tēnei tau, ka tangi ake! E hia kē nei ngā mea o Te Ao Māori kua hinga, kāre pea e tika ana kia whakahua i tētahi kei mahue ake i tētahi atu! Nō reira, me pēnei rawa te kōrero, koutou i Te Pō, e moe, e moe, whakangaro atu rā! Tātau te hunga ora e kōrero nei i Te Whare i tēnei rā, tēnā koutou, kia ora tātau katoa.
[Thank you, Mr Speaker, and acknowledgments to us all, and by way of opening up my contribution, I must pay a tribute to the ones lost from sight during the remaining part of this year; I mourn you. Very many of you ones of Māoridom have fallen, and it may not be apt to mention each one individually in case someone is left out. Perhaps the tribute might be more fittingly expressed this way: you in the void, rest and slumber there, disappear from sight, and to us the living, making contributions here in the House today, acknowledgments to you collectively, and greetings to us all.]
I started by paying tribute to those in the Māori World who have passed on throughout this year. I have got one hell of a list here, and it finished—jingoes—just a couple of days ago, in Tauranga Moana, paying tribute to the many, many of Te Ao Māori whom we have lost this year. I say to them: “Farewell, ka kite, and moe—rest in peace.”
I will come back from the heavens to the stars, the real stars—that is Marama Fox and me who I am talking about, here today; the real stars—and I will say to everybody: “It’s the time to be happy. It’s the time to be merry. It’s the time to be the Māori Party—ha!”. So we are here to celebrate the achievements of the Māori Party. Game on, Mr Speaker, game on!
I can say this: the shark and the fox are on the hunt, arrr!, arrr! The shark and the fox are on the hunt for the seven Māori seats that are going to come home. They are going to come home to the Māori Party next year. I cannot wait. I am looking forward to it—I am looking forward to it. But we will sing about that shortly. Thank goodness we will not have to listen to Mr Peters giving us a song. Ours has got a sweet tone to it, a melodic tone to it. It will be sweet. But the one great thing about being in the Māori Party is that we can be Māori. It is not about being left or right or green, or whatever—
Rt Hon Winston Peters: What about radical?
Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL: Radical is good—radical is good. The member should know. He has tried a couple of times, and failed abysmally. But be that as it may, this afternoon is all about saying a big thankyou. We want to thank all of our supporters throughout the country. Ka nui te mihi ki a koutou katoa. Thank you very much for your support—your unwavering support. Next year we are going to bring it home.
The second thing we want to say is to all of the people who make this place operate—the many messengers and the drivers. If I can just say to the VIP drivers, those who think they can clean me up in Trivial Pursuit on songs that are broadcast on Coast—sorry about it. I will deal again with you later on. To the translators, to the travel people, and to everybody whom previous speakers have spoken about—it is going to be a great year next year. I know that time is limited to us. I just want to say that we are looking forward to it.
In the Māori Party, of course, most people here know that we are very humble. I, as an individual, am very humble. Marama—she is absolutely humble. But just for today we are going to break out. Just for today, we are going to break out. We, Marama and I, are just going to finish up with a bit of a song:
Santa baby, campaign contributions under the tree
It’s been an awful long year
Santa baby, sign up to Māori Party tonight
Santa baby, homes for all the homeless too will do
They’re sick of sleeping rough, dear
Santa baby, treats for all the children too
Think of all the joy they’ve missed
Think of all the dinners they should never miss
Next year could be such a hoot
If you tick the Māori Party vote
Santa honey, ministerial spot, and that’s not a lot
I’ve been an angel all year
Santa honey, sign up to Māori Party tonight
There is more.
Santa cutie, there’s one more thing Māori do need
The deed, to all the RFR land
Santa cutie, sign up to Māori Party tonight
But wait; there is more.
Santa baby, fill all the Māori seats with Māori Party
Except for Uncle Hone
Santa baby, sign up for Māori Party tonight
This time.
Come and trim the Christmas tree
With some decorations bought by Treasury
I really do believe in you
I’m sure Hobson’s pledge will believe in us too
Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing
A ring
Shopping list for coalition
Santa baby, sign up to Māori Party tonight
Sign up to Māori Party tonight
Sign up to Māori Party tonight
Merry Christmas.
Mr SPEAKER: David Seymour—beat that.
DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): I am sorry; I was going to bring my performing caucus but we had a little bit of a problem at the last election, which we are hoping to rectify quite soon. It is always very difficult to follow the performance of the Māori Party in the adjournment debate, but congratulations to them.
I would like to thank a bunch of people: first and foremost the people of the suburbs of Mount Eden, Epsom, Parnell, Remuera, and Newmarket who elected me to be their representative. I would like to thank the people of the Epsom electorate. I would like to thank the ACT Party and its supporters, who have worked hard—and believed in me—to rebuild the ACT Party, and I think some of the people who are around the House expressing some, perhaps, disdain for that possibility have got another think coming.
I would like to thank my parliamentary staff, both in the Epsom electorate and here in Wellington, and my ministerial staff, who have done a fabulous job. I am very, very lucky to have such a group of cheerful and professional people who have worked throughout the year and made my job much easier than it might otherwise have been. I would also like to thank all of the parliamentary staff around these buildings: security, the people who clean the offices in the middle of the night. I would like to thank you, Mr Speaker, and also the Bills Office, the Table Office, the Office of the Clerk, the messengers, and the Parliamentary Library staff, who produce so much good research in such a timely manner. I would like to thank all of them.
But I would also like to thank a group of people whom I regard as particularly heroic, and those are the sponsors of Partnership Schools/Kura Hourua: the people who run Pacific Advance Senior School, Te Kura Hourua o Whangarei Terenga Parāoa, Vanguard Military School, South Auckland Middle School, Middle School West Auckland, Te Kura Māori o Waatea, and The Rise Up Academy. Those people are building innovative schools on tight time frames, with students who often had not been deeply engaged in the education system previously, and often under, frankly, fierce and miserly attack from people with political and self-interested motivations. When you go to the prize-givings of these schools, as I have in the last few weeks, what you see is an outstanding group of educators who are changing kids’ lives for the better.
On that note, I would also like to thank my coalition partners in the Māori Party, United Future, and the National Party, who have believed in this policy and defeated some of the most sad and cynical attempts to defeat it in recent times. I would also like to thank the officials with whom I have worked in Treasury and the Ministry of Education for working through often some tough issues. I think one of the things that makes New Zealand great is the highly professional Civil Service we have here in Wellington. I would also note the Ministers I have worked with, Steven and Hekia, for the very collegial way that they have helped me achieve some of the things I sought to achieve through our coalition agreement over the year, and I should also include our former Prime Minister, who, I hear, is somewhere in Hawaii, and also our new Prime Minister, with whom I am looking forward to working very much.
The continuation of that prime ministership, in my view, is critical to the prosperity of New Zealand in the coming years, because all you hear from the Opposition is negativity. Oppositions almost need to be negative. They need to say that the country is not going well and therefore could do better, but these Opposition members actually are naturals at being negative. They actually cannot help themselves. When you hear some of their speeches, you might be forgiven for thinking that we live in some sort of Third World despotic dictatorship, and I can tell you that is not the view of New Zealanders I talk to up and down this country.
New Zealanders know that we need continued stable Government with renewed energy for solving some of our most serious challenges. We need to double the house building rate in New Zealand to get back to 1970 levels. We need to make the education system the most equal in the world, not one of the least equal in the world. We need to lift productivity to grow again as it has in times past. Those are all challenges that we are aware of. Those are all challenges to which the ACT Party has answers, and it looks very much forward to going to the polls and seeking the support of New Zealanders in 2017.
With that in mind, I would like to wish everybody in New Zealand and in this House a very merry Christmas, a safe and sunny summer, and a recharged 2017. Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First): I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. In the interests of the Christmas spirit, and comedy, I seek an extension of time for that speaker.
Mr SPEAKER: The member cannot seek leave on behalf of another member.
DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. In that case, I seek an extension of time for myself.
Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought for an extension of time for David Seymour to complete his speech. Is there any objection? There is.
Hon PETER DUNNE (Leader—United Future): When we resumed in February, if anyone had said that by December the British would have voted to leave the European Union, David Cameron would have resigned, Donald Trump would have been the President-Elect of the United States, and John Key would have resigned—
Rt Hon Winston Peters: I said all of that.
Hon PETER DUNNE: —apart from the self-delusioned to my right—we would have said: “Take them out and shoot them, because they don’t know what they’re talking about.” This has been an extraordinary year. I think what it does is remind all of us that politics these days is a remarkably fluid and unstable business.
As I came into the Chamber, the Māori Party waiata was concluding. I wondered whether that was de rigueur for this debate. I have got to say to the House, I am not going to join in song at the conclusion of this remark. But if you want to see me do so, you can actually watch Newshub’s video of the “Christmas in New Zealand” carol, which I appeared in and which went to No. 1 on the day that it came out. So you are looking at a No. 1 artist here. The only problem is that I have been waiting for contract offers; they haven’t come in yet. So anyone who is out there who saw that song, voted it to be No. 1, and thought there is a real—
David Seymour: Give us a sample.
Hon PETER DUNNE: Well, the member wants a sample. I cannot actually remember the line that I sang, but it was very good. Anyway, as I said at the beginning, this has been a remarkable year for New Zealand. We celebrated the triumphs of our sportspeople throughout the year. We celebrated a lot of achievements in terms of various areas of activity.
In my portfolios, I was delighted to have seen a lot of major change occur. The Fire Service reform, which has stalled so many times over so many years, is now beyond the point of no return, and the legislation will pass next year and will be in place. The second area where we are moving on is in the huge work around the transformation of the recognition, the storage, and the home for our constitutional and other important national documents. We have got work going on in the health area relating to ambulance services, relating to the national drug policy, and so on and so forth. And just today I released a consultative document regarding the new game animal trophy levy to apply to fund the Game Animal Council.
I want to thank all of the officials who have worked with me during the year to bring these policies to fruition. I want to thank the members of my own office team for their dedication, their loyalty, and their commitment. I want to acknowledge all the people who make this institution run—the people who are here when we are not here—who clean offices, who make sure everything is ready for us when we come here. I acknowledge our library staff, our research staff, the news media in the gallery—who are somewhat peripatetic at the moment but, hopefully, will get a permanent home before too long. Everyone who makes this democracy function effectively deserves to be remembered at this time of year. The ministerial drivers, the ministerial support staff—again, people who make the process of democracy function effectively. I want to acknowledge them.
I am not going to indulge in a political diatribe, but there has been plenty of time for that during the year. I think that the thing that strikes one about this Parliament is that there is the passion and the intensity of argument that flows, but, at the end of the day, there is always—and I hate to be borrowing a phrase—a camaraderie that stands out about the essence of democracy and the respect for freedom that all of us enjoy.
Shortly we will all retire to our various parts of the country to celebrate Christmas with our families and our friends—those who are important to us. I hope that every member is able to spend time in that vein over the next few weeks. I hope that Christmas 2016 is a peaceful one and a successful one for you all, and that the year 2017 brings you, if not all of your dreams, then some of your dreams. But I also hope that as a nation and as individuals we can just use a bit of time in the next few weeks to think about those for whom the Christmas season and the end of the year are not actually moments of highlight—the lonely, the elderly, the sick, and the dispossessed. These will be times of struggle for them, and just some sympathy and some empathy with their situation, I think, is the least we can owe to them.
But, Mr Speaker, I hope every member has a very relaxing and peaceful holiday, and comes back under your wise leadership of this House next year to fight what will be a remarkable year in an even more remarkable election campaign to come. Merry Christmas to everyone.
TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West): I would like to thank my National Party caucus colleagues for returning to the House in such large numbers, and I apologise to any of them who did so because they were mistakenly advised that our next speaker would be the Deputy Prime Minister. It is lovely to have their support here.
What an amazing week it has been, and an astonishing finish to the year. I want to reflect on what has taken place in just about 10 days, because it was about a week ago that our opponents were saying that this was the game-changer, this would show the divisions and the jealousies within the National Party, and all was lost. Well, what, in fact, the public of New Zealand have been treated to is a seamless transition, a very smooth, professional process, in which we have had just the right, healthy level of debate, a contest of ideas—because that should always be part of a leadership change—but, very quickly, things evolved to a position where we were all in agreement, and we are firmly united behind an outstanding new leadership team. So when the analogy was made a short time ago that it was like the All Blacks moving from Richie McCaw to Kieran Read, now we have moved from John Key to Bill English, I think that is entirely appropriate—and look how well the All Blacks are doing.
I want to say that—well, I am very glad I did not have to follow Te Ururoa Flavell and Marama Fox’s waiata. I do want to acknowledge, in fact, that in the main, this adjournment debate has been a very constructive one. So I want to thank everybody who has been here and, in particular, I want to acknowledge those who have already been acknowledged by others, who served this House so well throughout the year, usually without our thanks. There are too many to name individually, or even in their groups, but they do a remarkable job and, boy, don’t they deserve a break from us for the next few weeks.
I also want to say a particular thanks to the Government whips’ office team, because it works incredibly hard to ensure that we are able to function. So to Sue Reid and Emily Su’a-Dunn, to the executive assistants who serve the three whips, and, in particular, to my fine colleagues Jami-Lee Ross and Joanne Hayes, I say thank you very much for a job well done. When you look through the year, we have got through an enormous amount of legislation very smoothly, and that is thanks to the cooperation and the hard work of all our colleagues.
I would also like to acknowledge on behalf of my caucus colleagues all those who serve us in our electorates—in particular, the wonderful electorate agents around the country. I could not do my job in Hamilton West without the wonderful Brigit Brant, Valarie Langley, and Ann-Marie Case-Miller. I do not get a chance to thank them in the House very often, but I say that on behalf of all MPs, because it is our electorate agents who are the first point of contact with our constituents. They do a wonderful job for us, and I thank them all.
Lastly, I want to thank our families, because they are the ones who make an incredible sacrifice for those of us who have the privilege to serve in this Parliament, to be here, and to do what we do. So to my wife, Anne, and my own children, I say thank you. And I say that again on behalf of all MPs and their families as well.
Next year, New Zealanders will choose between a refreshed team of proven achievers and a depressed and increasingly depleted team of navel-gazers and beltway dwellers. I was always proud to serve in the administration led by John Key, and now I am incredibly proud to serve a man for whom I have the highest regard, the Rt Hon Bill English—and also Paula Bennett; what a great team they are going to be.
Could I acknowledge the outgoing former Leader of the Opposition David Shearer. I thoroughly enjoyed his valedictory speech last night, and I also hold him in very high regard. What an amazing challenge he has taken on in South Sudan. I am sure all members of this House wish him well in that very, very important job he will undertake.
A strengthening economy is a great thing for all New Zealanders. It gives people choices; it gives them opportunities—particularly those who have been struggling through tough times, particularly those who are raising families, and particularly those who serve in so many different ways back in our local communities: the true New Zealanders to whom we owe our thanks for making a community out of a nation. They are reflected in the fine folk of Hamilton West, who I am so proud to serve in this House. I believe that the future for our city looks incredibly bright. We are on a roll. Job vacancies have never been at a greater level. I am really confident that as we go to the polls next year, most people will say: “Let’s stick on a path that is working for us, let’s lock in the gains, and let’s ensure that we have the continuity that we all want.”
And so to all MPs, and to your families, I say: the very best compliments of the season. To you, Mr Speaker, and your presiding officers, thank you for what you do. Merry Christmas, everybody.
Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour): Mr Speaker, merry Christmas and glad tidings to you and to all the members of this House, including Jonathan—I always get that peace sign wrong; I always seem to get it round the wrong way. But I want to also acknowledge the fantastic staff who support us, from our office staff to Bellamy’s, security, messengers, the Clerk’s Office, and so many more.
It is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. The Christmas trees have been decorated. The tinsel and fairy lights are up. The presents are being wrapped. The barbecue is cleaned and the camping gear is packed and ready. Meanwhile, back here in Parliament, the National caucus has spent the last few days breaking into song: “A new king born”. Well, actually, it is an old king re-crowned, and there are those who are going around singing “Pa rum pum pum pum”, and others saying: “Humbug!”.
Now they are anxiously waiting to see what Christmas presents “Ebenezer English” is going to give them on Sunday. They have been hoping that he has had a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Past. There is excitement in the air over there. Soon they are going to be unwrapping the gifts they deserve and they expect. They have already sent their wish lists up to the postbox on the ninth floor, saying “I’ve been a good boy”, and “I’ve been a good girl”, and they have already put in their orders for their presents.
Actually, some of them have already got their presents. Paula got an early one because she stepped up, she stepped out, and she stepped in. In fact, she got the biggest present of all, because she is just a hair’s breadth and a banana skin away from being Mrs Prime Minister. She knows that she will outshine Bill during this coming year, and her present next year will be even bigger.
Then we have got Steven. Well, Steven asked whether he could be put in charge of all the pork barrels, and, in fact, he has got his wish. He is now in charge of all the pork barrels. Gerry said he really did not want much for Christmas—he just wanted the two front bench seats. But it looks like he is going to have to be satisfied sitting next to “Mr Charisma” for a bit longer.
Then my new best friend Jonathan—he asked for anything but health. He said: “No more horror stories about people going blind waiting for treatment. No more stories about people waiting in pain for hip and knee operations. No more people denied cancer drugs. No more Trixie Cottingham—the 96-year-old denied home care due to cuts.” He said: “Make me Minister of Foreign Affairs. I can make Murray’s Saudi sheep scandal disappear, by creating one of my own.”
Judith—well, Judith did not ask for much because she knew not much would be on offer. And Nick—well, he got his letter to Bill last Monday. In fact, it was going to be a Christmas card, but he actually sent a Valentine’s Day card. It said: “I love you, I love you. Besties forever.”
Then I have got the backbench seat-warmers. They have got high expectations. They have been uber-good this year: they have asked every patsy question that has been given to them, and they have swallowed dozens of dead rats. They have even defended decisions that never went anywhere near caucus, and they want some goodies in their stockings. David Bennett—he has got real high hopes. He rates his chances. He reckons his daily interjections—which are not rare, not reasonable, and too often—make him a cert for racing Minister. Brett Hudson has asked to be the Minister of Broadcasting because he got his first interview on Radio New Zealand this week—he was talking about the future, but not his own. Jono Naylor and Maurice Williamson both said they want the same thing: they want a recording from Engelbert Humperdinck—that song that said: “Please release me, let me go.” Then, of course, Craig Foss—he unwrapped his present today and the box was empty.
But I have got a bit of advice for the members opposite. I leave them with this advice:
You better watch out, you better not cry
You better not pout, because I’m telling you why:
Santa might not be coming to town for you.
He is making a list, he is checking it twice—he has even got Steven checking it thrice
He has already found out who has been naughty and nice
And Santa might not be coming to you!
I want to conclude by saying to the House: have a wonderful Christmas. I say to my staff, who have worked so hard for me this year—Angela, Sophia, Robin, Lloyd, Paul, Alex, Chris, and Julie—thank you so much. A special thanks goes out to my wonderful husband, who supports me so well. You can find love even at my old age, Mr Speaker. I want to also thank my colleagues for the hard work that they have done. I hope we all have a wonderful break and come back full of fight and vigour for 2017.
BARRY COATES (Green): Tēnā koe e Te Māngai. Tēnā koutou e ngā mema Pāremata. Through the 2 short months of my time in Parliament, I keep on getting the question: “So what’s it like being in Parliament?”. There are wonderful moments, like supporting the Pike River families coming to Parliament, asking for compassion and the opportunity to recover the bodies of their loved ones. They deserve justice, and it is a privilege to serve their cause and people like them, who have legitimate grievances.
But there are also frustrations. Question time is bad enough on TV, but it is even worse close up. We need better politics—we need more honesty, more integrity, and more accountability. We need to restore public trust in our democratic institutions. So much of the useful work in Parliament is hidden from public view. Funding has not been allocated to allow TV coverage of select committees. The public could watch MPs engaging constructively across political boundaries to make better laws.
I have been pleased to be part of that cooperative effort to make better legislation, but with one big regret. I missed out on the big one: that acclaimed bill that would have allowed airports to avoid telling the public about left luggage. Talk about transformational legislation! We look forward to many more of these important initiatives from National Party MPs. Who said third-term Governments run out of ideas?
I have also been pleased to contribute to parliamentary debates. I gave three speeches in a row on my first full day in Parliament. These were on bills I had seen only on the previous day, so thanks very much to my colleagues for that one. I should say that my Green Party colleagues have been very supportive. I really appreciate the group hugs we have every morning and the spirulina smoothies.
As we come to the end of this year, I want to acknowledge the people who make Parliament work: Parliamentary Service, the Office of the Clerk, the Parliamentary Library, Hansard, committee clerks, cleaners, and many others. Thank you from us all and thank you, personally. You have helped me find my feet in Parliament.
This year we have seen big changes: Brexit, Trump, and now Bill English. It really is game on. Bill English returning to the National Party leadership is déjà vu all over again. There is something about Bill English that reminds me of that great political orator John Major, the former Prime Minister of the UK. When he was faced with ambitious Cabinet colleagues, he responded “When your back’s against the wall, all you can do is turn around and fight.”—at least some people get it. There may well be fighting in the new National caucus. There is blood in the water and the sharks are circling. The fires of ambition have been ignited and I suspect they will continue to burn.
But after a short stint on the backbench, John Key will be gone. He will be hawking his CV around the IMF or some big corporates, looking for directorships. He can point to all the ways that he has helped them. Foreign companies should be grateful this year. They have bought up our land, our agricultural supply chains, shares in energy companies, and are running our prisons. Overseas buyers have piled into residential property and they have got rich from inflated house prices. Even most of our massive $500 billion debt is held offshore. Multinationals will be very disappointed they did not get the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, but, even so, they have enjoyed another year of low taxation. John Key could also approach fossil fuel companies for a directorship. They have had tax breaks for oil exploration in the midst of a climate crisis. They have had a toothless emissions trading scheme, roads, roads, and more roads.
John Key’s future employers will not be interested in who lost out as a result of these policies. The 90,000 kids suffering from severe poverty and denied a decent start in life—we think of them, especially at this time of year. There are dirty polluted rivers, the loss of Māui’s dolphins and other endangered species, and the majority of New Zealanders who work longer and longer hours to pay the bills but still cannot afford a deposit on a home.
So it is time for a break. When we return we will be ready for an election. New Zealanders can expect another campaign of trivia and platitudes, dirty politics, and Crosby/Textor. But when you are ready for positive policies that will take us forward to better politics and a better New Zealand, come see the Green Party. The year 2017 will be a crucial year. It will be a year you can give this tired, self-serving Government an even longer break. Join with us to create a fairer, greener, richer New Zealand. I wish you all a peaceful and happy New Year.
TRACEY MARTIN (NZ First): Merry Christmas! I am so pleased that I am following Barry Coates. I mean, welcome, Barry, you are new to Parliament—wow, did you just make an impression! We all try to be a little bit cleverer, I suppose, at this time of the year—[Interruption] Mr Muller up here will tell you that I do not have to try very hard to be better. Can I just, first of all, say congratulations to Paula Bennett. This is the first opportunity I have had to congratulate her—a member of the sisterhood stepping up and taking a spot. And, yes, you use eggs for pikelets, not eggs for scones.
Can I thank the first responders. I was here in Wellington when the earthquake happened in Kaikōura, and it is the first time in my life that I have been affected by something like that. So it really brings home, I think, the way that Parliament came together to pass pieces of legislation. Mr Coates seemed to forget that that is what happened—that this Parliament put aside what we do, which is our job. The Government’s job is one thing, the Opposition’s job is another, and that is the strength of our democracy—that we can do our job and yet go to select committee and make laws that are for the betterment of our country. That is what we are paid to do—to keep a transparent and open democracy, and we came together to pass three pieces of legislation in response to Kaikōura.
Can I acknowledge the first responders. We are thanking a lot of people this year, so we want to thank the Defence Force, civil defence, urban search and rescue, the ambulance service, the Fire Service, and the emergency helicopters. I live in Warkworth, and although I know that Mr Bridges went and turned the sod on the Warkworth to Pūhoi road, they cannot get through the Dome, and I am going to go on about that again next year. But although they have turned the sod on the road of national significance—they have not built a metre, but they turned the sod—most of the accidents in our area happen on State Highway 1, and they are often fatalities. People head up into Northland because that is where they want to go for their holidays, and so the emergency helicopter service, the ambulance service that runs out of Warkworth and Ōrewa and so on, they are going to be spending their holidays doing that while we are all out trying to enjoy time with our families. I hope that for most New Zealanders they are safe holidays, that they are with family, that they are cared for, but these people will be working, and so I just acknowledge them.
I want to also acknowledge the ushers who left us halfway through the year. Some of them had been here for an incredible length of service, so I do not want them to think that although those changes took place, we have just moved on and we do not remember that they were here and that they served us. I want to acknowledge the new ushers who came, with lots of younger faces—younger than most of us, that is for sure. And, of course, the security services staff, who have also had some interesting work to do this year, because that was stepped up as well. So all those people who are behind the scenes—Mohamed, particularly, in Copperfield’s and in Bellamy’s. This one is for Mohamed.
I also want to acknowledge Mr Seymour. Although Mr Seymour’s speech was, again, an interesting one, he acknowledged a few people in education. I am quite happy to acknowledge that the people inside the charter school system have been under great political pressure because they have been used as a political pawn. Can I acknowledge all the teachers, all the support staff, all the administration staff, all the groundspeople—everybody who has put time and effort into children this year. Can we acknowledge them as a Parliament and the efforts that they go to every day, under great stress, because there is a lot that is asked of them.
There were several things that were a highlight for me, and the flag debate with Mr Tim Macindoe—which I won—was also a highlight. But, in closing, can I just say that my last statement would be: my mother used to get an orange for Christmas. That was her Christmas present. But that was during the war. There are children right now who will not get Christmas presents. There are people who will not have families, who will not have a Christmas dinner, and I ask for us all to do what we can to actually extend a hand of companionship and of sharing, and so on, over the Christmas period and acknowledge that it is not all twinkle lights for some of us. Kia ora.
CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka): We are almost there. The House is nearly done for the year. It is a time to reflect and to look forward to the summer break, of course. Barbecue season has arrived just in time for the National Government caucus members. Barbecue season has arrived just in time, because they have just been through a leadership competition where they ended up with the leader that no one really wanted, but no one else was really willing to go and put their best foot forward and have a go at the leadership.
We know that there is a mood for change in the National Government because Jonathan Coleman told us. He told us that there was an overwhelming mood for a new generation and for renewal, and yet they have Bill English as their leader. Jonathan Coleman boasted of his relative youth, and he wanted to be the leader, but, actually, the thing that will be keeping Bill English worried is the comments that came from Judith Collins, because Judith Collins said—just hold your breath for a moment, Judith; I have got plenty more to come—that for the first time in 10 years, caucus had its opportunity to actually be master of its own destiny. In other words, the National Government backbench is starting to gather and it is starting to plot, and it is going to be doing that over the barbecues. The thing that Bill English will be worried about is Judith Collins’ other statement: “I am absolutely resilient, and I know I can withstand anything.” In other words, Judith is not going anywhere in a hurry. That ambition has not been quenched.
But, anyway, barbecue season has arrived, and I happen to have been leaked the menus from the National Government’s barbecues over the summer break. I can confirm that Bill English is going to be serving a shoulder of stuffed mutton at his barbecues, and they will all traipse along reluctantly to Bill’s barbecue, to the barbecue of their fill-in leader. Of course, they have alternatives: Jonathan Coleman will be offering smoked chicken; Judith Collins, some raw trout; Gerry Brownlee, on the other hand, will be offering a size 7 turkey; Steven Joyce will be dipping into the barrel to be offering slabs of pork; while Simon Bridges is happy to cook anything on his barbecue, as long as it is covered with large lashings of grease. On the other hand, over on the backbenches here, Todd Muller and Chris Bishop have discovered the hard way that leadership changes do not necessarily go the way they had hoped, so they will be serving dead rat with lashings of English mustard on their barbecue over the summer break, as they plot and scheme and figure out what they are going to do next.
But all jokes aside, I do want to take the opportunity to wish all members of the House a very merry Christmas, and to thank all of the staff who make Parliament function and keep this place ticking over on a daily basis, and all those people who watch Parliament TV and send us helpful hints for how we could do better—there do appear to be some of them.
Hon Member: You, Chris—only you.
CHRIS HIPKINS: That is right; there do appear to be a few of them. I want to wish everybody a very merry Christmas. I hope you all have a—actually, I should acknowledge my opposite, Hekia Parata. Whether or not I get to ask her any more questions in the House, I do want to wish her a very merry Christmas and all the best for whatever happens next, and acknowledge her contribution to the education system. Although I have not always agreed with her, I do want to thank her for her service to the education system of the country.
On that happy note, Mr Speaker, can I thank you for your chairmanship of the House and of the Business Committee, and wish all members peace and goodwill—the peace sign goes this way, Mrs King—for the holiday season.
Hon PAULA BENNETT (Deputy Prime Minister): Merry Christmas, New Zealand. On behalf of the New Zealand National Party and this Bill English - National-led Government, I wish you a safe and happy Christmas. It has been quite a year—some shocks and rocks—but, as per usual, New Zealanders have just got on with it, and that is why we are the fourth-fastest growing economy in the OECD.
Wages have gone up—average wages have gone up. Unemployment is down—4.9 percent. More young people are achieving at school, staying longer and doing better. When we came in we had, what, 66 percent—
Hon Hekia Parata: Yep.
Hon PAULA BENNETT: —Minister Parata—who were achieving National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) level 2. It is now 83 percent, colleagues—83 percent—and that is just simply outstanding. More operations—50,000 more operations in the last 7 years. And the path forward shows increasing surpluses and a Government that has got debt falling below 20 percent. This Bill English - led Government will be positive, forward-looking, and will build on the incredible success New Zealand is already seeing.
Since this is a look-forward Government, I am particularly looking forward to next year. New Zealanders will hear from “Angry Andrew”, who will continue to tell them how badly they are doing and how little Little believes in them. “Whiny Winnie” will pull his dog whistle out and beat the anti-immigration drum again. He will continue that weird fascination with David Seymour, who, seriously, is young enough to be his great-grandson.
Actually, “Winnie” has not come up with a new idea since the late 1980s, when—
Hon Gerry Brownlee: Oh no, he has. He changes his caucus every 3 years.
Hon PAULA BENNETT: Oh, he does, he does. He does. Those members may actually get an opinion of their own, Mr Brownlee. He does not like that, so he thinks he had better do that. But he has not really come up with a new idea since the late 1980s, when Madonna said “Just like a dream, you’re not what you seem”, but, as the Prime Minister started us on Taylor Swift, I am going to continue. So let us “Shake it off”, and this Bill English Government is going to shake it up. We will believe in New Zealanders and back their potential, we will remain hugely ambitious for all New Zealanders, and we will back New Zealand businesses as they create the jobs that give independence and opportunities for individuals and their families in this amazing country of ours.
As the Opposition members quake in their boots as they look forward to 2017—and it is well in sight—I am telling you that we cannot wait, New Zealand. We cannot wait. We will concentrate on the things that matter to New Zealand. We will concentrate on our children and young people and their families. If we can get to 83 percent finishing NCEA level 2—85 percent is around the corner, and 90 percent is on the way. We believe in those young people and their abilities, and, with the right backing from our teachers, our schools, and a Government that believes and invests in them, we can see those sorts of opportunities for them.
We will continue to see waiting times in our emergency departments drop, more operations that mean something very real, and an increase in jobs. I have just heard that 150,000 jobs are coming on board in just the next few years. Wages will continue to grow. Government debt is coming down. That gives us real choices on where we invest and how we invest in New Zealanders as we look forward.
I cannot help but say “climate change”. We have done that first big step, which is to look internationally and actually make a call there to make sure that we are actually getting in line with the world to reduce emissions and look after this beautiful country of ours better, and I reckon we can look ahead at that.
I am really excited to be in a supporting role to Bill English. I reckon this Government is ready for his kind of leadership, with his experience, his wisdom, and most certainly his passion for New Zealanders and what they can achieve.
I end with thanks—how could I not? I thank you, Mr Speaker. I think you have got the patience of a saint, with all of the MPs—and I include my side—who are not always as well behaved as you would like them to be. To all those people around here who just honestly do such a fantastic job in looking after us, I know that every MP in this House really does thank you for all that you do, and I have run out of time to name them all.
Can I just wish, as I say, every other member, and most certainly New Zealand, a really happy, safe, and prosperous 2017. Thank you.
Mr SPEAKER: Honourable members, we have sat for a total of 535 hours this year. That would seem any amount to me, and I have no intention of taking it along any further. Can I thank all members quite genuinely for their cooperation during the year. I think the members in this House have shown much more respect both for this institution and for each other, when I compare it with last year, and I want to acknowledge that and thank members for doing so, but I do recognise that when we come back next year, 2017 is an election year, so I anticipate a bit of more combative debate, but that is part of our democracy and I respect that.
Can I join with all other members who have thanked the very people who make this place work. I will not repeat it, but this place is served by a very large number of people who make it work—my thanks to each and every one of them. Can I specifically acknowledge my presiding officers team—Chester, Trevor, and Lindsay. I think we work well as a team and I thank them for that. I want to just mention the two organisations for which I am the responsible Minister. To the Office of the Clerk and particularly to you, David Wilson, as Clerk, and to Raf Gonzalez-Montero as the deputy—the year, in my opinion, has gone very smoothly, helped as we all know by the glue in that office, Andie Lindsay.
To all who work for Parliamentary Service—and I want to also include in that, obviously, the electorate agents, who are out there in various parts of the country, sometimes working in quite isolated positions. They are the ones who field the questions from our constituents. They meet and assess their concerns, and I just think many of them do a sterling job and they need to be mentioned because they make our jobs, as members of Parliament, possible. In talking about Parliamentary Service I want to acknowledge its general manager, David Stevenson. Under his leadership Parliamentary Service is going through a real transformation. The organisation is starting to live up to its name. It is about servicing the requirements of members of Parliament and, sadly, in the past that was not always the case.
In that regard, I do want to thank the Press Gallery for its cooperation over the past month. The recent earthquakes shook the confidence of many of those journalists and their employers with regard to continuing to occupy the Press Gallery. I respect that. I come from Christchurch and I remember the way people were generally unsettled with continuing after-shocks. Parliamentary Service moved very rapidly to find alternative accommodation. It is not ideal but I give an assurance that over the Christmas break I will work with Parliamentary Service to see whether we can find a more permanent and suitable solution for the Press Gallery to carry out what is a vital role in this democracy—scrutinising the actions of members of Parliament.
My final, specific thanks goes to my own office: Lisa Kinloch, Oliver Whitehead, and Roland Todd. We are a pretty small team, but we have a lot of fun, and, most importantly, we get the job done. So to all members of Parliament: enjoy your break. When we return in 2017, I suspect we will be in election campaign mode from the very start. To members: take the time to reconnect with family and friends. This lifestyle is not easy on family; we know that. So take a decent break. I wish you all a very merry Christmas, and safe travels for those of you who are travelling.
Motion agreed to.
Mr SPEAKER: The House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 7 February. See you later.
The House adjourned at 4.30 p.m.